de landa, manuel - 1000 years of nonlinear history

8/11/2019 De Landa, Manuel - 1000 Years of Nonlinear History

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Whe am ae ave l i g

a ig own o ug emy

u ie eemi ae me

a p ace, h ey weve ever

o l e om h e cou re,

ju o mu c h ha you wou

ca i a c a g o ec io

I f t wee no fo i weve,

everyt i g wou l a l ow

wa toug h t he a by of

pace . No co i io wou l ake

lace a o i mp act o atom

on atom wou l be ceate

hu natu re wou l eve have

ceate anythig

ucet u

Sv E

Edited by Jnathan Cay Sanfd Kwinte and Buce Mau


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C

Introduction

I : LAVAS AND MAGAS

2 eological History A.D

57 andstone and ranite eoogcal History 2 AD

II FES AND ENES

Boogcal istory: A.D

pecies and cosystems

4 Biologcal istory 2 AD

III MEE AND OR

8 Lngustic story AD.

2 rgu ments nd petos

22 Lngustic stoy 2 AD.

2 Concuson nd pecultions

2 otes


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nd un

Despite ts ttle, ths s not

a book of istory bu a boo

o phlosophy. It is, however,a deepy histoica philoso

phy, whch hods as its cn

ta thesis that ll strcurs

tht srround us and orm

ou aty (montns, ani

as an pants, hman n

gages, social institutons)are th prodcts o spcic

hstorc procsses To b


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A OUSAND YEARS OF NON NEAR SORY

consstent, th s type of p osopy must of

necessty take rea story as ts startng

po nt e p rob e m s , of cou rse tat tosewo wrte story, owever scoary do so

from a g ven p osoph ca po nt of v ew,

and th s w o u d s eem to trap us n a v c o us

crc e . But ust as story and p osopy

may nteract n suc a way as to make anobect ve assessment of rea ty mposs ib e

wen entrenced wor dv ews and rout ne"

procedures for gater ng stor ca ev dence

constra n eac oter negatve ytey can

a s o nteract p o s t ve y and t rn t s m utua dependence nto a v rtuous c rc e . oreover

t may be argued tat th s post ve nterac

t on as a ready begun any stor ans

ave ab and o ned te r uro centr s m and

now queston te very r se of te West (Wynot Chna or s an? s now a comnon ques

t on) and some ave even eft beh nd te r

antropocentr sm and nc ude a ost of

no num an s to r es n te r acco unts A num

ber of p osopers for ter part , ave benef ted from te new tor ca ev dence tat

s co ars s uc as ernand B raud e and W am

ce ave unearted and ave us ed t as

a po nt of d e pa rtu re f o r a new revved form

2


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NRODUCON

of mater a sm, berated from te dogmas of

te past

Posopy s not, owever, te ony dscp n e tat as bee n n f ue nced by a n ew

awareness of te roe of stor ca processes

Sc ece too , as acqu red a stor ca con

sc ousness t s not an exaggerat on to say

tat n te ast two or tree decades storyas nf trated psics cemstry and b o l

ogy t is tr ue tat n neteen t-ce nt u ry ter mo

dynamcs ad a ready ntroduced t me's

arrow nto pyscs and ence te dea of

rrevers ib e stor ca processes. And teteory of evouton ad aready sown tat

an m a s and p ants w ere no t em b o d m ents

of eterna l essences bt p ecemea stor ca

co ns truct o ns , s o w accum u at o ns o f ad ap

t ve tra its cemented togeter v a reproduct ve so at on However te c ass ca l vers ons

