Useful and inspiring criticism of Eurocentrism in history | Eight Eurocentric Historians

Uneven critique of (unevenly) Eurocentric historians | Eight Eurocentric Historians | J.M. Blaut, James M. Blaut

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	• Eight Eurocentric Historians J.M. Blaut, James M. Blaut The Guilford Press, 2000 - 228 pages average customer review:based on 10 reviews view larger image
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After the critique, some positive input

After reading Mr. Byars' review, I will only add that, instead of this book, on the vexing question of why Western countries have dominated the world during the last few centuries [the very way the question is posed is controversial!], I would suggest reading the following books: 1) "Power and Plenty: Trade, War, and the World Economy in the Second Millennium" by Ronald Findlay and Kevin H. O'Rourke; 2)"The Great Divergence", by Kennetz Pomeranz; 3 - 4): "The world economy. A millennial perspective" (2001) plus "The world economy: Historical Statistics" (2003) by Angus Maddison (a combined edition of these two volumes appeared on December 2007); 5) The Eastern Origins of Western Civilisation by John M. Hobson, and 6) it also seems interesting the brief book to be published this June "Why Europe? The Rise of the West in World History 1500-1850" by Jack A. Goldstone.

And for those looking for a broad framework to understand the past, I would add the following works, whose scope is amazingly global: 1. Agrarian cultures: "Pre-industrial societies" by Patricia Crone; 2. Government: "The History of Government" by S.E. Finer; 3. Ideas: "Ideas, a History from Fire to Freud", by Peter Watson; 4. Religion: "The Phenomenon of Religion: A Thematic Approach" by Moojan Momen; and 5. War: "War in Human Civilization" by Azar Gat.

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Useful and inspiring criticism of Eurocentrism in history

James Blaut's "Eight Eurocentric Historians" is part 2 in his three-part series on what he calls the 'colonizer's model of the world', that is, the Eurocentrism of many historians, anthropologists and social scientists when discussing the sources of Europe's rise to power and its influence on the rest of the world. Too often, Blaut emphasizes, do people see Europe as some sort of natural center of the world, from which all innovation and all values flow, and to which others can only respond (by acceptance or resistance); too often also is Europe perceived as somehow perpetually more advanced, free, innovative etc. than any other society, even when the facts are emphatically otherwise. It is very hard for people to shed the view that sometimes people who aren't white European males can defeat them in battle, invent things before they do, create more wealthy and egalitarian societies and discover new lands.

This, then, is the topic of Blaut's critiques of eight Eurocentric historians, many of them popularly acclaimed. The historians are, in sequence: Max Weber, Lynn White, Robert Brenner, Eric Jones, Michael Mann, John Hall, Jared Diamond, and David Landes. Each of them is guilty of an array of Eurocentric errors, and in some cases even fallacies, ignorant reasonings and outright pseudo-racism. Most of Blaut's critiques are forceful and excellent and he totally demolishes the conservative, pro-imperialist nonsense of people like Landes and Jones. Less convincing is his case against Robert Brenner, which relies strongly on issues disputed very much among specialists, and which can be judged very poorly by any outsider. One wonders if Blaut was wise to include Brenner in a list like this, all the more since Brenner is not at all as obviously racist and silly as people like Landes, and hardly deserves to be named in one list with him. On the other hand, useful compensation for this is the all too lenient critique of Jared Diamond, whose works have re-popularized totally discredited environmental determinist theories of European superiority under the guise of anti-racism, and whose influence on 'sophisticated' intellectuals is quite strong.

Sometimes Blaut himself also goes overboard, as when he approvingly cites the discredited Martin Bernal, and he seems to me somewhat knee-jerkingly unwilling to countenance the importance of the spread of the heavy plow in the early Middle Ages. But these are minor issues. Overall, this work is a much needed corrective, and the 'checklist' of 30 fallacious arguments used in favor of Eurocentrist theories is very useful. This book belongs on the bookshelf of everyone who desires to be a critical thinker on history and politics.

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Uneven critique of (unevenly) Eurocentric historians

In this stimulating book,the late radical geographer J.M. Blaut criticizes the theories advanced by Max Weber, Lynn White, Robert Brenner, Eric Jones, Michael Mann, John Hall, Jared Diamond, and David Landes to explain Europe's higher level of economic development than the rest of the world in the past few centuries. The book is very well organized, with the historians who employ an incredibly eclectic mixture of the theories of the other historians discussed being covered in the later chapters. Thus, alot of "we already refuted this" and "see the discussion in chapter x" is found in the later chapters, adding to the concision and coherence of this book.

Most of the theories advanced by the "eurocentric" historians range from fairly eclectic to extremely eclectic, with David Landes (the last writer discussed in the book) simply picking from a grab bag of different theories of European [...] with no eye for coherence. Thus, in this book (around 200 pages) Blaut has to criticize a huge number of arguments. The biggest problem is that while he successfully casts doubt on almost all the specific arguments he considers, almost none of them are refuted beyond a reasonable doubt. One exception is Karl Wittfogel's theory of oriental despotism, relating systems of government to systems of irrigation (and by extension, differences in systems of government between regions being a result of the natural environment), among other things. This argument gets used in various different forms by almost all of the writers discussed, and Blaut utterly destroys it.

One of Blaut's essays deserves, particular mention, the one on Robert Brenner. This chapter is probably Blaut's greatest effort, but Robert Brenner is nowhere near as much of an easy target as the other historians discussed. Most of the people criticized in the book are RAH RAH CAPITALISM AND FREEDOM types with no real understanding of how social systems work. Brenner on the other hand is a Marxist, and thus has a good understanding of social transformation and reproduction. And while alot of the arguments of the other historians relate to showing that Europe had lots of meaningless transhistorical "good stuff" (FREEDOM! DEMOCRACY!) and the other regions had "bad stuff," Brenner relates the development of capitalism in Western Europe to historically specific forms of class conflict. Blaut mainly focuses on some early essays by Brenner, yet Brenner has since wrote thousands and thousands of pages in a meticulous defense of his thesis. Blaut certainly scores some points against Brenner, but I was a cautious supporter of Brenner's theory when I began the chapter and remained one when I finished it.

Also, next to the chapter on Brenner, Blaut's weakest criticism is of Jared Diamond. Blaut makes a number of significant points, but given the fact that Diamond is incredibly influential at the moment, he should have gone further.

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This volume examines and critiques the work of a diverse group of Eurocentric historians who have strongly shaped our understanding of world history. Building upon the foundations laid in his previous book, The Colonizer's Model of the World, which provided a systematic overview of the nature and evolution of Eurocentrism, Blaut focuses in depth on Max Weber, Lynn White, Jr., Robert Brenner, Eric L. Jones, Michael Mann, John A. Hall, Jared Diamond, and David Landes. The role of each of these thinkers in generating colonialist understandings of history is described, and the fallacious assumptions at the roots of their arguments are revealed. Working toward an alternative understanding of the origins of modernity, this clearly written book provides invaluable insights and tools for students and scholars of history, geography, sociology, anthropology, and postcolonialism.

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