Global East Asia Response Paper
xxjixxxx
GEAS2018Stegerchap2show.pptxGlobalization in history: is globalization a new phenomenon?
Manfred B. Steger, Globalization, chap. 2
Chap. 2 “Globalization in history: is globalization a new phenomenon?”
Our focus: Understanding globalization through the foods we eat
World cuisine/Culinary culture
Tues. 2/6 Sidney W. Mintz, “Asia’s Contributions to World Cuisine,” japanfocus.org (2009)
Thurs. 2/8 Matthew Allen & Rumi Sakamoto, “Sushi reverses course: consuming American sushi in Tokyo.” japanfocus.org (2011)
Chap. 2 Recitation on Wed. Feb. 14
Response paper due Tues. Feb. 13 at 10:00 pm
Chap. 1 Recitation: “Globalization: a contested concept”
Steger’s theory of globalization: Global-local nexus
Beijing Olympics 2008 in East Asian context
North Korean Mass Games and Third Worldism in Guyana 1980-92
Global-local nexus
Global
International
"West"
Local
National
“Rest”
Tools for analysis
Globalization is defined by the links between dichotomies
Binaries (global/local) are not exclusive but work together
Global-Local Nexus is a Horizontal relationship, not Vertical
Globalization is multi-dimensional
“Parable of the elephant”
Globality (social condition) is uneven
Global imaginary (consciousness of ourselves and others) is product of our existence & participation on the global stage
Electronic devices OFF
Chap 2 Globalization in history
Is globalization a new phenomenon?
“Where do we begin?”
Post-1989? Some scholars limit globalization to post-1989 to focus on the recent quantum leap in the pace of change.
19th century? Other scholars look to the Industrial Revolution and other developments in the 19th c.
16th century? Others look to 16th c. and the emergence of modernity, when trade routes first connected Eurasia, Africa, and America.
Prehistory? Finally, a few say these processes have been unfolding for thousands of years.
“Parable of the elephant”: each perspective contains important insights.
Globalization unfolds over time
There are deep, historical roots for the current increase in economic & social interdependence and rise in the global imaginary.
New technologies stand upon earlier innovations from earlier centuries.
Globalization unfolds over time
The dynamic (or direction) of globalization processes changes over time
Clickers ON
Question
What term does Steger use to describe the “dynamic” (or direction) of globalization in the pre-historic period?
Divergence
Convergence
Homogenous
Civilized
Steger
“Perhaps the best way to characterize the dynamic of this earliest phase of globalization would be to call it ‘the great divergence’—people and social connections stemming from a single origin but moving and diversifying greatly over time and space.” (p. 24)
Question
What term does Steger use to describe the “dynamic” (or direction) of globalization in the contemporary period?
Divergence
Convergence
Homogenous
Civilized
Steger
“The best way of characterizing this latest globalization wave would be to call it ‘the great convergence’—different and widely spaced people and social connections coming together more rapidly than ever before.”
(p. 36)
Globalization dynamic:
Prehistoric period: divergence
Out of Africa 6-8 million years ago
Globalization dynamic
Contemporary period: convergence
“Is globalization a new phenomenon?”
Steger’s answer:
“[In the following chapters], we will limit the application of the term ‘globalization’ to the contemporary period while keeping in mind that the dynamic driving these processes actually started thousands of years ago.”
Steger’s thesis
Humanity’s progress toward globality is marked by crossing through important technological thresholds
Personal computers, internet, cell phones, digital cameras, high-definition TV, satellites, jets, space travel, supertankers
What is a threshold?
Threshold (from carpenter’s handbook)
Tamara D. Kontrimas watercolor “Sacred Threshold”
Technological thresholds
Steger identifies 5 separate periods when humanity crossed certain distinct technological thresholds.
Each period is distinguished by accelerations in social exchanges and expansion in geographic scope.
Chronology of globalization
Steger claims that his chronology is not linear:
“Full of unanticipated surprises, violent twists, sudden punctuations, and dramatic reversals….” (p. 21)
Chronology of globalization
Steger identifies five periods in the history of globalization:
1. Prehistoric (10,000-3500 BCE)
2. Premodern: Age of Empires (3500 BCE-1500 CE)
3. Early modern (1500-1750)
4. Modern (1750-1980s)
5. Contemporary (from 1980s)
3. Early Modern (1500-1750)
European powers were able to expand outward by sea for several inter-related reasons:
New technologies:
advanced navigation techniques
Political changes:
Reduced power of Roman Catholic Church due to Protestant Reformation
3. Early Modern (1500-1750)
New technologies & political changes led to the rise of the merchant class
Origin of modern capitalist economies
4. Modern (1750-1980)
The Industrial Revolution was a product of new technologies
Carbon-based energy sources fueled manufacturing and trade.
coal, petroleum (oil)
electricity
Positive and negative aspects
4. Critique of European led Modernity
Europe saw itself as leading the world to civilization and enlightenment, but it often exploited other countries and treated them unfairly.
Global interconnections existed primarily to enrich Western capitalist enterprises.
[In East Asia, strategic Chinese ports were divided among European powers]
[Japan took over from European powers and expanded into Korea, Northeast China (Manchukuo), Southeast Asia, and the South Pacific.]
4. Modern population growth
Waves of immigration transformed societies and social dynamics.
