Chapter 1
The Hazda of Tanzania are one of the last gathering and hunting societies onearth.
Likely to disappear soon
Will mark the end of what was universal human existence until 10,000–12,000 years ago
For 95 percent of human history, the means of life was gathering and hunting.
Food collection, not food production
Has been labeled “Paleolithic” (old stone age) era
It’s wrong to ignore the first 200,000 years of human experience.
Archaeology reveals a great deal about these peoples
They settled the planet
They created the earliest human societies
They were the first to reflect on issues of life and death
Out of Africa to the Ends of the Earth: First Migrations
Homo sapiens emerged in eastern and southern Africa 250,000 years ago.
Stayed there exclusively for about 150,000 years
Africa was home to the “human revolution,” in which culture became more important than biology in shaping human behavior
Humans began to inhabit environments not touched by earlier hominids
Technological innovation: use of stone and bone tools
Hunting and fishing, not just scavenging
Settlements planned around movement of game and fish
Patterns of exchange
Use of ornaments, perhaps planned burials
Around 100,000 years ago: beginning of migrations out of Africa
Adapted to nearly every environment on earth
Much took place in the difficulties of the last Ice Age
Ice lowered sea levels, created land bridges Into Eurasia
Humans started migrating into the Middle East around 40,000 years ago
The best evidence of early European settlement comes from southern France and northern Spain
Settlers in northern Europe were pushed southward into warmer areas around 20,000 years ago
Developed new hunting habits, new hunting technologies
The earliest Europeans left hundreds of cave paintings: depictions of animals and humans and abstract designs (maybe early form of writing)
Scholars debate the meaning of cave images
Perhaps examples of “totemic” thinking—the belief that particular people are associated with or descended from particular animals
Perhaps “hunting magic” to enhance success
Perhaps part of religious practice or rites of passage
Perhaps showed division of male and female realms
Development of new technologies in Ukraine and Russia
Needles, multilayered clothing, weaving, nets, baskets, pottery,etc.
Partially underground dwellings made from mammoth remains
Suggests semipermanent settlement
Creation of female figurines (“Venus figurines”)
Have been found all across Europe
Into Australia
Humans reached Australia about 60,000 years ago from Indonesia
First known use of boats
Very sparse settlement; estimated 300,000 people in 1788
Development of some 250 languages
Still completely a gathering and hunting economy when Europeans arrived in 1785. complex worldview: the Dreamtime
Stories, ceremonies, and art tell of ancestral beings
Everything in the natural order is an echo of ancient happenings
Current people are intimately related to places and events in past
Major communication and exchange networks
Included stones, pigments, wood, pituri (psychoactive drug)
Also included songs, dances, stories, and rituals
Into the Americas
When settlement of the Americas began is still argued over (somewhere between 30,000 and 15,000 years ago)
Mode of migration (Bering Strait or by sea down west coast of North America) also still argued about
How many migrations and how long they took also argued over
Evidence of humans in southern Chile by 12,500 years ago
Clovis: the first clearly defined and widespread culture of the Americas
Name comes from the Clovis point, a kind of projectile point
Flourished 12,000–11,000 years ago
Hunted large mammals (mammoths, bison)
Disappeared about 10,900 years ago, at the same time as the extinction of a number of large mammals
Next stage: much greater cultural diversity, as people adapted to the end of the Ice Age in different ways
Into the Pacific
The last phase of the great human migration, started ca. 3,500 years ago
Migration by water from the Bismarck and Solomon islands and the Philippines
Very quick migration over very long distances
Migrants spoke Austronesian languages (can be traced to southern China)
Settled every habitable area of the Pacific basin within 2,500 years
Also settled the island of Madagascar
Made Austronesian the most widespread language family
Completed initial human settlement of the world ca. 900 c.e. with occupation of Aotearoa (New Zealand)
Pacific settlers
Took agriculture with them, unlike other migrations
Apparently followed a deliberate colonization plan
Created highly stratified societies or chiefdoms (e.g., Hawaii)
Massive environmental impact on previous uninhabited lands
Many animals became extinct
Deforestation of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) in fifteenth to seventeenth centuries nearly destroyed society there
The Ways We Were
The First Human Societies
Societies were small, bands of 25–50 people
Relationships defined by kinship
Very low population density (because of available technology)
Very slow population growth
Perhaps 10,000 people in world 100,000 years ago
Grew to 500,000 by 30,000 years ago
Reached 6 million 10,000 years ago
Paleolithic bands were seasonally mobile or nomadic
Moved in regular patterns to exploit wild plants and animals
Since they moved around, they couldn’t accumulate goods
Societies were highly egalitarian
Perhaps the most free people in human existence
No formal chiefs, kings, bureaucrats, soldiers, priests
Did not have specialists, so most people had the same skills
Male and female tasks often differed sharply
Relationships between women and men were far more equal than in later societies
Women as gatherers provided the bulk of family food,perhaps 70 percent of diet
James Cook described the gathering and hunting peoples of Australia as tranquil and socially equal
But European settlers found physical competition among Australian males, wife beating
Paleolithic societies had clearly defined rules
Men hunted, women gathered
Clear rules about distribution of meat from a kill
Rules about incest and adultery
Economy and the Environment
Gathering and hunting peoples used to be regarded as “primitive” and impoverished
Modern studies point out that they worked fewer hours
Wanted or needed little
But life expectancy was low (35 years on average)
Alteration of natural environments
Deliberately set fires to encourage growth of certain plants
Extinction of many large animals shortly after humans arrived
Gradual extinction of other hominids, like the Neanderthals (Europe) and Flores man (Indonesia)
The Realm of the Spirit
It is difficult to decipher the spiritual world of Paleolithic peoples
Lack of written sources
Art is subject to interpretation
Contemporary gathering and hunting peoples may not reflect ancient experience
Paleolithic peoples had a rich ceremonial life
Led by part-time shamans (people especially skilled at dealing with the spirit world)
Frequent use of psychoactive drugs to contact spirits
Apparent variety of beliefs
Some societies were seemingly monotheistic
Others saw several levels of supernatural beings
Still others believed in an impersonal force running throughout the natural order
Could be accessed by shamans in a trance dance
Venus figurines make some scholars think that Paleolithic religion was strongly feminine, with a Great Goddess
Many peoples probably had a cyclical view of time
Settling Down: “The Great Transition”
Gradual change as populations grew, climates changed, and peoples interacted
Collection of wild grains started in northeastern Africa around 16,000 years ago
Last Ice Age ended 16,000–10,000 years ago
Followed by a “global warming” period
Richer and more diverse environment for human societies
Population rise
Beginnings of settlement
Settlement led to societal change
Larger and more complex societies
Storage and accumulation of goods led to inequality
Settling-down process occurred in many areas 12,000–4,000 years ago
Jomon culture in Japan
Scandinavia, Southeast Asia, North America, Middle East
Bows and arrows were invented independently in Europe, Africa, and Middle East
The process of settlement was a major turn in human history
Placed greater demand on the environment, led to agriculture
Comparing Paleolithic Societies
Both the San and the Chumash preserved their ancient way of life into modern times.