o f tes e two te or es i nco rp orated a rate r

weak not on of story nto ter conceptua

macnery bot c ass ca termodynamcs

and Darw n s m ad m tted o n y o ne p o s s b e

stor ca outcome, te reacng of terma

eq u b r u m o r o f te f ttest d es gn n bot

cases once ts po nt was reaced stor ca

processes ceased t o cou nt n a sense , opt

3


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A HSAND YEAS NNNEA HSY

ma l desgn p ma l di s ibun ene gy ep esen ed an en d s

y ese e ies

I s ul d cme as n su p ise then a e cu en penetai n

scie nce by his cal cn ce ns has been e esul advances in ese

w discp i nes l Iya P igg ne evlu in ized emdynam ics in e

10s by swng ha e classcal esults wee val d nly f clsed sys-

ems w e e e veal l q u an is ene gy ae a lways cnse ved I ne

al lws an nense lw enegy n and u a system (a is ne

puses i t qb te n u m be and ype pssib le is ca l

ucmes gea ly nceases Insead a unque and s imple m

stab l iy we n w ave mu lt ple cexis ing ms vaying cm plexy

(satic peidc and caic ttt Meve wh en a system swice sm ne sable stae anhe (at a c ical pin caled a bt

m n luca ins may play a cuca l le in decid ng e ucme T us

w en we su dy a gven p hyscal system w e need nw he s pecf ic

n a ue e l ucu ain s a ave been pesen a eac s biuca-

t ns n t e wds we n ee nw s isy u nde san d s

cu en yna mcal sae

And w a is u e pysical sysems is al l e me ue b gical

nes Aacs and biu catin s ae eau es any sysem in w c edynamcs ae n nly a m equ l ib ium bu als ta is in

w ic ee a e stng m uua l ineacin s ( eed bac) beween cm p-

ne nts e te e sysem in qu esti n is cmpsed mlecu les

l v ng ceatues wi l l e xhi bi endgenu sy geneated sabl e sas as

wel l as s ap an si in s between saes a s lng as ee s eedbac an d

a n i nen se w en egy cu s ng h ugh e sysem As blgy begi ns

t in cl ude ese n n l nea dynamica l p enme na i n is mdels

examp le e muua l simu la in nv lved n e case ev lu na y "ams

aces between pedas and peye nin f a tes design wil

se is m ean ing I n an a ms ace ee is n p ma l slu i n xed ne

and al l s ince e c ie n "ness se canges wi e dynam-

cs2 As e bel ie in a f xed cite in pmal y d isap peas m b l-

gy eal h i scal pcesses cme easse th em selves nce m e

Th us e mve away m e negec eq ui l b iu m a nd l nea causal y

as eneced e natual scences wi iscal cncens Ts b is

an exp la i n he pss b i l i es a mg be pene ph i lsph ica l

e lec in by a s im la m ve n e scia l sc ie nces i n geneal an d isty

n p a icu la These pages expl e e pssb i l i ies a n nl nea and n n

eq u l i b i u m sy by acing te evepmen f e es i n hee h s-

ical naaives each sa ing ugly in he yea 1000 and culmnaing

n u wn me a hus and yeas late Bu desn h i s app ac cna


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NDUCN

dic my saed gal? Isnt te vey idea l lwing vt

cenuy by cenu y in eenly l i nea ? My a nswe is a a n n l i ne a cn

cepi n isy as a bsl uey n i ng d wi a syle pesena-

in as i ne cu ld u ly capue e nneq u i l ib iu m dynamics u man

s ica l pcesses by u mp ing bac an d am ng e cenu ies On

e cnay w a is ne eded e e is n a exu al bu a p ysical pea

in muc as isy as in i laed pysics we mus nw a lw pysics

in i lae uman isy

Ea ie ae mps i n is d ieci n ms na bly in e p i nee i ng w

e p ysic is Au I beal l e a useu i l l usatin e cn cepua l

s its a is i n lat in wu ld n vlve I beal l was pe ap s te i s

visua l ize e ma ansiin s i n ea ly uma n isy (e ansi i ns unegaee agicul ua l is a nd m agicultu al is ciy dwel l e)

