8 Prelude

(Continued) 1 \Morld history: a history of

500 ecr-100 cE 'Axial period'with the flourishing of major the world?
civilizations and innovations in religion,
philosophy and science
200-1000 ce Postimperial worlds (Eurasia)
Thirteenth century Pax Mongolica in Eurasia
Sixteenth - Formation of global networks that link all
seventeenth century major regions; end of empires in America;
Columbian exchange
Maritime empires: Spain, Portugal, Holland, Japan
Continental empires: Ming China, Mughal lndia,
If history is bunk, as car manufacturer Henry Ford once proclaimed, then world
history is truly the ultimate form of drivel. If it is not bunk and we want it to be
Russia, Ottoman empire, Songhai in West Africa
more than 'one damned thing after another', then we need to ask 'what' and
Late eighteenth First breakthrough new industrial techniques
'why'. The most important reason to study world history today is to gain access
century and fossil energy to the historical background of our contemporary globalized world. Now that we
Beginning of supremacy of the West experience how complex and connected our world is, we also realize that regional
Nineteenth century Expansion of Western world system under and national stories are no longer sufficient to comprehend the world around us.
British hegemony; new wave of colonization How did the world become what it is? How did diverse social, cultural, economic
Twentieth century Expansion of Western world system and political paths develop and how do they interact? World history departs from
under American hegemony; decolonization the premise that the life course of individuals, groups, nations and civilizations
Beginning of End of American hegemony; end of the only gains sense or meaning in its correlation within the overarching human story.
twenty-first century supremacy of the West? Just like any historiography, world history gives meaning, but with a focus on
comparison and interaction at a global level. This will be explained in the first
chapter. We will address the perspective that world history utilizes in the areas of
looking or knowledge (section 1) and in thinking or ability (section 2). This ques-
tions the identity (section 3) and the reasons for world history (section 4). We will
explore striking innovations in world history over the past decennia (section 5).
World history has become a distinct discipline with its own questions, methodoi-
ogy and theories, its own publication channels and its own f,rnality. World history
examines the story of the human race. It also explores the most distinct issues
affecting contemporary society, including demographic growth, ecological limits,
food security, administrative decision-making, cultural diffusion, and social and
economic inequality.

World history is a different way of looking

World history is huge and ambitious. Huge because the timeline is long and the
spatial dimension is wide. Ambitious because the quantity of themes in world his-
tory are almost infinite, because the sources about and knowledge of parts of world
history seem complex, and because the anall.tical instruments for understanding
this information are very diverse. Yet world history is manageable. Time, place,
themes and methods demarcate a frame of research in which large, arnbitious
yet clear stories about humankind's exciting journey are told. Generalizations,
 10 World hístory: a history of the world? lVorld history: a history of the world? 11

comparisons, connections and transformation force researchers, writers and read- a state-building and conflict (including forms of government such as empires
ers to structure stories in such away that divergence and convergence, change and and states, wars, revolutions);
continuity, cooperation and conflict are recognizable as guiding forces. a the formation of economic systems (including agricultural systems, trade,
The most accepted definition of world history or global history is thaf it studies industrialization);
the origin of, growth in and changes to human communities in a comparative a the development of social structures (including gender, family, race, class).
perspective and within their mutual connections. Key words include communities,
comparisons, connections and systems. Human communities that have shaped the Big questions invite big answers. Those questions and answers redefine the three
world over time are central rather than the world itself. World history studies dimensions thal. are intertwined in social and human sciences: the spatial dimen-
those communities in a dual manner: (1) in a comparative perspective to detect sion (world), time dimension (history) and thematic dimension (world history or
patterns, similarities and differences; and (2) in their interaction via contacts, the history of human societies). World history explains that these three dimensions
connections and influence. are the result ofchoices and therefore are the subject ofpermanent discussion.