The San of Southern Africa
Northern fringe of the Kalahari Desert (present-day Angola, Namibia, Botswana)
50,000–80,000 San still live in the region
Part of the Khoisan language family, inhabited southern Africa at least 5,000 years
Gathering and hunting way of life, with stone tools
Remarkable rock art, going back 26,000 years
Tradition persisted into the nineteenth century
Perhaps reflected the religious experience of trance healers
Most of the Khoisan peoples were absorbed or displaced by Bantu-speaking peoples
The San (Ju/’hoansi) still practiced their ancient life with few borrowings when anthropologists started studying them in the 1950s and 1960s
Use some twenty-eight tools, including digging stick, leather garment for carrying things, knife, spear, bow and poisoned arrows, ropes, and nets
Men hunt, women do most of gathering
Adequate diet
Short workweek, with even labor division between men and women
Uncertain and anxious life, dependent on nature
San society characterized by mobility, sharing, and equality
Basic unit is band of 10–30 people, connected to other bands
Many people claimed membership in more than one band
Frequent movement to new territory
No formal leaders, priests, or craft specialists
Very complex social relations
High value given to modesty, cooperation, equality
e.g., “insulting the meat”: a hunter is expected to disparage his accomplishment
Complex system of unequal gift exchange
Relative equality between the sexes
Free sex play between teenagers
Most marriages are monogamous
Frequent divorce among young couples
Frequent conflict over distribution of meat; rivalries over women
Belief system:
Creator God, Gao Na, is capricious
Lesser god Gauwa is destructive but sometimes assists humans
Gauwasi (spirits of dead ancestors) are most serious threat to human welfare
Evil influences can be counteracted with n/um, a spiritual potency that can be activated in “curing dances”
State of warfare with the divine
The Chumash of Southern California
Show a later Paleolithic stage than the San, with permanent villages
Chumash lived near present-day Santa Barbara, California
Richer environment than the San
Perhaps 20,000 when the Spaniards arrived in the sixteenth century
Chumash created new society after 1150 c.e. in response to violence and food shortages
Central technological innovation: the planked canoe (tomol)
Ability to make and own tomol led to social inequality
Stimulated trade between the coast and islands made deep-sea fishing possible
Living conditions were more elaborate than the San
Round, permanent, substantial houses (for up to 70 people)
A market economy, despite being gathering and hunting peoples
Use of money (stringed beads)
Regulation of the money supply to prevent inflation
Specialized production
Payment for services of dancers, healers, and buriers
Some private ownership
Beginning of class distinctions (e.g., bearskin capes, burials)
Emergence of a permanent, hereditary political elite
Chiefs (some were women) led in war and rituals, regulated trade
Periodic feasts for the poor
Chumash largely solved the problems of violence in the regionV. Reflections: The Uses of the Paleolithic
The study of history is about those who tell it today, not just about the past.
Views of the past reflect our own smugness or disillusionment
Paleolithic era is sometimes regarded as a golden age
Admired by feminists, environmentalists, antimaterialists
Scholars have looked to the Paleolithic era in questioning explosive population and economic growth of recent past
Gathering and hunting peoples of today have looked to Paleolithic era in an effort to maintain or recover their identities
A basic question: “What have we lost in the mad rush to modernity?”
Nobody can be completely detached when studying the past.
But passionate involvement is a good thing
Chapter 2
In the past two centuries, there has been a dramatic decline in the number of farmers worldwide.
The United States is an extreme case: only around 5 percent of Americans, many of them over 65 years old, were still on farms in 2000
Great increase in the productivity of modern agriculture
The modern retreat from the farm is a reversal of humanity’s first turn to agriculture.
The Agricultural Revolution in World History
Agriculture is the second great human process after settlement of the globe.
Started about 12,000 years ago
Often called the Neolithic or Agricultural Revolution
Deliberate cultivation of plants and domestication of animals
Transformed human life across the planet
Agriculture is the basis for almost all human developments since.
Agriculture brought about a new relationship between humans and other living things.
Actively changing what they found in nature rather than just using it
Shaping the landscape
Selective breeding of animals
“Domestication” of nature created new mutual dependence.
Many domesticated plants and animals came to rely on humans
Humans lost gathering and hunting skills
Population increase: too many humans to live by gathering and hunting
“Intensification” of living: getting more food and resources from much less land.
More food led to more people
More people led to greater need for intensive exploitation
Comparing Agricultural Beginnings
The Agricultural Revolution happened independently in several world regions.
Fertile Crescent of Southwest Asia
Several areas in sub-Saharan Africa
China
New Guinea
Mesoamerica
The Andes
Eastern North America
All happened at about the same time, 12,000–4000 years ago
Scholars have struggled with the question of why agriculture developed so late in human history
Common Patterns
Agricultural Revolution coincided with the end of the last Ice Age
Global warming cycle started around 16,000 years ago
Ice Age was over by about 11,000 years ago
End of Ice Age coincided with human migration across earth
Extinction of some large mammals: climate change and hunting
Warmer, wetter weather allowed more wild plants to flourish
Gathering and hunting peoples had already learned some ways to manage the natural world
“Broad Spectrum Diet”
Development of sickles, baskets, and other tools to make use of wild grain in the Middle East
Amazon: peoples had learned to cut back some plants to encourage growth of the ones they wanted
Australians had elaborate eel traps
Women were probably the agricultural innovators
Men perhaps led in domesticating animals
Gathering and hunting peoples started to establish more permanent villages
Especially in resource-rich areas
Population growth perhaps led to a “food crisis”
Motivation to increase the food supply
Agriculture developed in a number of regions, but with variation
Depended on the plants and animals that were available
Only a few hundred plant species have been domesticated
Five (wheat, corn, rice, barley, sorghum) supply over half the calories that sustain humans
Only 14 large mammal species were domesticated
Variations
The Fertile Crescent was the first to have a full Agricultural Revolution
Presence of large variety of plants and animals to be domesticated
Transition to agriculture triggered by a cold and dry spell between 11,000 and 9500 b.c.e.
Transition apparently only took about 500 years
Much larger settlements
Much more societal sophistication (mud bricks, monuments and shrines, more elaborate burials, more sophisticated tools)
At about the same time, domestication started in the eastern Sahara (present-day Sudan)
The region was much more hospitable 10,000–5,000 years ago
Domestication of cattle there about 1,000 years before Middle East and India
The donkey was domesticated nearer the Red Sea
In Africa, animals were domesticated first; elsewhere, plants were domesticated first
Emergence of several widely scattered farming practices
Sorghum in eastern Sahara region
Teff and enset in Ethiopian highlands
Yams, oil palm trees, okra, and the kola nut in West Africa
African agriculture was less productive than agriculture in the Fertile Crescent
Separate development of agriculture at several places in the Americas
Absence of animals available for domestication
Only one of the 14 domesticated large mammals existed in the Americas: the llama/alpaca
So Americans lacked protein, manure, and power of large animals
Americans continued to rely on hunting for meat
Only cereal grain available was maize or corn
Required thousands of years of selective adaptation to reach a size sufficient for productive agriculture
Nutritionally poorer than cereals of the Fertile Crescent
Result: replacement of gathering and hunting with agriculture took 3,500 years in Mesoamerica
Americas are oriented north/south, so agricultural practices had to adapt to distinct climate zones to spread
East/West axis of Eurasia helped the spread of innovation
Domesticated plants and animals took much longer to spread in the Americas
The Globalization of Agriculture
Agriculture spread in two ways:
Diffusion: gradual spread of techniques and perhaps plants and animals,but without much movement of human population
Colonization or migration of agricultural peoples
Conquest, absorption, or displacement of gatherers and hunters
Often both processes were involved
Triumph and Resistance
Language and culture spread with agriculture
Indo-European languages probably started in Turkey, are spoken today from Europe to India
Similar process with Chinese farming
Spread of Bantu language in southern Africa
Bantu speakers originated in southern Nigeria or Cameroon ca. 3000 b.c.e.