t as a l i nea advance u p e lad de pgess bu a s e cssi ng

nnl inea c i ical eslds (biucains) Me speci ical ly muc as a

given c em ical cm pu nd (wae exam pl e) may exis in seveal d is

i nc saes (sl i d l iq u id gas) and may swic m sa ble sae

sabl e sae at c iical pins in e in en siy empe atue (cal led

tt s a um an sciey may be seen as a m ae ial capab le

undeging ese canges sae as i eaces ci ical mass in ems de nsiy se le me n am u n en egy cns u med even inensi

ineac in

I bea l l i nv ites u s v iew ea ly u nega ee b ands a s gas pa ic les in

e s ense a ey l ived apa t m eac e an d e ee i neaced

aely and u nsysem atical ly ( Based n e e ngap i c evid en ce a

bands ypical y l i ved a bu seveny mi les apa and assum ing a um ans

can wal ab u wenyive mi les a d ay e calcu laes a any w b and s

wee sepaaed by me an a days disance m ne ane3) en

u man s is began cu lt ivae ceeals an d e i neac in beween

uma n bei ngs an d pl ans ceaed seden ay cmm un i ies u ma niy l iqu e-

ied c nde nsed i nt gu ps w se ineacin s wee n w me equ en

alug s i l l lsely egulaed Final ly wen a ew ese cmmuni ies

inensi ied ag icu ltu a l pduci n e pin wee su plu ses cu ld be

avesed sed and edist ibu ed ( e is t ime a l l wing a d ivis i n

la b beween pduces and cn sum es d) u ma niy acqu i ed

a cysal sae in t e se nse a cen al gve nm en s nw i m psed a sy

me ica l g id l aws and egula in s n e u ban pp u la ins4

Hweve vesipl i ied is pi cu e m ay be i cn ain s a sign i ican cl ue

as e nau e nn l i ne a isy i e d ieen sages u man

isy wee i ndeed bug abu by p ase tans iins en tey ae

n sages a al l a is pgessive develp menal seps eac bee


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HSAND YES NNNEA HSY

tan te pev us ne an d ndeed leav ng e pev us ne be nd On

t e cntay, mu c as wates sld, l qu d, an d gas p ases may cexst,

s eac new uman p ase s m ply added sel t te e n es, cexs-

ng and nteac ng wt em wtu leavng tem n e past Me

ve , mu c as a gven mate al m ay sl d y n al en ave ways (as ce

sn wlae, as cystal g lass), s uma nty l qu e ed an d lae sl d ed

n d een rm s Te n ma ds te Steppes (H u ns, M ngl s),

example, dmescaed anmals nt plans, and te cnsequent pastal

l esyle m psed n tem t e n eed mve wt t e lcs, al ms as

ey ad cndensed nt nt a pl l qud but n a mvng, at t mes

tub u lent , u d e n tese nmads dd acqu e a sl d state (d ur ng te

eg n Ge ngs Ka n, nsance), te esu l ng strucu e was me eglass an cystal , m e am p us and less cen tal zed I n e wds ,

uman st dd nt l lw a strag l ne, as eveyng pnted

twad cv l zed scees as umanys ult mate gal On te cnary, a

eac bu can a ltern atve sabe states were p ss bl e, a nd nce acu al -

zed, t ey cexsted a nd neaced w t n e a nt e r

I am awae tat al l we ave ee ae suggestve metap s I s e

tas te varu s c a pes t s b attem pt t remve at mea-

p cal cnen M ever, even as metap s, I be al 's m ages suem ante dawbac nganc mateenegy as a wder range

aten aves te gene atn suctu re t an ust t ese smp le p ase

rans ns, and wat s ue r smple su must be al l e me

s te cm pl ex mae a ls tat m um an c ul tu es I n e wrds,

even te u m bl es ms mate and e ne gy ave e ptental

gt beynd t e el a vey s m ple type n v lved n e ce-

atn cysals Tee ae, nsance, tse ceent waves cal led

t w c rm n ma ny deent ypes maeals, angng mcean wates (w ee ey ae cal led sun am s) lases T en ee a e