V/orld history looks at diverse forms of human society that have developed
over time, but does not view them on their own. World history is a translocal, I Existing, culture-specific periodizations lose much of their meaning in a
transregional and transnational history. Human communities are the building wider time perspective. 'Global time', since the origins of our planet, life on
blocks and actors. The world is the context and stage. That world is the result of earth or the human race, requires different descriptions. Timescales remain
the coexistence of humankind and nature, of the interaction between human com- relative and are constantly questioned in world history.
munities and the ecological environment. Within very divergent environments, 2 Spatial and geographic concepts are also culture-bound. World history
human beings make choices - sometimes the same, sometimes different. World makes us aware of divergent visions that exist about our owrt space and the
history asks which choices were and are being made, and why. V/orld history way diverse dimensions overlap, from local, regional, national and interna-
wants to know why those choices in very divergent environments are sometimes tional to global.
the same and sometimes very dissimilar. World history also works out to what 3 The thematic dimension is also the result of choices. World history is not the
degree those choices influenced each other, to what extent interregional contacts history of everything; that is not possible nor desirable. Like all historical
have changed the course of the history of human communities. World history stories, world history wants to give meaning but on a different, wider scale.
always places humankind's journey within the worldwide arena. This results in This is only possible after one has determined the unit of analysis (human
meta-stories, stories about the history of human beings and the human race that systems, ecological systems) and the theme being studied.
are embedded in local and regional experiences and that look for wider correla-
tions, patterns, connections and systems. This introductory book focuses on enquiring about these three dimensions. This
World history is primarily a perspective, away of looking that thoroughly dif- is covered in detail in the last chapter, which will give the reader better insight
fers from other methods of social research. Without a worldwide dimension, his- into the possibilities and limitations of world history as a signifuing narrative.
tory remains limited to individual 'cases' (gronp, region, country) or individual
'development trajectories' (Europe, the West).
Which world history?

World history is a different way of thinking V/orld history studies the origin of, growth in and changes to human communities
in a comparative perspective and within their mutual connections. Attention is not
World history is more than knowledge; it is also an attitude, a position, a way of paid to individual communities (family, clan, village, tribe, state, culture or cívlliza-
thinking. The image changes when human communities are studied in a com- tion) but to differences and similarities in the development of the various communi-
parative perspective and in their relationship with and dependence on each other. ties and to the connections beßt¡een those communities. In world history systems
The 'big picture' lies behind every snapshot that we make. Every photograph of human coexistence (small and large) are given meaning in a wider perspective.
taken with azoom lens can and must be complemented with a wide-angle image. We must first understand the choices that these communities have made in relation-
This global dimension causes us to ask different questions and reformulate old ship to their environment and to each other. This interpretation becomes clearer
questions. World history covers all major domains of human action: when we look at what world history is not. World history is not (or not only):

r people and their natural environment (including demography, techniques); o universal or total history: world history is not the history of 'everything';
¡ the development and interaction of cultural systems (including religions, ¡ international history: world history is not only the history of relationships
arts, sciences); between 'nations';
12 World histoty: a history of the world? l4torld history: a history of the world? l3
¡ a history of (Western) civilization: world history is more than a history of the be studied as a whole, in their systemic unit. Examples include economic
ascent of one (Westem) civllizafion1' systems (the current world system), migration systems, ecological systems
o non-Western history (previously called colonial or overseas history): world (climate, disease) and cultural systems. Human societies are always linked
history is more than a history of the world outside the 'West'; together by several of these systems and act in reaction to these systems
. comparative societal history: world history is more than a comparative history (systems analysis).
of societies;
r globalization history: world history focuses on much more than the history This threefold track forms one, inseparable trajectory that must enable us to
of contemporary globalization. answer the basic questions in world history:

Three questions and story lines dominate this form of world history. First is How do population groups in different contexts of time and space try to
the gradual, progressive (intemal) growth of human societies in relationship to attain similar objectives with different means: the reproduction of their
(external) ecological challenges. In every human group, \Me see the origin of physical self, of their labour, their knowledge and their insights, of social
comparable societal pattems: forms of social order and cohesion, of language and and cultural patterns and, finally, of their society? Which factors (external:
communication, of leadership, of food supply, of social reproduction (fertility, child ecological; internal: social) determine different or similar outcomes?
rearing, family structures) etc. Similar and very different choices are made within a How do population groups develop their society and how do those social
those pattems. The choices strongly depend on the natural context that the groups systems change as a result of contact, interaction or conflict with other soci-
live in. Second, due to increased interaction, human groups form larger, coordinating eties? To what extent do certain social systems live alongside each other or
structures, cultures or civilizations. Every culture or civilization must answer the take over other systems?
