Jerry H. Bentley

Myths, Wagers, and Some Moral Implications of World History

Because of its claims to general knowledge, and perhaps even more because of its increasing prominence in the educational curriculum, world history has recently become a principal focus of constituencies seeking to mobilize the past in support of particular political or ideological agendas. In extreme cases these constituencies have made world history little more than a vehicle of propaganda for their ideological preferences. This article recognizes that historical scholarship always reflects some set of political or ideological influences and thus takes the form of situated knowledge rather than a final or definitive assessment of the past. Yet it holds that it is possible for historians to engage the past and present in meaningful dialogue without subjecting the past to rigid ideological constraints. The article discusses and criticizes several visions of the global past that have recently emerged from the conservative and patriotic right as well as the Marxist and postcolonial left. It argues that a more analytical and ecumenical world history would yield deeper understanding of the world and its development through time, and would also serve larger social needs better than ideologically charged visions of the global past.

A tale of two analogues: learning at a distance from the ancient greeks and maya and the problem of deciphering extraterrestrial radio transmissions

Abstract The transmission of ancient Greek learning and science to medieval western Europe via the translation of Greek and Arab texts is often cited as a terrestrial example of “learning at a distance” that could occur by means of the decipherment of radio messages from advanced extraterrestrial civilizations. However, the translation between such closely related languages as Greek, Latin and Arabic and the decipherment of radio messages from an extraterrestrial civilization to the point where humans could understand them are only nominally analogous tasks. A terrestrial example of such “learning at a distance” from an ancient civilization that perhaps better prepares us for thinking about the immense task inherent in any interstellar knowledge transmission is provided by the lengthy and troubled efforts of western scholars to decipher the inscriptions left by the ancient Maya and to learn from them about this ancient civilization. Only recently, with the rejection of the ideographic fallacy that Maya glyphs symbolized ideas directly without the mediation of language and with the application of linguistic knowledge of Maya languages has it been possible to decipher the Maya inscriptions and learn from them about their science and culture. This experience suggests that without any knowledge of languages in which extraterrestrial messages might be composed, their decipherment could be most problematic. The Maya case is also relevant to the common suggestion that advanced extraterrestrials would deliberately compose messages not in their own natural languages but in artificial ones using logic, numbers, and scientific constants presumably shared among all intelligent civilizations, or at least those in their radio-communicative phases. Numbers and calendrical dating system were the first parts of the Mayan inscriptions to be translated, albeit with the aid of partial “Rosetta stones” left by the Spanish conquerors. This success served, however, to reinforce the ideographic fallacy, and led to rather fantastic notions that the inscriptions dealt only with mathematical, astronomical and mystical domains, when in fact most deal with dynastic history. Examination of the Maya case suggests that if we are to employ terrestrial examples to help us think about extraterrestrial knowledge transmission, we should explore the range of human experience and not just focus upon those examples which support our hopes.

Globalizing history and historicizing globalization

In arguing for the twin projects of globalizing history and historicizing globalization, this paper locates the development of historical scholarship in its own historical context. For the most part, professional historical scholarship has focused on the experiences of national communities and has taken European modernity as the principal guide to the understanding of the worlds various societies. In the interests of enhancing understanding of the world and its development through time, there is a clear need to globalize history and historicize globalization. From ancient to contemporary times, several distinct interests—notably those of empire, business and mission—have driven or at least informed efforts to understand the larger world. Since World War II, the production of knowledge about the larger world has come largely through area studies scholarship, which itself has clearly reflected the interests of contemporary states. While area studies projects have experienced remarkable success in developing reliable information and constructing meaningful knowledge about the larger world, it has become clear that scholarship focusing exclusively on individual states or local communities is inadequate for purposes of understanding large-scale globalizing processes that have touched many peoples and influenced the development of individual societies, as well as the world as a whole. Following up on this recognition, recent scholarship in world history suggests that globalization has a very long history indeed. In combination, the projects to globalize history and historicize globalization promise to yield an enriched understanding of the world and its development through time.In arguing for the twin projects of globalizing history and historicizing globalization, this paper locates the development of historical scholarship in its own historical context. For the most part, professional historical scholarship has focused on the experiences of national communities and has taken European modernity as the principal guide to the understanding of the worlds various societies. In the interests of enhancing understanding of the world and its development through time, there is a clear need to globalize history and historicize globalization. From ancient to contemporary times, several distinct interests—notably those of empire, business and mission—have driven or at least informed efforts to understand the larger world. Since World War II, the production of knowledge about the larger world has come largely through area studies scholarship, which itself has clearly reflected the interests of contemporary states. While area studies projects have experienced remarkable success in developin...

Good government in Spanish Naples

Contents: No other book in English offers such a wide-ranging, yet still narrative historical perspective to understand the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Kingdom of Naples in its political-administrative structure and its social and economic foundations.

Christianity in Europe and overseas

The standard distinction between settled societies and nomadic or seminomadic peoples captures contrasts in the scale and organisation of warfare. Nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples, who generally relied on pastoral agriculture or slash-and-burn shifting cultivation, were less populous and their governmental structures were less developed. The timing and rate of change are also issues in assessing whether there was a Military Revolution in the early modern period. The standard account posits one period of revolution from 1560 to 1660, indecisiveness and stagnation, then a second period of revolution that began with the outbreak of the War of American Independence in 1775 and continued with the French Revolutionary Wars to 1815. The Ottoman army, and even more the navy, of 1600 were very different from those of 1450, such that there was a sustained transformation in Ottoman war-making. The political culture of the Ottoman court and public finances also failed to support the enhancement of Turkish military capability.

Imperial competition in Eurasia: Russia and China

The greatest of the early modern imperial enterprises in terms of physical extent was the joint Hispano-Portuguese monarchy of the period 1580 to 1640. From the last quarter of the sixteenth century onwards then, the idea of an integrated global history based on the existence of worldwide networks of trade, exchange, conquest and circulation can be thought to have at least partly become a reality. The trade between India and Central Asia, or India and East Africa, involved a considerable degree of differentiation and specialization. Europes share of population was 16 percent in 1400, and over 19 percent four centuries later. The most substantial transformation in the negative direction was caused by the American population collapse of the sixteenth century, with only a partial recovery being evident even as late as 1800, based in part on processes of migration, very largely from Africa and Europe.

Old World Encounters: Cross-Cultural Contacts and Exchanges in Pre-Modern Times.

This study examines cross-cultural encounters before 1492 AD, focusing on the major influences that transformed Asia and Europe during that period. The author examines the political, social, economic and cultural conditions that enabled one culture to influence or suppress another.