Modern period also witnessed a huge population explosion.
From 760 million in 1750, to 3.7 billion in 1970 (now over 7.4 billion).
4. Modern growth in trade
By World War I (1914), trade equaled 12% of GNP for industrialized countries.
This level not reached again until 1970.
Clickers ON
Question
Why did global trade shrink as percentage of GNP between 1914-1970?
Fewer technological innovations in this period.
Emergence of economic nationalism in this period.
Reduced level of consumerism in this period.
Economic nationalism
Economic nationalism led to two devastating World Wars.
A new world order emerged from the ashes of World War II, dominated by USSR and USA, and characterized by division into their separate spheres of influence in the Cold War.
5. Contemporary (from 1980s)
Collapse of USSR in 1991 accelerated emergence of a single global market and the processes driving globalization.
The contemporary period is the focus of Steger’s chapters 3-7
1. Prehistoric (10,000-3500 BCE)
Around 12,000 years ago, the human species achieved true global dispersal over the whole earth when hunter/gatherers finally reached the southern tip of South America. [map on p. 23]
10,000 BCE complete coverage
For most of human history up to 12,000 years ago:
Interaction among bands of hunters/gatherers was limited and unsystematic.
1. Prehistoric (10,000-3500 BCE)
Around 12,000 years ago, some hunter/gatherers began to cultivate crops and domesticate animals.
Farming and herding represent new technologies
Specialization in farmer/herder communities
Craftsmen: iron tools, jewelry, canals, pottery, baskets, buildings.
Bureaucrats: kept accounts of supplies, extended control of rulers.
Soldiers: explored and acquired new land, extended control of rulers.
Clickers ON
Question
What allowed specialized occupations to develop in farmer/herder communities?
Fire and iron tools
Writing and the wheel
Food surpluses
Agriculture & animal husbandry
Due to food surpluses, farmer/herder communities could support specialized groups of people not directly involved in farming.
2. Premodern 3500BCE-1500CE
By 3500 BCE, Steger claims that two new technologies allowed farmer/herder communities to reach a new level in the process of globalization and enter the Premodern Era.
Question
Identify the two new technologies that allowed farmer/herder communities to reach the next level in the process of globalization and enter the Premodern Era:
Fire and iron tools
Writing and the wheel
Dams and irrigation canals
2. Premodern 3500BCE-1500CE
Two new technologies allowed farmer/herder communities to reach a new level in the process of globalization and enter the Premodern Era:
Writing in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and central China (between 3500-2000 BCE ).
The Wheel in South-West Asia (3000 BCE).
Invention of writing
Writing spread rapidly throughout the Eurasian continent within a few centuries and spurred globalization processes
Spread ideas & allowed long-distance communication
Made it possible to coordinate complex social activities
Allowed administration of larger states
Invention of the wheel
Use of wheeled carts or vehicles spread rapidly throughout Eurasian continent within a few centuries and spurred globalization processes
Animal-drawn carts helped speed transport
Permanent roads and infrastructure connected distant places
Faster transportation of people & goods increased regional commerce and interaction
Invention of the wheel
Steger: Wheel invented “around 3000 BCE in Southwest Asia”
Wikipedia: “Wheel invented in the mid-4th millennium BCE, near-simultaneously in Mesopotamia (Sumeria), Indus Valley, the Northern Caucasus, and Central Europe”
The question of the origins of wheeled vehicles remains unresolved
Ancient scripts 3500-2000 BCE
Mesopotamia
Egypt
China
Ancient scripts
Mesopotamia
Cuneiform script
Egypt
Heiroglyphic script
China
漢字 Hanzi script (Chinese characters)
Cuneiform script (extinct)
Hieroglyphic script (survives in altered form as alphabet)
Hanzi (the only surviving ancient script)
2. Premodern 3500BCE-1500CE
Due in large part to writing and the wheel, the premodern period was the Age of Empires.
Egyptian; Persian; Macedonian; Aztecs and Incas (America), Roman; Indian; Byzantine; Islamic Caliphates; Holy Roman Empire; Ghana, Mali, Songhay (Africa); Ottoman
2. Premodern 3500BCE-1500CE
All of these empires were characterized by long-distance communication and exchange of:
Culture
[Culinary culture: foods, cooking methods]
Technology
Goods
Disease
Clickers ON
Question
Of all the world’s great pre-modern empires, which empire does Steger identify as the most enduring and technologically advanced?
Egyptian
Roman
Ottoman
Byzantine
Chinese
China’s advanced technologies
Redesigned plowshares
Hydraulic engineering
Gunpowder
Tapping of natural gas
The compass
Mechanical clocks
Paper
Printing
Silk and metalworking
Question
In the mid-14th century the bubonic plague, or Black Death, killed about what percentage of the population of China, the Middle East, and Europe?
10-15%
30-35%
50-55%
90-95%
2. Premodern trade networks
The negative side of trade networks was the spread of infectious disease.
The bubonic plague killed 1/3 of the population of China, Middle East, and Europe in mid-14th c.
2. Premodern trade networks
The positive side of trade networks was that they led to population growth, urban growth, and cultural and religious encounters.
These encounters turned local religions into major world religions: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism.
2. Premodern trade networks
Premodern trade networks did not extend across the Atlantic & Pacific Oceans.
Steger p. 28