same questions: which system of political control (state, leadership, bureaucracy
etc.), which system of economic survival (agriculture, hade, industry, plundering From the previous questions, we learn the following. First, it is clear that the
etc.), which system of social control (legitimization, repression etc.) and which sys- 'world' in world history does not stand for the physical notion of 'earth'but
tem of cultural interpretation (religion) should it choose? The choices made within for all of humankind, human society and the outcome of human choices in an
every culture/civilization show many similarities and differences. Third, cultures and unfamiliar, natural context. In other words, world is not a thing, it is a human
civilizations come into contact in peaceful or less peaceful ways, and this usually has activity. Second, this delineation does not prevent the central theme in world
a big impact. These contacts take place via very diverse paths and have very diverse history from being less easy to grasp than 'national history'. The leitmotiv of
consequences: hade (transaction of goods), migration, cultural diffirsion or imitation, national history is the political organization of a country/state/nation. Politics
plundering, conquest, war, integration, or incorporation. turns a state into a state. Economic, social and cultural analyses are inserted
To understand these big questions it is not necessary to know everything about where necessary. World history is not built around a political story; nor is it
everything. It is important to make choices related to the unit of analysis (group, exclusively built around an ecological (humankind/nature), demographic
tribe, region, civilization etc.), the timeframe (period), the spatial framework (reproduction), economic (survival), social (power structures) or cultural (life
(place) and the theme (perspective). These choices do not necessarily (or usually orientation) story. All stories come together in the question of how societal
do not) cover the whole world, yet they always aim to transcend their own case. systems take shape over time and space, and how they adapt and change via
They aim to present a story that offers insight into the development trajectory of connection, cooperation or conflict. Third, dates, events and persons are not
the entire human community. central in the story. Emphasis is not placed on memorizing but on analyzing,
Then a suitable research model is drawn up that relies on three pillars. comparing and understanding. No matter what a human being or a group of
people does, either consciously or unconsciously, this always plays in the
PillarI A comparative analysis in which the specif,rc case is placed in a wider background of a global dimension. Choices are always determined and
context. Comparison avoids the pitfall of absolute pronouncements about an restricted by the location of the human being or group of people within the
alleged 'uniqueness' or exclusivity of human societies (comparative analysis). entire human community. In world history, learning that attitude and dealing
with it critically are central.
Pillar 2 An analysis of the interaction and interconnection between societies or
Finally, postmodernists feared that world history would be a new, all-
systems, and of the way those patterrs of contact change (network analysis,
encompassing story (a master narrative) that departs from an exclusive, unam-
translocal/transnational analysis).
biguous explanative framework. It is not; it is a meta-story a story of stories, with
Pillar 3 An analysis of human systems in which the various societies and their a vast outlook and massive ambitions, but with answers thai are never absolute or
mutual contacts are given shape. This includes large, spanning forces that must dehnitive.
14 World history: a history of the world? Ilorld history: a history of the world? 15

Why world history? Knowledge

World history aspires to a different form of knowledge and of insight. World history . An insight into the 'what', 'why'and 'how'of world history. An 'introduc-
is the best way to portray, analyze and understand the story of the entire human tion to'is more important than a 'summary of' . The three dimensions of time,
community. Whichever historical and spatial scale is employed, it is always neces- space and thematic interpretation are central in their mutual connection.
sary to portray the wider context. Historical processes like family formation, cul- ¡ Understanding that questions in human sciences often get different answers
tural reproduction or state-building rarely or never occur in isolation. World history within a global context, and that those answers are frequently ambiguous.
tries to give meaning to the myriads of human actions that have created our 'world' Students must be able to explain and substantiate this, and must be able to
via a wide framework. As indicated above, a triple insight lies at the core of this. discuss this critically based on examples. In other words, they must be aware
of the fact that the employed perspective (time, location and theme) deter-
I Societies come and go, succeed or ruin each other, and are never the same. mines the answers that are given. Moreover, they must always evaluate and
Nevertheless, they share several basic characteristics: they all develop mate- question the perspective from which the answers are formulated; for example
rial (economic) survival structures, political control systems, social and 'Eurocentric' compared to'global'.
gender (man/woman) relations, cultural life orientation patterns, and demo-
graphic and familial reproduction systems. That is why they can be com-
Ability
pared. Comparative analysis enables us to gain a better insight into the way
people shape their lives within a societal group, and why certain choices are ¡ Formulate how the global perspective is related to diverging scales in time
made in certain contexts while other directions are not chosen. and space.