e aeme nn ed stab e states ( atacts), w c can s ustan c

e ent cycl c ac v y d een ypes (ped c ca c)5 Fn al ly, a nd

u n l e te p evus exam ple s n nl nea selgan zat n we re ue

nnvan cannt ccu, ee s wa we may cal l "nnl near cbna

cs, wc exples e d een cmb n a n s nt wc ent t es

de ved m te pevu s prcesses (cysal s, c een p ul ses, cycl c

pattens) may ene It s m ese unl mted cmbnatns ta uly

nvel sucu es ae gene aed6 en pu t gee , al l t ese m s

spntaneus stuctural geneatn sugges a nrganc mae s muc

m e va abl e a nd c rea ve t an we eve mag ned And s ns gt nt

maes n eent ceavy need s t be u l ly ncpraed n u new

mae a l s p lspes


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NDCN

le te concept o seloganzaton as appl ed to puely mateal

an d en eget c systems as bee n s a pened consdeably ove t e last

t ee decades t st l l nee ds to be ened beoe we can ap ply t to the

case o u m a n socet es Spe c cal ly we need to take nto accou nt ta tany explan at on o u man be avo must n volve ee ence to ed uc b le

ntent onal ent t es suc as "bel es and "de ses s nce expectat ons

and peeences ae wat gu de hu man dec s on ma k n g n a wde ange

o soca l actv t es su c as pol t cs and e con omcs I n som e cases t e

dec s ons mad e by nd v du a l um an be ngs ae h g ly consta ned by

te post on and ole n a eac cal oganzaton and ae to that ex-

tent geaed towa d meetng t e goals o t at oganzaton I n ote cases

oweve wh at mattes s not te pla n ned esults o decs on ma k ngbut te v q o uma n decs on s Te best

l lu stat on o a soca l n st tut on tat eme ges spontaneousl y om te

nteact on o many u man d ecs o n m akes s that o a pecapta l st

maket a col lectve entty asng om the decental zed nteacton o

m any buyes and s el l es wt no centa l "decde coodn at ng te

wo le pocess In som e mod el s the dynam cs o makets ae govened

by peod c attactos w h ch oce ma kets to u nde go booma ndb ust

cycles o vayng du ato n om t eeyea bu s ness cycles to tyyea-long waves

et e a pp led to selogan zed oms o m atteene gy o to t e u n-

pl an ned esu lts o u ma n agency tese new concepts de ma nd a n ew

methodology and t s ts metodoogcal cange tat may pove to be o

p losop ca l s gn cance Pat o w at th s c ange nvolves s a ly obv-

ous te equatons scentsts use to model nonl nea pocesses cannot be

solved by and but de mand t e use o comp utes Moe tec n cal ly u n

l ke l n ea equ at ons (t e type most pevalent n scence) no nl n ea ones

ae vey dcu lt to solve and demand te use o deta led

n ume ca l s m u lat ons ca ed out wt te e l p o d g tal ma c n es T h s

l m tat on o ana lytca tools o t e study o no n ne a dy na m cs becomes

even moe con sta n ng n te case o non l nea com bnato cs I n t s

case ceta n comb n at ons w l l d sp lay g tat s pop-

et es o te comb n ato n as a wol e w c ae mo e ta n te su m o

ts n d vd ua l p ats T ese em egen t (o " synegst c) popetes beo ngto te bw so t ol l ows t at a topdown an alytcal