Moved south and east over several millennia, taking agriculture with them
Similar spread of Austronesian-speaking peoples to Philippines and Indonesian islands, then to Pacific islands
The globalization of agriculture took about 10,000 years
Did not spread beyond its core region in New Guinea
Did not spread in a number of other regions
Was resisted where the land was unsuitable for farming or where there was great natural abundance
Some peoples apparently just didn’t want agriculture
By the beginning of the Common Era, gathering and hunting peoples were a small minority of humankind
Expansion of agriculture destroyed gathering and hunting societies
Process was sometimes peaceful, sometimes violent
The Culture of Agriculture
Agriculture led to much greater populations
e.g., early settlement near Jericho had about 2,000 people
Changes in world population
10,000 years ago: around 6 million people
5,000 years ago: around 50 million people
Beginning of Common Era: around 250 million people
Farming did not necessarily improve life for ordinary people
Meant much more hard work
Health deteriorated in early agricultural societies
New diseases from interaction with animals
The first epidemics, thanks to larger communities
New vulnerability to famine, because of dependence on a small number of plants or animals
New constraints on human communities
All agricultural people settled in permanent villages
The case of BanPo in China (settled ca. 7,000 years ago)
Explosion of technological innovation
Pots
Textiles
Textile work, like horticultural farming, was especially suitable for women with children
Metallurgy
“Secondary Products Revolution” started ca. 4000 b.c.e.: a new set of technological changes
New uses for domesticated animals, including milking, riding, hitching them to plows and carts
Only available in the Eastern Hemisphere
Deliberate alteration of the natural ecosystem
Removal of ground cover, irrigation, grazing
Evidence of soil erosion and deforestation in the Middle East within 1,000 years after beginning of agriculture
Social Variation in the Age of Agriculture
Pastoral Societies
Some regions relied much more heavily on animals, because farming was difficult or impossible there
Pastoral nomads emerged in central Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, the Sahara desert, parts of eastern and southern Africa
Relied on different animals in different regions
Horses were domesticated by 4000 b.c.e.; encouraged the spread of pastoral peoples on Central Asian steppes
Domesticated camels allowed human life in the inner Asian, Arabian, and Saharan deserts
No pastoral societies emerged in the Americas
Agricultural Village Societies
Most characteristic form of early agricultural societies, like Banpoor Jericho
Maintenance of equality and freedom (no kings, chiefs, bureaucrats, aristocrats)
The case of Çatalhüyük, in southern Turkey
Population: several thousand
Dead buried under their houses
No streets; people moved around on rooftops
Many specialized crafts, but little sign of inherited social inequality
No indication of male or female dominance
Men hunted; women were involved in agriculture
Village-based agricultural societies were usually organized by kinship, group, or lineage
Performed the functions of government
The Tiv of central Nigeria organized nearly a million people this way in the late nineteenth century
Sometimes modest social/economic inequality developed
Elders could win privileges
Control of female reproductive powers
Chiefdoms
Chiefs, unlike kings, usually rely on generosity, ritual status, or charisma to govern, not force
Chiefdoms emerged in Mesopotamia sometime after 6000 b.c.e.
Anthropologists have studied recent chiefdoms in the Pacific islands
Chiefdoms such as Cahokia emerged in North America
Distinction between elite and commoner was first established
Based on birth, not age or achievement
Reflections: The Legacies of Agriculture
Agriculture is a recent development in world history.
Was an adaptation to the unique conditions of the latest interglacial period
Has radically transformed human life and life on the planet more generally
One species, Homo sapiens, was given growing power over other animals and plants.
Agriculture also gave som
Chapter 3
The contrast between “artificial” life as a “civilized” city dweller and the spacious freedom and imagined simplicity of earlier times still resonates today.
“Civilizations” are a relatively recent phenomenon in human history made possible by the surpluses produced by the Agricultural Revolution.
The distinctive features of civilizations are:
Cities with monumental architecture and populations in the tens of thousands
Powerful states that could compel obedience and wage large-scale warfare
Much greater inequality in economic function, wealth, and social status
Something New: The Emergence of Civilizations
Civilization was a global phenomenon
Six major civilizations and some smaller manifestations
Scattered around world
Developed after 3500 b.c.e.
Introducing the First Civilizations
One of the earliest civilizations emerged in Sumer (in southern Mesopotamia) between 3500 and 3000 b.c.e.
First written language
Appearance of Egyptian civilization in Nile River Valley (northeast Africa) and smaller Nubian civilization to its south at about the same time
Norte Chico (central coastal Peru), emerged between 3000 and 1800 b.c.e.
Twenty-five urban centers
Norte Chico differed in several ways from Mesopotamia and Egypt:
Smaller cities without walls or signs of pervasive warfare
Less evidence of economic specialization
No grain-based agriculture
Did not develop certain technologies like pottery
Developed an accounting system based on the quipu (a series of knotted cords) but no writing system
Unusually self-contained; only import was maize, derived from Mesoamerica
Indus Valley civilization in Indus and Saraswati river valleys of present-day Pakistan arose between 3000 and 2000 b.c.e.
Elaborately planned cities and standardized weights, measures,architectural styles, and brick sizes
Written script that remains thus far undeciphered
Unlike other civilizations, it generated no palaces, temples, elaborate graves, kings, or warrior classes
Scholars remain uncertain as to how society was organized; theories include a series of small republics, rule by priests, or an early form of the caste system
Environmental degradation led to the collapse of this civilization by about 1700 b.c.e., but several aspects of its culture shaped later Indian societies
Around 2200 b.c.e., a First Civilization took shape in China
From the start, China was defined by the ideal of a centralized state
The Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties enlarged the Chinese state
Ruler was the “Son of Heaven,” an intermediary between heaven and earth
Early written language with oracle bones as early documents
China has maintained impressive cultural continuity into modern times
The Olmec produced a First Civilization much later (around 1200 b.c.e.) on coast of Gulf of Mexico, near present-day Veracruz
Cities arose from competing chiefdoms and produced elaborate ceremonial centers
Created the first written language in the Americas by about 900 b.c.e.
Culture influenced later civilizations in Mesoamerica, including the Maya and Teotihuacán
Other smaller civilizations also flourished
Nubian civilization south of Egypt was distinctive and independent
City of Sanxingdui in China arose separately from the more well-known Shang Dynasty
The Question of Origins
First Civilizations had their roots in the Agricultural Revolution
First Civilizations tended to develop from earlier, competing chiefdoms that already had some social rank and economic specialization
Process was gradual and evolutionary
Why did some chiefdoms develop into civilizations and others did not?