2 Societies do not originate, grow and change in isolation. They are always in ¡ Explain how processes of interaction and diffusion shape global society.
contact with other societies to a greater or lesser degree. These patterns of o Assess how one can judge via comparative analysis processes of change
interaction/interconnection are a second motivation for social/historical sci- versus continuity.
ence at a global level. The impact of these interactions only becomes visible o Understand how connections and systems constantly change human societies.
in a wider/larger analysis rather than the analysis of an individual society. ¡ Critically evaluate universal presumptions and generalized statements about
3 Societies are almost always the primary means of analysis, but the level of human beings and their society.
analysis and interpretation can seldom be limited to these societies. Human
groups give shape to their existence within wider social contours that cannot
World history as tradition and innovation
only be understood in their sublevel. Systems of influence, exchange and
migration often span many human communities and find their existence in The history that is taught today is still mainly 'national'history. It is still mainly the
the merger of diverse, different geographic dimensions. history of a nation, a cultural space, a group of people busy building their own
society, in modem terms: a nation/state. The story of the construction of one's own
Moreover, world history often makes a contemporary moral claim. It shows the society is important. That specific society is the social-political and often cultural
complexity of the past and present world. It shows that differences and diversity are and economic context in which each of us tries to shape our lives. However, the
core characteristics of the human story and that insight into this and dealing with this national story does not take place in a vacuum; it is always part of a larger story.
are important moral qualities. Judgments are not only weighed against one's own Nevertheless, so-called national histories are not very old. They were created
world, they are predominantly weighed against the complexity of human history. together with the appearance of modern nation states. The roots of this process lie
In conclusion, world history is imporlant; not so much for global knowledge, in the Ancien Régime, but it climaxed in the 'romantic' nineteenth century.
but for leaming to employ a global view. That global view is not obtained by tal- Nationalistic and Eurocentric historiography were children of their times, and there-
lying up national or regional events, but by zooming out so that you see the world fore took advantage ofa need for legitimization (the nation state, European hege-
and the way human contacts and interactions have taken place in one large image mony). Other forms of historiography originate also as a reaction to a specific need
rather than in fragmented images. Consequently, world history is both a historical for knowledge and justification. The following short summary should clarify this.
story and a contemporary story. The global perspective links humans, peoples and
cultures. It links diverse places, various periods and the former world with that of
Ethnocentric world histories
today and of tomorrow
We can translate these insights into a collection of world history aims that can Historical stories with a perspective outside their own spatial, ethnic and political
be divided rnto knowledge (passive insight) and ability (active application). boundaries have a long tradition in China, Japan, Southeast Asia, the Islamic
16 World histoty: a history of the world? I(orld history: a histoty of the world? l1
world and parts of Europe (Greece). In other parts of the world, few or no traces whether the people were closer or farther away from the Chinese civilization. The
of such 'universal' histories have been found for the period before Western colo- superiority of the Chinese centre determined the image of the other regions and
nization. Sub-Sahara Africa did not leave its own texts; consequently, we know people, just as European orArabic writers they called others 'barbarians'. The most
almost nothing about the way Africans viewed the world outside their own famous historian in ancient China was Sima Qian (or Ssi-ma Ch'ien, second to first
physical and mental boundaries. This is also true of the people on the American century ncr during the Han dpasty). He combined impressions from the many trips
continent and in Oceania. The Hindu world left behind very few testimonies in he took with historical stories and data, which he examined with a critical mind. In
which interest is shown for the outside world. This is surprising because for a his work Sfryi (The Historical Events), he recorded the story of China from the time
long time the Indian subcontinent was the central link in a wide African-Asian of the mythical Yellow Emperor to the Han dynasty - 3,000 years of Chinese his-
trade system and was the birthplace of a new universal religion - Buddhism. tory. Shiji consists of 30 chapters of general political, dynastic, economic and cul-
The oldest historiographic surveys with universal pretensions aim to summa- tural history followed by 100 chapters with a biographical approach.
