The Eastern Origins of Western Civilisation

John Hobson challenges the ethnocentric bias of mainstream accounts of the Rise of the West. It is often assumed that since Ancient Greek times Europeans have pioneered their own development, and that the East has been a passive by-stander in the story of progressive world history. Hobson argues that there were two processes that enabled the Rise of the 'Oriental West'. First, each major developmental turning point in Europe was informed in large part by the assimilation of Eastern inventions (e.g. ideas, technologies and institutions) which diffused from the more advanced East across the Eastern-led global economy between 500–1800. Second, the construction of European identity after 1453 led to imperialism, through which Europeans appropriated many Eastern resources (land, labour and markets). Hobson's book thus propels the hitherto marginalised Eastern peoples to the forefront of the story of progress in world history. Contents......Page 8 Tables......Page 10 Preface and acknowledgements......Page 12 1 Islamic and African pioneers......Page 46 2 Chinese pioneers......Page 67 3 The East remains dominant......Page 91 4 Inventing Christendom and the Eastern origins of European feudalism, c. 500–1000......Page 116 5 The myth of the Italian pioneer, 1000–1492......Page 133 6 The myth of the Vasco da Gama epoch, 1498–c. 1800......Page 151 7 The myth of 1492 and the impossibility of America:......Page 178 8 The Chinese origins of British industrialisation......Page 207 9 Constructing European racist identity and the invention of the world, 1700–1850......Page 236 10 The dark side of British industrialisation and the myth of laissez-faire......Page 260 12 The twin myths of the rational Western liberal-democratic state and the great divide between East and West, 1500–1900......Page 300 13 The rise of the oriental West......Page 311 Notes......Page 340 Index......Page 386 John Hobson challenges the ethnocentric bias of mainstream accounts of the "Rise of the West" that assume that Europeans have pioneered their own development, and that the East has been a passive by-stander. Describing the rise of what he calls the "Oriental West", Hobson argues that Europe first assimilated many Eastern inventions, and then appropriated Eastern resources through imperialism. Hobson's book thus propels the hitherto marginalized Eastern peoples to the forefront of the story of progressive world history. John Hobson challenges the ethnocentric bias of mainstream accounts of the Rise of the West. He describes the rise of the 'Oriental West', arguing that Europe assimilated Eastern inventions and appropriated Eastern resources through imperialism. Hobson's book places Eastern peoples at the forefront of the story of world history

John Hobson challenges the ethnocentric bias of mainstream accounts of the Rise of the West.

John M. Hobson. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [323]-368) And Index.