One argument: the need to organize large-scale irrigation projects (archeologists have found that these projects appeared long after civilizations began)
Another argument: the needs of elite groups, warfare, and trade all played roles as well
Robert Carneiro’s argument: population density created competition, especially when agricultural land was limited
Tensions sparked innovations such as irrigation and plows and also intense competition that led to repeated warfare
Winners absorbed losing populations into their societies as subordinated workers
The creation of the First Civilizations was quick by world history standards but was an unconscious undertaking for those involved
All First Civilizations relied on highly productive agriculture D. An Urban Revolution
Cities were one of the most distinctive features of First Civilizations
The scale, layout, and specialized industries of cities would have impressed visitors from villages
Cities lay at the heart of all First Civilizations because they were:
Political/administrative capitals
Centers of cultural production—art, architecture, literature, ritual, and ceremony
Places of local and long-distance exchange
Centers of manufacturing activity
Cities produced new societies with greater specialization and inequality
The Erosion of Equality
Professional and craft specialization marked early urban life.
Hierarchies of Class
First Civilizations had vast inequalities in wealth, status, and power
Civilizations multiplied and magnified inequalities that already existed in complex gathering and hunting societies and agricultural chiefdoms
These new levels of inequality represent one of the major turning points in the social history of humankind
Upper classes:
Enjoyed great wealth
Avoided physical labor
Had the finest in everything
Occupied the top positions in political, military, and religious life
And were frequently distinguished by their
Clothing
Houses
Manner of burial
Treatment under the law
Free commoners formed the vast majority of the population and included artisans of all kinds, lower-level officials, soldiers and police, servants, and farmers
Their surplus production was appropriated to support the upper classes
Some members of these classes recognized and resented their situation
Slaves were at the bottom of social hierarchies everywhere
Slavery and civilization seem to have emerged together
First-generation slaves were prisoners of war, criminals, and debtors
Worked in fields, mines, homes, and shops
More rarely, they were sacrificed
Slavery varied from place to place
Egypt and the Indus Valley civilizations initially had fewer slaves than the more militarized Mesopotamia
Later, the Greeks and Romans employed slaves far more extensively than did the Chinese or Indians
Most ancient slavery differed from the recent American variety
Slaves were not a primary agricultural labor force
Many children of slaves were freed
Slavery was not defined by race or skin color
Hierarchies of Gender
Civilizations everywhere undermined the earlier and more equal relationships between men and women
Women in horticultural societies remained relatively equal to men
But patriarchy gradually emerged in First Civilizations
More intensive agriculture with animal-drawn plows and large dairy herds favored male labor over female
Patriarchy also developed in civilizations without plow agriculture, such as Mesoamerica and the Andes
David Christian: the declining position of women was a product of growing social complexity
Men were less important in the household, so may have been more available to assume powerful and prestigious specialist roles
Men used this authority to shape the values and practices of their societies in ways that benefited them at the expense of women
The association of women with nature because of their role in reproduction may also have played a role
Civilizations highlight human mastery over nature
Women may have become associated with an inferior dimension of human life (nature)
Warfare may also have contributed to patriarchy
Large-scale military conflict was a feature of most First Civilizations
Military service was largely restricted to men
Private property and commerce also may have played a role
Need to restrict female sexual activities to assure inheritance by father’s offspring
Exchange of female slaves, concubines, and wives became part of male commerce
Patriarchy in Practice
Gerda Lerner: emergence of patriarchy in Mesopotamia
Written law codes codified patriarchal family life
Regulation of female sexuality was central
Women in Mesopotamia were sometimes divided into two sharply distinguished categories, depending on protection of one man
Powerful goddesses of Mesopotamia were gradually replaced by male deities
Egyptian patriarchy gave women greater opportunities than in most First Civilizations, including ability to:
Own property and slaves
Administer and sell land
Make their own wills
Sign their own marriage contracts
Initiate divorce
Royal women occasionally wielded political power as regents for their sons or, more rarely, as queens in their own right
Egyptian statues and love poetry suggest affection between sexes
The Rise of the State
States were central to the organization and stability of First Civilizations.
Coercion and Consent
The state fulfilled a variety of roles in coordinating and regulating the First Civilizations, including
Organizing irrigation systems
Adjudicating conflicts
Defense
The state served the needs of the upper classes by:
Protecting the privileges of the elites
Requiring farmers to give up a portion of their product to support city people
Demanding labor on large public projects
The state frequently used force to secure its will
Force was not always necessary because the state often claimed that its authority was normal, natural, and ordained by the gods
Rule by divine right
Deference to religion restrained or even undermined the right to rule as in the rule of Chinese emperors by the Mandate of Heaven
Writing and Accounting
Writing provided support for the state and emerged in all of the First Civilizations except the Andes (though some scholars now regard their knotted strings, or quipus, as a kind of writing)
Writing sustained the First Civilizations by:
Defining elite status and conveying prestige on those who wrote
Allowing some commoners to join the elite through literacy
Providing a means for propaganda
Providing a means to keep accurate accounts and complex calendars
Giving weight to regulations and laws
Writing also served functions beyond the state
Fostered literature, philosophy, astronomy, mathematics, and history
Sometimes threatened rulers
The Grandeur of Kings
Source of state authority
Monumental residences and temples
Luxurious dress
Elaborate burials
Comparing Mesopotamia and Egypt
Environment and Culture
Both depended on rivers, but were very different
Erratic and destructive flooding in Mesopotamia
Nile flooded more predictably and less destructively
Mesopotamia was less geographically isolated than Egypt
Mesopotamia was vulnerable to external attack
Egypt was usually protected from external attack
Many scholars see a relationship between physical setting and culture
More negative Mesopotamian worldview seems to reflect its precarious and violent environment
Egyptian worldview reflected the more stable, predictable, and beneficent environment in which it took shape
Environmental impact of rising population
In southern Mesopotamia, deforestation, soil erosion, and salinization of the soil weakened Sumerian city-states, leading to foreign conquest and the northward shift of Mesopotamia’s cultural centers
Egypt built a more sustainable agricultural system that contributed to the remarkable continuity of its civilization
Cities and States
The political systems of Mesopotamia and Egypt differed sharply
Mesopotamia for its first thousand years was organized into a dozen or more separate city-states
Each city-state was ruled by a king
80 percent of the population lived in city-states for protection
Environmental devastation and endemic warfare ultimately led to conquest by outside forces after about 2350 b.c.e.
These outside powers built large territorial states or bureaucratic empires encompassing all or most of Mesopotamia
Egypt
Around 3100 b.c.e., several earlier states or chiefdoms merged into a unified territory that stretched some 1,000 miles along the Nile
For 3,000 years, Egypt maintained its unity and independence with few interruptions
Unity was reinforced by ease of travel along Nile
Most Egyptians lived in agricultural villages, perhaps because of greater security
The pharaoh, a god in human form, was the focus of the Egyptian state
The pharaoh ensured the annual flooding of the Nile
The pharaoh defined the law of the land
Access to the afterlife was linked to proximity to the pharaoh
Pharaohs were most powerful before 2400 b.c.e.
Local officials gained in power over time
Pharaohs were discredited by Nile’s failure to flood around 2200 b.c.e.
From 2200 to 2000 b.c.e., anarchy; when state was restored, pharaohs never regained their old power
Interaction and Exchange
Egypt and Mesopotamia frequently interacted
Egypt’s agriculture benefited from interaction
Mesopotamian models may have influenced Egypt’s step pyramids and system of writing
Egypt’s “divine kingship” seems to have been derived from central or eastern Sudan
Both Mesopotamia and Egypt carried on extensive long-distance trade
Mesopotamian sea trade with the Indus Valley civilization as early as 2300 b.c.e.