rize their own world - Jewish, Greek, Hellenistic, Islamic, Arabic, Chinese, The tradition of universal history was strongly present in the Islamic world (in
Japanese -in their own story or genesis. Moreoveq these histories often conjure Arabic, Persian and Ottoman languages) until the nineteenth century. This was
up an image of the desired world order and the way the people in the known related to the 1,000-year history of trade, expansion and conquest, and with the
world relate to each other or should relate to each other. These historical stories tradition of incorporating new peoples under Islamic rule. The Islamic world was
give meaning to their own world, in its historical roots and in relationship to the not an empire in the formal sense of the word; it was much more of an ecumeni-
known outside world. Their impact is always teleological and the superiority of cal community. Therefore, knowledge about diverse parts of the world had a
one's own civilization is the logical departure point and destination. Curiosity practical and a legitimating objective. The focus of the historiography was wide:
about the outside world only occurs when those people play a role in their own stories about rulers and events, chronicles of the government and histories of cit-
story. Historiographies from the Islamic world pay a lot of attention to the sur- ies and provinces. The most important period in their own history was the origin
rounding world, while the Hindu world is much more inward looking. Every and expansion of Islam. Although the texts were written under the rule and
social group fosters its own genesis story a story of the group's origin. Major approval of religious and worldly authorities, everything was portrayed as accu-
religions often record their origination story (Judaism, Christianity and Islam). rately as possible. Also in Islamic historiography, their own chronography was
These stories combine myth, divine predestination and meaning with actual often central (Jafar al-Tabari, ninth to tenth century cE, with a history of proph-
events in their own past. They aim to presenl. a geteral, universal and often time- ets and kings from Adam to the prophet Mohammed). The work of lbn Khaldoun
less truth. In Christianity, the 'historia universalis' builds on this tradition. It (fourteenth century ce) has a real 'universal'pretense; his ambition was to write
relates the teleological and timeless tale of two cities (the City of God and the a history of civilization. His life's work was Kitab al-Ibar (Book of Lessons). In
City of Man) as originally recorded by Saint Augustine in the fourth century cE. this work he combined three histories: the al-Muqaddimah (known as Prolegomena
An example in this tradition of universal history is J. B. Bossuet's Discourse on in Greek) is an introduction to his world history project; books two to five relate
(Jniversal History (seventeenth century), which is a mix of theology, myth and the history of mankind (as he knew it); and books six and seven are a history of
historical stories. the Berber people. His work has a very modern sociological slant because he
In diverse cultures, a more 'worldly'historiographical activity appears and looks searched for the impact ofsocial and political cohesion on the rise and decline of
at the world known at that time. Herodotos was not only a historian of the Greek tribes and civilizations. He also paid a lot of attention to geographic and climato-
world; he was a historian of the entire world known to the Greeks in the fifth logic factors, which makes him the real precursor of later world historians.
century ecp. To understand the differences between Greeks and non-Greeks
(barbaroi), he searched for geographic and ethnographic differences and connec-
A European universølism
tions. He went on study tours through the world known to the Greeks at that time.
His masterpiece, The Histories (historiès apodeksis), is a voluminous bundle of The secularization of 'eschatological, universal history' started in Europe under the
books that are a cross between the memoirs of a traveller and a historian's attempt eighteenth cenhrry enlightened philosophers (Voltaire and Kant). In the nineteenth
at historiography in a detached manner. Historiography was also a traditional part century, this led to a search for 'general laws'that shape the history of humankind,
of Chinese and Japanese culture. This historiography consists of annals, biogra- such as the 'idealistic world views' of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, the 'his-
phies ofleaders and other exemplary figures, calendars and chronicles ofpolitical torical materialism' of Karl Man< and Charles Darwin's evolution theory. This
and cultural life. This knowledge serves the government and the empire as an universalism was coloured in a very original way by two centuries of Western tri-
example or as aura. An interest in people outside the empire was limited to their umphalism. The nineteenth century was a European century, with an absolute
own interests, trade or conquest. Chinese historians saw the world in sinocentric economic, political, military and ideological hegemony. The economic growth and
terms until the nineteenth century. The world was divided into zones depending imperialistic expansion were unseen. A large majority of European intellectuals
18 World hístory: a history of the world? Iítorld history: a history of the world? 19

subscribed to an introspective world image in which Europe was the norm. They changed objectives and content. The most important stimuli for the development
followed Hegel's adage, which stated that only people who have formed a state and and transformation of world history came from outside academic histiography.
