Before European hegemony : the world system A.D. 1250-1350 / Janet L. Abu-Lughod.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Abu-Lughod, Janet L.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Economic history--Medieval, 500-1500.

Economic history.

Economic history--Medieval.

International trade--History.

International trade.

History.

Cities and towns, Medieval.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xxi, 443 pages : illustrations, maps ; 21 cm

Other Title:

World system A.D. 1250-1350

Place of Publication:

New York : Oxford University Press, 1991.

Summary:

By the end of the thirteenth century the regions of Europe, the Middle East, the Indian Ocean area, and China were becoming integrated--through activities in an archipelago of cities located along major land and sea routes--into a world system of commerce and production, albeit one in which Europe still played a minor role. This book traces the formation of the system and explores how the Black Death, circa 1350, and the subsequent isolation of China under the Ming dynasty interrupted its further development. Abu-Lughod argues that demographic, geographic, and political factors, rather than any unique qualities of Western capitalism or "personality," account for the eventual triumph of "the West" during the ensuing period of six hundred years, and suggests that current transformations in the world system may signal the end of this aberrant phase of world history.

Contents:

Introduction : studying a system in formation

The European subsystem: The cities of the Champagne fairs; Bruges and Ghent : commercial and industrial cities of Flanders; The merchant mariners of Genoa and Venice

The mideast heartland: The Mongols and the northeast passage; Sinbad's way : Baghdad and the Persian Gulf; Cairo's monopoly under the slave sultinate

Asia: The Indian subcontinent : on the way to everywhere; The strait and narrow; All the silks of China

Conclusion : restructuring the thirteenth-century world system.

Notes:

"First published in 1989 ... First issued as an Oxford University Press paperback, 1991"--Title page verso.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 374-427) and index.

ISBN:

0195067746

9780195067743

OCLC:

25683851