Week One Outline Lecture One—The Mongol Formation of a World ...

Edmond Chang

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Week One

Outline Lecture One—The Mongol Formation of a World System

Focus of lecture:

1.

The origin and impact of the “Rise of the West” mythology

2.

Argument for a more inclusive, polycentric history of “globalization”

3.

Contingent factors behind this short-lived but consequential Mongol empire

4.

What challenges did nomadic conquerors face in ruling a sedentary society?

5.

Global consequences and legacy of the Mongol world system

I)

“Rise of the West” as Master Narrative

a)

The Myth of European Exceptionalism

i)

West vs. East

ii)

Dynamism vs. Paralysis

(1)

Europe destined for “perpetual movement”

(2)

Asia “immobilized” by the shackles of tradition

(3)

“Only in the West…”

iii)

Worldliness in the East

(1)

Counter-examples to this myth

b)

Sources of this Myth of European Exceptionalism

i)

Uncontested supremacy of Western imperialism in the 19

th

century

ii)

Diffusionist Theory

iii)

The Denial of “Coevalness” Theory

iv)

Do these theories still inform global politics today?

II)

The World Before European Hegemony

a)

“Globalization” in the 13

th

century?

i)

The Impact of Pax Mongolica

ii)

The linking of “world economies” or networks (

see map

)

iii)

By 12

th

century, evidence of mass production and entrepreneurship in Asia

(1)

Example from 12

th

century China—��city of Kaifeng

(a)

http://www.npm.gov.tw/masterpiece/enlargement.jsp?pic=K2A001110

b)

Abu-Lughod’s key point: European “world system” of 16

th

century certainly not the first

i)

Interconnected systems of mutual dependence or “polycentric” globalism

ii)

Asia, especially China, was the “economic engine” that drove the system

iii)

How did Europe enter the fray?

III)

Transition from Polycentric Globalism to European Hegemony

a)

Contingency, Accident, Conjuncture

i)

Contingency: Every new phenomenon is conditioned by earlier developments

ii)

Accidents: Unpredictable events beyond short term human control