Mesopotamian trade with Anatolia, Egypt, Iran, and Afghanistan
Egyptian trade in the Mediterranean and Middle East
Egyptian trade in Nubia and along the East African coast
Mesopotamian and Egyptian cultural influences moved along trade routes
Hebrews migrated from Mesopotamia to Palestine and Egypt early in their history
Mesopotamian influence on Hebrew laws and flood story
Emerging conception of a merciful and single deity, Yahweh, who demanded an ethical life from his people, was unique
Phoenicians (in present-day Lebanon) were commercially active in the Mediterranean basin
Adopted the Mesopotamian fertility goddess
Adapted Mesopotamian writing into simpler alphabetic system
Some Indo-European peoples settled in north-central Anatolia
Adopted deities, bronze metallurgy, and the wheel from Mesopotamia
Spread them with further migrations
Sustained contact between Nubia and Egypt
Nubians built Egyptian-style pyramids
Nubians worshipped Egyptian gods and goddesses
Nubians used Egyptian hieroglyphic writing
But Nubia maintained its distinctiveness
Developed an alphabetic script
Retained many of its own gods
Developed a major ironworking industry by 500 b.c.e.
Asserted political independence whenever possible
In the Mediterranean basin:
Egyptian influence can be seen in Minoan art (emerged in Crete around 2500 b.c.e.)
Martin Bernal: the Greeks drew heavily upon both Egyptian and Mesopotamian precedents in art,religion, philosophy, and language
Mesopotamia and Egypt were also influenced by their neighbors
Indo-Europeans brought horse-and-chariot-based armies to Mesopotamia; Indo-European Hittites conquered the Babylonian empire in 1595 b.c.e.
The Hyksos invaded using chariot-based armies and ruled Egypt between 1650 and 1535 b.c.e.
Mesopotamians and Egyptians adopted chariot technology
Arrival of the Hyksos spurred further innovations in Egypt:
New armor and weaponry
New methods of spinning and weaving
New musical instruments
Olive and pomegranate trees
By 1500 b.c.e., Egypt had become an imperial state
Rule over non-Egyptian peoples in both Africa and Asia
Regular diplomatic correspondence with Middle Eastern empires
Reflections: “Civilization”: What’s in a Word?
Some scholars have reservations about the use of the word “civilizations” to describe the cultures studied in this chapter.
Implication of superiority: “civilization” in popular usage suggests refined behavior, a “higher” form of society, something unreservedly positive; using this word implies that other ways of living are “uncivilized,” which normally implies inferiority
Modern assessments of the First Civilizations reveal a profound ambiguity.
They gave us inspiring art, profound reflections on life, more productive technologies, increased control over nature, and writing
But they also produced massive inequalities, state oppression, slavery, large-scale warfare, the subordination of women, and epidemic disease
Some scholars prefer more neutral terms, such as complex societies, urban-based societies, or state-organized societies.
Scholars object to the term “civilization,” because it implies more clear-cut boundaries from other societies than was actually the case.
Aside from elites, most of the people living in the First Civilizations probably defined themselves more by occupation, clan, village, city, or region than as a member of some larger “civilization”
First Civilizations lacked clear borders
Unclear line between civilizations and other kinds of societies
This book continues to use the term because:
It is so deeply embedded in our way of thinking about the world
No alternative concept has achieved widespread usage
We need to make distinctions among different kinds of human communities
But in using this term, we must remember:
Historians use “civilization” as a purely descriptive term designating a particular type of human society—one with cities and states—without implying any judgment or assessment, any sense of superiority or inferiority
it is used to define broad cultural patterns in particular geographic regions while recognizing that many people living in those regions may have been more aware of differences and conflicts than of those commonalities
Monday, July 18, 2011
chapter 23 and 24
chapter 23
Nelson Mandela of South Africa spent 27 years in prison for treason, sabotage, and conspiracy.
In 1994, he became South Africa’s first black president
Decolonization was vastly important in the second half of the twentieth century.
The newly independent states experimented politically, economically, and culturally
These states were labeled as the third world during the cold war
Now are often called developing countries or the Global South
They include a large majority of the world’s population
Suffer from enormous challenges
Toward Freedom: Struggles for Independence
The End of Empire in World History
India, Pakistan, Burma, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, and Israel won independence in the late 1940s
African independence came between mid-1950s and mid-1970s
More than 50 colonies won freedom
Imperial breakup wasn’t new; the novelty was mobilization of the masses around a nationalist ideology and creation of a large number of new nation-states
Some comparison to the first decolonization of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries
But in the Americas, most colonized people were of European origin, holding a common culture with their colonial rulers
Fall of many empires in the twentieth century
Austrian and Ottoman empires collapsed in the wake of World War I
Russian Empire collapsed but was soon recreated as the USSR
German and Japanese empires ended with World War II
African and Asian independence movements shared with other “end of empire” stories the ideal of national self-determination
Nonterritorial empires (e.g., where United States wielded powerful influence) came under attack
U.S. intrusion helped stimulate the Mexican Revolution(1910)
As in Mexico, Cuban revolution (1959–1960) included nationalization of assets dominated by foreign investors
Disintegration of the USSR (1991) was propelled by national self-determination (creation of 15 new states)
Explaining African and Asian Independence
Few people would have predicted imperial collapse in 1900
Several explanations for decolonization have emerged:
Emphasis on the fundamental contradictions in the colonial enterprise
Rhetoric of Christianity and material progress didn’t fit the reality of racism, exploitation, and poverty
Europeans’ increasingly democratic values were in conflict with colonial dictatorship
Ideal of national self-determination was at odds with repression of the same in colonies
Historians use the idea of “conjuncture” to explain timing of decolonization
The world wars had weakened Europe and undermined a sense of European superiority
The United States and USSR opposed older European colonial empires
The UN provided a platform for anticolonial moves
These factors helped create a moral climate in which imperialism was viewed as wrong
By the early to mid-twentieth century, the colonies had multiple generations of Western-educated elites
Some scholars emphasize the role of specific groups and individuals—the issue of “agency”
In many areas, colonial powers themselves planned for independence of colonies
Pressure of nationalist movements
The leaders of some nationalist movements became the “fathers” of new states: Gandhi and Nehru (India), Sukarno (Indonesia), Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam), Nkrumah (Ghana), Mandela (South Africa)
Millions of ordinary people joined in
Independence was contested everywhere
Independence efforts usually were not cohesive movements of uniformly oppressed people
Fragile coalitions of conflicting groups and parties
Comparing Freedom Struggles
The Case of India: Ending British Rule
Before 1900, few people of the Indian subcontinent thought of themselves as “Indians”
Cultural identity was primarily local
Diversity was enormous
British rule promoted a growing sense of Indian identity
Unlike earlier foreign rulers, the British didn’t assimilate; Indians shared more similarities to each other than to the rulers
British communications and administrative networks, schools, and use of English bound India together
1885: establishment of the Indian National Congress (INC)
Almost exclusively an association of English-educated, high-caste Hindus
Made moderate demands; at first asked for a greater role in the life of British India
British mocked them and rejected their claim to speak for all Indians
The INC only began to gain a wide following after World War I
In 1917, Britain promised future development of self-government
British attacks on the Ottoman Empire antagonized Muslim Indians
Repressive actions by the British caused outrage
The role of Mohandas Gandhi (1869–1948)
Had studied law in England but wasn’t a very successful lawyer
In 1893, took a job in South Africa