achieved a certain form of spiritual development can have their own history. He Since the 1960s there has been a growing awareness that societies do not have
added that history travels from east to west and that Asia is the beginning and independent life cycles; they are shaped by processes ofmutual interaction. As a
Europe is the end of history. Modernization and progress, revolution and develop- result, we need to comparatively analyze group and society formation, and we need
ment according to the European path; this became the canon in historiography and to utilize a wider time and space perspective. In addition to the local setting (in
in all social sciences. The European path was the norm, whatever fell off the path which people shape their lives), more attention is paid to the global dimension (in
(the East) deviated from the norm. Mapping the European development trajectory which societies grow or languish). Examples include: research into trade relations
was the central aim of new scientific disciplines like sociology, economics and his- and migration movements, such as the work of Philip Cwtin (The Atlantic Slave
tory. The non-European world became the object of research for ethnographers and Trade,1969; Cross-cultural Trade,1984); the study ofthe political economy as a
anthropologists looking for an explanation of'the other'. (nnequal) global system: Andre Gunder Frank(World Accumulation, 1492-1789,
This resulted in a division or'disciplining'ofthe sciences: the social sciences 1978), Immanuel Wallerstein (The Modern World-System, 197 4, 1980, 1989, 20 1 I ;
split off from the physical sciences and the social sciences were divided into Historical Capitalism, 1983); and the history of the world outside Europe: Eric
subdisciplines with their own codes, jargon, publication chamels, schools and WoIf (Europe and the People without History, 1982). There is also an increasing
courses (history anthropology, sociology etc.). More general, trans-discipline historical interest for processes on an ecological scale, such as the distribution of
approaches declined, as did attention to the wider image, the large scale and the diseases, plants and animals, and the impact of changes in geology, climate and
long term. flows of energy on humanity. Pioneers include William H. McNeill (Plagues and
The breakthrough of a Eurocentric modemization perspective with universal- Peoples,1976), Alfred Crosby (The Columbian Exchange. Biological and Cultural
istic presumptions went together with the triumph of nationalistic historiography Consequences of 1492, 1972 and Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion
under figureheads like Jules Michelet, George Bancroft and Henri Pirenne. This of Europe, 900-1900,1986) and later Jared Diamond (Guns, Germs and Steel. The
is where the new standards of fhe historic métier (heuristics, analysis, atgumenta- Fates of Human Societies,l997). The stimulating influence of non-historians like
tion, synthesis) were established. Attention was paid to so-called 'universal his- the sociologists Frank and lVallerstein, the ecologist Crosby, the anthropologist
tories', but they focused almost exclusively on the rise (and sometimes the Wolf and the evolutionary biologist Diamond, is striking.
predicted decline) of the V/est (August Comte, Leopold von Ranke). This national Within the historical world, the paradigm of the state as the primary unit of
and Eurocentric approach remained the norm in history and in the social sciences analysis was brought up for discussion in the 1960s . In La Méditerranée et le
until late in the twentieth century. Monde Méditerranéen à l'époque de Philippe II (1949), Fernand Braudel ana-
At the edge of dominant historical activity, two traditions or paradigms preserved lyzed the Mediterranean as one économie-monde, one world system in which the
the wider, global view. The first was the paradigm of the civilization history written traditional borders ofnations, cultures and civilizations were breached. This inte-
in the older tradition of historical philosophy. Famous examples include Oswald grated analysis ofhuman interaction established a new standard in historiography.
Spengler (Der Untergang des Abendlandes, 1918-1922), H.G. V/ells (A Short In his pioneering work The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Communie
History of the World,1922) andAmold Toynbee (A Study of History,1933-1961). (1963), V/illiam H. McNeill focused on civilizations as interacting systems rather
In these works, civilizations are analyzed as more or less independent units; auton- than as independently-existing entities. Four paradigms take over from each other
omous organisms with their own life cycles (emergence, growth and decline). in McNeill's world history: the urban paradigm (origin of civilizations); the ecu-
Separate from this was the paradigm of the capitalistic world economy (emergence menical paradigm (interaction between civilizations); the European expansion
and decline of a global, all-encompassing economic system; see Marx and Engels). paradigm (creation of the 'modern'world); and the Cold War paradigm (twentieth
For several authors this was the inspiration for large-scale historical analyses. cenhry). In this book, McNeill opened up the borders of state-linked history.