Joined a movement to fight racial segregation there
Developed a notion of India that included both Hindus and Muslims
Developed the political philosophy of satyagraha (“truth force”)
Active but nonviolent confrontation
Back in India, Gandhi became a leader of the INC
1920s and 1930s: periodic mass campaigns that won massive public support
British responded with repression and concessions
Gandhi transformed the INC into a mass organization
Won the name “Mahatma” (Great Soul)
Attacked not just colonial rule but also mistreatment of India’s untouchables and the evils of modernization
Not everyone agreed with Gandhi
Especially important was a growing Muslim/Hindu divide
1906: creation of an All-India Muslim League
Some Hindu politicians defined the nationalist struggle in religious terms
Muhammad Ali Jinnah, head of the Muslim League, argued that regions of India with a Muslim majority should be a separate state (Pakistan, the land of the pure)
Independence in 1947 created two countries
Pakistan (Muslim, divided into two wings 1,000 miles apart)
India (secular but mostly Hindu)
Process was accompanied by massive violence; some 1 million died, 12 million refugees relocated
1948: a Hindu extremist assassinated Gandhi
The Case of South Africa: Ending Apartheid
South Africa won freedom from Great Britain in 1910
But its government was controlled by a white settler minority
So the black South African freedom struggle was against an internal opponent
White population was split between British descendants (had economic superiority) and Afrikaners (Boers) of Dutch descent (had political dominance)
Afrikaners had failed to win independence from the British in the Boer War (1899–1902)
Both white groups felt threatened by any move toward black majority rule
By the early 1900s, South Africa had a mature industrial economy
By the 1960s, had major foreign investments and loans
Black South Africans were extremely dependent on the white-controlled economy
The issue of race was overwhelmingly prominent
Policy of apartheid tried to keep blacks and white completely separate, while retaining black labor power
Enormous repressive powers enforced social segregation
African National Congress (ANC) founded in 1912
Like India’s INC, it consisted of elite Africans who wanted a voice in society
For 40 years, the ANC was peaceful and moderate
1950s: moved to nonviolent civil disobedience
The government’s response was overwhelming repression
69 unarmed demonstrators were shot at Sharpville in 1960
ANC was banned and its leadership imprisoned
Underground nationalist leaders turned to sabotage and assassination
Opposition came to focus on student groups
Soweto uprising (1976) was the start of spreading violence
Organization of strikes
Growing international pressure
Exclusion from international sporting events
Economic boycotts
Withdrawal of private investment funds
Negotiations began in the late 1980s
Key apartheid policies were abandoned
Mandela was freed and the ANC legalized
1994: national elections brought the ANC to power
Apartheid was ended without major bloodshed
Most important threat was a number of separatist and “Africans only” groups
Experiments with Freedom
New nations emerging from colonial rule confronted the problem of how to parlay independence into economic development and industrial growth,unification, and political participation.
Already independent but non industrialized countries faced the same quest for a better life
All together = the third world (developing countries, the Global South)
1950–2000: developing nations contained 75 percent of world population
Accounted for almost all of the quadrupling of world population in the twentieth century
Independence created euphoria, but optimism soon faded in light of difficulties
Experiments in Political Order: Comparing African Nations and India
Common conditions confronted all efforts to establish political order:
Explosive population growth
Overly high expectations for independence
Cultural diversity, with little loyalty to a central state
In the 1950s, British, French, and Belgians set up democratic institutions in their African colonies
Few still survived by the early 1970s
Many were swept away by military coups
Some evolved into one-party systems
In India, Western-style democracy succeeded
The independence movement was more extended, and power was handed over gradually
Many more Indians than Africans had administrative and technical skills at the time of independence
The Indian Congress Party embodied the whole nationalist movement, without too much internal discord
Various arguments as to why Africans initially rejected democracy
Some argue that the Africans were not ready for democracy or lacked some necessary element
Some argue that African traditional culture (communal,based on consensus) was not compatible with party politics
Some argue that Western-style democracy was inadequate to the task of development
Widespread economic disappointment discredited early African democracies
African economic performance since independence has been poor
Widespread economic hardship
Modern governments staked their popularity on economic success
The well-educated elite benefited most, obtaining high-paying bureaucratic jobs that caused resentment
Economic resentment found expression in ethnic conflict
Repeatedly, the military took power in a crisis
Starting in the 1980s, Western-style democracy has resurfaced
Series of grassroots movements arose after authoritarian governments failed to improve economic situation
Experiments in Economic Development: Changing Priorities, Varying Outcomes
The belief that poverty isn’t inevitable won out
However, in many states, colonial rule had not provided much infrastructure for modern development
Most developing countries didn’t have leverage in negotiation with wealthy nations and corporations
African leaders got contradictory advice on how to develop successfully
General expectation in the developing world that the state would spur economic development
Most private economies were weakly developed
Chinese and Soviet industrialization provided models
But for several decades, there has been growing dependence on market forces for economic development
Many states privatized state-run industries
Influenced by collapse of the USSR’s state-dominated economy
Western pressures pushed developing countries toward capitalism
Urban vs. rural development has been an important issue
In some areas, the “urban bias” has been partly corrected
Women’s access to employment, education, and birth control provided incentives to limit family size
Debate over whether foreign aid, investment, and trade are good or bad
The degree of economic development has varied widely by region
East Asia has been the most successful
1990s: India opened itself more fully to the world market
Several Latin American states developed industrially
Most of Africa, much of the Arab world, and parts of Asia didn’t catch up, and standards of living often declined
There is no general agreement about why such great variations developed
Experiments with Culture: The Role of Islam in Turkey and Iran
The relationship between Western-style modernity and tradition has been an issue across the developing world
The case of Islam: Turkey and Iran approached the issue of how Islam and modernity should relate to each other very differently
Turkey: emerged in the wake of World War I, led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881–1938)
Major cultural revolution in the 1920s and 1930s
Effort to create a thoroughly modern, Western society
Much of the Islamic underpinning of society was abolished or put under firm government control
Effort to keep Islam personal, rather than an official part of public life
Men were ordered not to wear the fez; many elite women gave up the veil
Women gained legal rights, polygamy was abolished, and women got the vote (1930s)
State-organized enterprises were set up
Government remained authoritarian, although a parliamentary system emerged after 1938
Iran: became the center of Islamic revival (1970s)
Growing opposition to Shah Muhammad Reza Pahlavi’s modernizing, secularizing, U.S.-supported government
Many of the shah’s reforms offended traditional Islamic practices
The mosque became the main center of opposition to the government
The Shia ulama had stayed independent from the state
Shia leaders became the voice of opposition, especially the Ayatollah Khomeini
The shah was forced to abdicate in 1979, and Khomeini assumed control of the state
Established the sharia as the law of the land
Secular officials were purged
Rejection of many Western practices as anti-Islamic
The Islamic revolution in Iran wasn’t revolutionary in social terms
Iran also continued to work on economic modernity
Reflections: History in the Middle of the Stream
It is difficult for historians to discuss more recent events and themes like those described in this chapter, because that history is still in the making.
Detachment is difficult
We don’t know what the final outcomes will be
Historians know how unexpected and surprising historical processes can be.
But still, history is our only guide to the possible shape of the future
The history of modern events provides a useful reminder that people in earlier times didn’t know the way things would turn out either
Chapter 24
The discussion of Barbie and Ken dolls shows the power of global commerce today.
But it also shows reaction to the values portrayed by Barbie/Ken elsewhere in the world, e.g., Iran
Iran created new dolls (Sara and Dara) that displayed Iranian Muslim values and practices
But the Sara/Dara dolls and the Barbie/Ken dolls were all made in China
Throughout the twentieth century, a dense web of political relationships, economic transactions, and cultural influences increasingly boundthe world together.
By the 1990s, this process of accelerating engagement was known as globalization
Globalization has a long history upon which twentieth-century globalization was built
Pace of globalization increased rapidly after World War II
Global Interaction and the Transformation of the World Economy
Most commonly, “globalization” refers to international economic transactions.
Has come to seem inevitable to many since 1950
Global economic linkages contracted significantly in the first half of the twentieth century, especially between the two world wars
The capitalist winners of WWII were determined not to repeat the Great Depression
Bretton Woods (New Hampshire) agreements (1944):
Established the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund
Laid the foundation for postwar globalization
The “Bretton Woods system” promoted relatively free trade, stable currencies linked to the U.S. dollar,high levels of capital investment
Technology also helped accelerate economic globalization
1970s: major capitalist countries dropped many controls on economic activity; increasingly viewed the world as a single market
This approach was known as neo-liberalism
Favored reduction of tariffs, free global movement of capital, a mobile and temporary workforce, privatization of state enterprises, less government regulation of the economy, tax and spending cuts
Neo-liberalism was imposed on many poor countries as a condition for giving them loans
The breakdown of communist state-controlled economies furthered the process
Reglobalization
Global economic transactions quickened dramatically after WWII
World trade skyrocketed ($57 billion in 1947; over $7 trillion in 2001)
Money became highly mobile globally
Foreign direct investment (FDI), especially after 1960
Short-term investment in foreign currencies or stocks
International credit cards, allowing easy transfer of money to other countries (e.g., in 2003, MasterCard was accepted in 210 countries or territories)
Disparities and Resistance
Economic globalization accompanied, and maybe helped generate, the greatest economic growth spurt in world history; immense creation of wealth
Life expectancies rose nearly everywhere, infant mortality declined
Literacy rates increased
Great decline in poverty
Massive chasm has developed between rich industrialized countries and everyone else
Ratio between the income of the top and bottom 20 percent of world’s population was 3:1 in 1820; 86:1 in 1991
The great disparity has shaped almost everyone’s life chances
Provided the foundation for a new kind of global conflict
New fights over rules for world trade, foreign aid, representation in international economic organizations, indebtedness, and environmental and labor standards
Growing disparities between the developing countries made common action difficult
Growing economic inequality within individual states, both rich and poor
The United States lost millions of manufacturing jobs, forcing factory workers into lower-paying jobs, while others prospered in high-tech industries
Northern Mexico (with links to the U.S.) became much more prosperous than southern Mexico
Reflected in the Chiapas rebellion, which began in 1994
In China, urban income by 2000 was three times that of rural income
Globalization and an American Empire
For many, opposition to corporate free-trade globalization = opposition to growing U.S. power and influence in the world
Often seen as an “American Empire”
Most Americans deny that America is an empire
Perhaps best described as an “informal empire” like those exercised by Europeans in China and the Middle East in the nineteenth century
Marked by economic penetration, political pressure, and periodic military action, not direct governance
Use of immense wealth to entice or intimidate
“Soft Power” of cultural attractiveness
The collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the cold war left the United States without any equivalent power in opposition
The United States was able to act unilaterally against Afghanistan and Iraq after being attacked by Islamic militants on September 11, 2001
Establishment of a lasting peace is more elusive
The United States is in a new global struggle, to contain or eliminate Islamic “terrorism”
The United States has faced growing international economic competition since about 1975
U.S. share of overall world production: about 50 percent in 1945; 20 percent in the 1980s
Sharp reversal of U.S. trade balance: U.S. imports now far exceed its exports
Armed struggle against U.S. intervention in Vietnam, Cuba, Iraq, etc.
During the cold war, some states turned toward the USSR to limit U.S. influence; France even withdrew from NATO in 1967
Intense dislike of American “cultural imperialism”
By 2000, widespread opposition to U.S. international policies
United States refused to accept International Criminal Court jurisdiction
United States refused to ratify the Kyoto protocol on global warming
U.S. doctrine of preemptive war used in Iraq
U.S. use of torture
The global exercise of American power has also caused controversy within the United States
The Vietnam War split the country worse than anything since the Civil War
The U.S. invasion of Iraq provoked similar protests and controversies
The Globalization of Liberation: Comparing Feminist Movements
The idea of liberation traveled around the world in the twentieth century.
The 1960s in particular saw a convergence of protest movements around the world, suggesting a new global culture of liberation
United States: civil rights, youthful counterculture, antiwar protests
Europe: protests against unresponsive bureaucracy, consumerism, middle-class values (especially in France in 1968)
Communist world: attempt to give socialism a human face in Czechoslovakia (“Prague spring,” 1968)
Movement was crushed by the Soviet Union
China: Cultural Revolution
Development of the idea of a third world
Dream of offering an alternative to both capitalism and communism; cultural renewal
Third world ideology exemplified by Che Guevara (d. 1967): effort to replicate the liberation of the Cuban revolution through guerrilla warfare in Africa and Latin America
Among all the liberation movements, feminism had the most profound potential for change
Rethinking of basic relationships between men and women
Began in the West in the nineteenth century (suffrage)
Feminism in the West
Organized feminism revived in the West (1960s) with a new agenda
Against historic understanding of women as “other” or deviant
Demanded right of women to control their own bodies
Agenda of equal rights in employment and education
“Women’s Liberation”: broad attack on patriarchy as a system of domination
Consciousness raising: becoming aware of oppression
Open discussion of issues involving sexuality
Black women emphasized solidarity with black men, not separation from them
Feminism in the Global South
Women had been welcomed in communist and revolutionary movements but were sidelined after movements’ success
Many African feminists (1970s) thought Western feminists were too individualistic and too focused on sex
Resented Western feminists’ interest in cultural matters like female circumcision and polygamy
Many African governments and many African men identified feminism with colonialism
Not all women’s movements dealt explicitly with gender
Kenya: women’s group movement supported individual women and communities
Morocco: feminist movement targeted law defining women as minors; women finally obtained legal equality in 2004
Chile: women’s movement during Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship (1973–1990) crossed class and party lines, helped groups survive economically, exposed human rights abuses
South Korea: women joined a mass popular movement that brought democracy by the late 1980s
Drew heavily on the experience and exploitation of syoung female workers in the country’s export industries
International Feminism
The “woman question” became a global issue in the twentieth century
Patriarchy lost some of its legitimacy
UN declared 1975 as International Women’s Year
And declared 1975–1985 as the Decade for Women
UN sponsored a series of World Conferences on Women
By 2006, 183 nations had ratified the UN Convention to Eliminate Discrimination against Women
Sharp divisions within global feminism
Who has the right to speak on behalf of women?