Examples include Vladimir Lenin (Der Imperialismus als höchstes Stadium des Braudel broadened his analysis of early capitalism as a world system in
Kapitalismus, 1916), Karl Polanyi (The Great Transþrmarion: The Political and Civilisation Matérielle, Economie et Capitalisme, W"-Wil|" siècle (1979) and
Economic Origins of Our Tíme, 1944), Maurice Dobb (Studies in the Development McNeill has since published Plagues and Peoples (1916) and The Pursuit of
of Capitalism,1946) and Fernand Braudel (see below). Power: Technologt, Armed Force, and Society since A.D. 1000 (1982).
The impact of the new world history grew in the 1980s. This is reflected in a
further professionalizirlg of the freld via specific publication channels, profes-
A new world history
sional organizations, scientific meetings and debates, specific courses, degree
Anew, global world order grew due to the economic reconstruction and decoloniza- programmes and textbooks, and via the development of specific nofins, argumen-
tion after Vy'orld War II. World history got a new impetus in the 1960s. It completely tations and jargon. According to Patrick Manning (2003), this is not only logical,
20 World history: a history of the world? World history: a history of the world? 2l
it is also necessary. After all, world history is not the sum of local and/or national types of society. That criticism gave rise to world history concepts that departed
knowledge. That is why modern world history cannot simply adopt the norms and from an equality of civilizations and cultures, and that focused more on the inter-
methods of the existing human and social sciences. According to Manning, a action between diverse human systems. Civilization history received a new
further professionalizing of world history must go hand in hand with a further impulse in the neoliberal 1980s, mainly from the motivation that one's own his-
exploration of the possibilities and limits of: tory should remain the first and foremost frame of reference. From this point of
view, 'Westem values received renewed attention; this was combined with the
I Sources and data. They are usually formulated in the context of a community alleged uniqueness of a Western civilization model. It seems paradoxical that this
or, more recently, a national state, and therefore must be 'reread'. reaction, which returned to a more particularistic historiography that emphasized
2 Methods. For the reinterpretation of data, new or adjusted methods of data differences, was situated in a period of accelerated globalization. That is why the
collection and data analysis are needed. These methods include comparative call for a real world history has been growing in many scientific milieus, espe-
techniques and systems analYsis. cially since the 1990s. This history must not depart from one type of society; it
3 Analyses. The interpretation framework is no longer exclusively the local should pay attention to the diverse ways that people have lived together, and this
community or the national state; it integrates a wider scale. in a comparative and integrated manner. The debate about civilization history
4 Theory formation. World history looks at other social and physical sciences versus world history which is ongoing, shows how sensitive content choices are
(like chaos theory) to give meaning to 'global knowledge'outside the local/ within a global perspective, and how closely they are linked to normative visions
national framework. of world events, so-called world views.
A new world history is an answer to new questions in a new era in which glo-
bal knowledge, global interaction and global challenges increasingly determine
Civilizøtion history versus world history the agenda. The West, not to mention Europe, is no longer the norm. Development
The reorientation of, the content of civilization history into a modern and inte- via the Western path is no longer self-evident. New knowledge should anticipate
grated world history is a crucial pfocess. It implies a fundamental paradigm shift. the new need for insights on a global scale, which no longer departs from alleged
In the words of the Bangladeshi historian Dipesh chakrabarty, European history universal claims from one region. The historical story must be separated from the
is 'provincialízed' (Provincializing Europe: Postcolonial Thought and Historical private interests of one group, nation, religion or people. It should provide a meta-
Dffirence,2000). This switch is not linear; histories of civilizations are still story that is aware of the diversity in human history and that simultaneously
published. Moreover, this process gives rise to intense ideological debates about assembles that diversity in a human journey that is determined by global interac-
the contents of world history and about the place and role of the wider historical tions. The circumstances for a new world history are favourable. Not only has our
perspective. knowledge of the history of human communities from all eras and all places
Peter Stearns (2003) sketched the troublesome merger of the concepts 'civili- increased tremendously, our methods and interpretation models have been refined
zatíon'and 'world' in recent world history. This led to a long and intense debate and adjusted. We have also learned from the insights and the errors of introspec-
in the American academic and educational world in particular. The wisdom or tive, Eurocentric and national historiography, and from their frequent use of
folly of a Western civilization perspective, summariz ed as í4/estern civ, is at stake. concepts thaf are too narrow (such as civilization, the West etc.). After two cen-
In the United States, Western civ, or the history of Western civilization, developed turies, the absolute hegemony of the Western society model and of Western think-
from an older national historiography. When searching for the roots of the ing comes to an end. A dialogue with knowledge and insights outside the West
American nation, historians searched for equivalent paftners with a similar value obliges us to broaden and deepen our view of human history.