Conflict between developed and developing nations’ interests
Third world groups often disagreed
Global backlash
View that feminism had undermined family life
Religion and Global Modernity
Modernity presented a challenge to the world’s religions.
“Advanced” thinkers of the eighteenth–twentieth centuries believed that supernatural religion was headed for extinction
Sharp decline in religious belief and practice in some places
Spread of scientific culture convinced small minorities that the only realities worth considering were those that could be measured scientifically
But the most prominent trends of the last century have been the further spread of major world religions, their resurgence in new forms, and their attacks on elements of a secular and global modernity
Buddhist ideas and practices were well received in the West
Christianity spread even further; majority of Christians are no longer in Europe and the United States
Islam also spread widely
Religious pluralism on a level never before seen
Fundamentalism on a Global Scale
“Fundamentalism” is a major reaction against modernization and globalization
A militant piety, defensive and exclusive
Has developed in every major religious tradition
Many features of the modern world appear threatening to established religion
Have upset customary class, family, and gender relationships
Nation-states (often associated with a particular religion) were undermined by the global economy and foreign culture
Disruption was often caused by foreigners from the West
Fundamentalists have responded with selective rejection of modernity
Actively use modern communication technology
The term “fundamentalism” comes from U.S. religious conservatives in the early twentieth century; called for a return to the fundamentals of Christianity
Many saw the United States on the edge of a moral abyss
In the 1970s, began to enter the political arena as the religious right
Another fundamentalism, called Hindutva, or Hindu nationalism, developed in India in the 1980s
Formed a political party (Bharatiya Janata Party)
Opposed state efforts to cater to Muslims, Sikhs, and the lower castes
BJP promoted a distinct Hindu identity in education, culture, and religion
Creating Islamic Societies: Resistance and Renewal in the World of Islam
Islamic fundamentalism is the most prominent fundamentalism of the late twentieth century
Osama bin Laden and the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001
WTC destruction is only one sign of a much bigger phenomenon
Great disappointments in the Muslim world by the 1970s
New states (e.g., Egypt, Iran, Algeria) pursued basically Western and secular policies
New policies were largely unsuccessful
Foreign intrusion continued
Israel, founded in 1948, was regarded as an outpost of the West
Israel defeated Arab forces in the Six-Day War (1967)
Western cultural penetration
Growing attraction of an Islamic alternative to Western models
Foundations laid early in the century (e.g., Mawlana Mawdudi,Sayyid Qutb)
Insistence that the Quran and the sharia provide a guide for all life
Decline and subordination of Islamic world caused by departure from Islamic principles
Effort to return to true Islam was labeled “jihad”
Penetration of fundamentalist thought in the Islamic world
Increase in religious observance
Many women voluntarily adopted modest dress and veils
Many governments used Islamic rhetoric and practice as anchor
Series of Islamic organizations were formed to provide social services
Islamic activists became leaders in unions and professional organizations
Entry into politics
The Algerian Islamic Salvation Front was set to win elections (1992), but the military government canceled elections; led to 10 years of civil war
Some groups sought overthrow of compromised regimes
The Egyptian Islamic Jihad assassinated Anwar Sadat in 1981
In 1979, a radical Islamic group in Mecca tried to overthrow the Saudi government
slamic movements took power in Iran (1979) and Afghanistan (1996); implemented radical Islamization
Attacks on hostile foreign powers
Hamas (Palestine) and Hezbollah (Lebanon) targeted Israel
Response to Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (1979)
Osama bin Laden founded al-Qaeda (“the base”) to funnel support to the Afghan resistance
Bin Laden was disillusioned by the stationing of U.S. troops in Arabia
In 1998, al-Qaeda issued a fatwa (religious edict) declaring war against America
Attacks on Western interests in East Africa, Indonesia, Great Britain, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Yemen
The “great enemy” was irreligious Western-style modernity, U.S. imperialism, and economic globalization
Religious Alternatives to Fundamentalism
Militancy isn’t the only religious response to modernity
Considerable debate within the Islamic world
Other religious traditions responded to global modernity
Christian groups were concerned with the ethical issues of economic globalization
“Liberation theology” (especially in Latin America) advocated Christian action in areas of social justice, poverty, human rights
Growing movement of “socially engaged Buddhism” in Asia
World Peace Summit (2000): more than 1,000 religious and spiritual leaders explored how to confront conflicts in the world
The World’s Environment and the Globalization of Environmentalism
The Global Environment Transformed
Three factors have magnified the human impact on the earth
World population quadrupled in the twentieth century
Massive use of fossil fuels (coal in the nineteenth century, oil in the twentieth)
Enormous economic growth
Uneven spread of all three over the world
But economic growth came to appear possible and desirable almost everywhere
Human environmental disruptions are now of global proportions
Doubling of cropland and corresponding contraction of forests and grasslands
Numerous extinctions of plant and animal species
Air pollution in many major cities and rivers
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) thinned the ozone layer
By 2000, scientific consensus on the occurrence of “global warming” as the result of burning of fossil fuels and loss of trees
Green and Global
Environmentalism began in the nineteenth century as a response to the Industrial Revolution
Did not draw a mass following
Environmentalism only became a global phenomenon in the second half of the twentieth century
Began in the West with Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1962)
Impetus for action came from the grass roots and citizen protest
In Germany, environmentalists entered politics as the Green Party
Environmentalism took root in developing countries in 1970s–1980s
Tended to be more locally based, involving poorer people
More concerned with food security, health, and survival
More focused on saving threatened people, rather than plants and animals
Environmentalists sometimes have sought basic changes in political and social structure of their country (e.g., Philippine activism against foreign mining companies)
Some movements have included guerrilla warfare (“green armies”)
Environmentalism became a matter of global concern by end of twentieth century
Legislation to control pollution in many countries
Encouragement for businesses to become “green”
Research on alternative energy sources
Conferences on global warming
International agreements on a number of issues
Sharp conflicts between the Global North and South
Northern efforts to control pollution and global warming could imit the South’s industrial development
Developing countries perceive the developed ones as unwilling to give up their extravagance and really help matters
U.S. refusal to ratify the Kyoto protocol
Controversy over export of hazardous wastes by rich countries
Nonetheless, global environmentalism has come to symbolize focus on the plight of all humankind
It’s a challenge to modernity itself, especially commitment to endless growth
Growing importance of ideas of sustainability and restraint
Final Reflections: Pondering the Uses of History
What’s the good of studying history?
Many have used history to explore the significance of human experience
Most contemporary historians are skeptical of grand understandings of the past, especially those that claim to discern a “purpose” in human history
It is possible to detect some general “directions” in the human story.
Growing populations, linked to greater control over the environment
Growing complexity of human societies
Increasing pace of change
Greater global connections
But human changes didn’t happen smoothly, evenly, or everywhere.
Numerous ups and downs, reversals, and variations
“Direction” is an observation; “progress” is a judgment
Political authorities have used the past to inculcate national, religious, civic, patriotic, or other values.
Studying history is a way to ponder matters of the heart and spirit.
History provides vast evidence of human suffering
Perhaps historical study can foster compassion
The historical record offers encouragement, with examples of those who have fought to rectify injustice, sometimes successfully
Studying history helps prevent insularity.
Opens people up to a wider world
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