system embedded in a Western civilization model. The story of Western civ The strucfure of this book illustrates this idea: an'introduction to'and not a
propagates a strong message ofsuperiority and progress. It focuses on European
'summary of'world history. The chapters are constructed around the major ques-
and American history. Other people and parts of the world are only covered when
tions in world history:
they come into contact with Western society.
Criticism of the narrow interpretation of the civilization concept and of the
¡ A human world: how humankind developed from a threatened to the most
'imperialistic wrong-doings' of, Western or American society at that time fuelled successful species.
objections to the content of Westem civ courses in the 1960s and 1970s. The
¡ A natural world: how nature helped shape human history.
criticism concentrated on (1) the homogenizing notion of 'civilization' in which
¡ An agrarian world: how agricultural societies gave human history a new
differentiation, internal differences and mutual conflicts of interest received too twist.
little attention; (2) the progress idea that departs from a Western 'mother' civlliza-
r A political world: how humankind got organized into increasingly more
tion; and (3) civilization as an ideological concept that leaves no room for other complex administrative systems.
22 World history: a history of the world?
o A divine world: how humankind developed new religious and cultural life

o
orientation pattems. 2 A human world
A divided world: how the paths of the 'West' and the rest of the world sepa-
rated over the last centuries. Humans and humankind
o A global world: how the world became more global at the same time.
. A polarized world: how the world became and is marked by diverging
patterns of wealth, poverty and inequality.

A dramatic encounter took place on 16 November 7532 in the city of Cajamarca

on the Peruvian Highlands. Francisco Pizarro, conquistador of the largest empire
in the western part of Eurasia (Spain under Charles V), and Atahualpa, Incan sun
god and absolute ruler over the most extensive and most developed empire on the
American continent, met for the first time. Atahualpa received the Spaniard on
familiar territory escorted by an army of 80,000 soldiers that was feared far
beyond the Incan empire. Pizarro had no more than 168 men with him, in thc
middle of hostile territory and cut off from the rest of the Spanish troops.
Nevertheless, Pízarro was able to capture Atahualpa a few moments after their
first contact. The Incan emperor was held hostage for eight months. The Spanish
promised to set him free after receipt of one of the largest ransoms in history.
Once they received the gold, enough to fil1 a room that was 23 feet long by 16
feet deep and 8 feet high, Atahualpa was executed.
What does this event tell us? The kidnapping and execution of the Incan
emperor symbolizes a tuming point in world history. The contact between Pizarto
of Spain and the Incan ruler Atahualpa was the first meeting between peoples that
grew apart some tens ofthousands ofyears before. The Incas are descendants of
migrating hunter-gatherers that crossed the Bering Strait roughly 13,000 years
ago, then gradually populated the American continent. Prosperous communities
and large civilizations arose in diverse regions, most notably in Central and
Southwestem America. After millennia of isolated development (except for a few
sporadic contacts with migrants), two of the most developed civilizations on
either side of the Atlantic Ocean stood face to face in 1532.
Why was that confrontation between two powerful, centrally-ruled and expan-
sionist empires so unequal? What explains the sudden collapse of the large civi-
lizations on the American continent? Why did Europeans depart for America and
why didn't the Incas disembark on the coast of Europe?
First, the Amerindian people did not have seaworthy ships. In contrast to the
Europeans, they did not need them for their expansion plans. Second, both groups
had different intentions. While Pizarro, Cortés and the other Spanish adventurers
had direct confrontation in mind, the natives were mainly led by curiosity. The
sudden appearance of Europeans (which the natives knew very little about)
caused great and deliberate confusion. Neither the Incas nor the Aztecs suspected