appoac ta t begn s wt t e wole a nd d ssects t nto ts con sttu e nt

pa ts (an ecosystem nto s peces a socety nto n sttut o n s) s bou nd to

m ss pecsely those pope tes I n ot e wo ds an alyz ng a wole nto

pats an d t en attem pt ng to mo del t by g the components w l l

a l to captu e a ny p opety t at emeged om com pl ex nteactons


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A OUSAND YEAS OF NONNEA SOY

snce the effect of the latter may be multplcave (e.g. mutual enhance

ment) and not just addtve

Of course, analytcal tools cannot smply be dsmssed due to ths

nherent mtaton. Rather a topdown approach to the study of complex

enttes needs to be od wth a bottomup approach analyss

needs to go hand n hand wth synthess. And here just as n the case of

nonlnear dynamcs computers offer an ndspensable ad. or example

nstead of stdyng a ran forest top down startng from the forest as a

whoe and dvdng t nto speces we uneash wthn the computer a pop-

ulaton of neractng vrtual "anmals and "plants and attempt to gen

erate from her nteractons whatever systematc propertes we ascrbe to

the ecosystem as a whole. Only f the reslence stablty and other prop-ertes of the whole (such as the formaton of complex food webs) emerge

spontaneousy n the course of the smulaton can we assert that we have

captured the nonlnear dynamcs and combnatorcs of ran forest forma-

ton (Ths s bascally the approach taken by the new dscplne of Artf

ca feJ)

I n ths book I attempt a phlosophca approach to hstory whch s asbottomup as possble. Ths does not mean of course tha every one of

my statements has emerged after careful synthetc smulatons of socalrealty. I do take nto account the results of many bottomup smulatons

(n urban and economc dynamcs) but research n ths drecton s

stll n ts nfancy My account s bottomup n that I make an effort no

to postuate systematcty when I cannot show that a partcular system

generatn process has actually occurred. I n partcular I refran fromspeakng of socety as a whole formng a system and focus nstead on sub-

sets of socety) Also approach enttes at any gven level (the level of

naonstates ctes nsttutons or ndvdual decson makers) n terms

of oos of enttes at the level mmedatey below.

Methodologcally ths mples a rejecon of the phlosophca founda

ons of orthodox economcs as well as orthodox socology. Although the

former (neoclasscal mcroeconomcs) begns ts analyss at the bottom

of socety at the level of the ndvdual decson maker t does so n a

way that atomzes these components each one of whch s modeled as

maxmzng hs or her ndvdua satsfacton ("margnal utlty) n sola

ton from the others. Each decson maker s further atomzed by the

assumpton that the decsons n ueston are made on a casebycase

bass constraned only by budgetary mtatons gnorng socal norms

and values that constran ndvdual acton n a varety of ways Orthodox

socology (whether functonast or Marxststructuralst) on the other

hand takes socety as a whole as ts pont of departure and only rarely

8


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NODUCON

attempts to explain in detal the exact historical processes through whch

collective social institutions have emerged out of he interactions among

individuals.

Fortunatey the last few decades have witnessed the birth and growthof a synthesis of economic and sociological deas (under the banner of

"neoinstitutional economics) as exemplified by the work of such authors

as Douglas North Vktor Vanberg and Oliver Wlliamson This new school

(or set of schools) rejects the atomism of neoclassical economists as we

as the holism of structuralistfunctionalist socioogists. I t preserves "meth-

odologica indvidualism (appropriate to any bottomup perspective) but

rejects the idea that individuals make decisions solely according to self-

interested (maximizing) calculations and instead models individuals asrle followers subjected to dfferent types of normatve and institutiona

constraints that apply colectively Neoinstitutionalism rejecs the "metho

dological holism of sociology but preserves wha we may call its "onto-

logical holism, that is the idea that even though collective instiutions

emerge out of the interactions among individuas once they have formed

they take on "a life of their own (ie. they are not jus reified entities)

and affect individua acton in many different ways.8

Neoinstitutionalist economists have also inroduced socioogical concepts into economics by replacing the notion of "exchange of goods with

the more complex one of "transacton which brings into play different

kinds of collective entities such as institutional norms contracts and

enforcement procedures I ndeed the notion of "transaction may be said

to add to linear economics some of the "friction that ts traditional mod

els usuay leave out: imperfections in markets due to limited rationality

imperfect information deays and bottlenecks opportunism highcost

enforceability of contracts and so on Addng "transaction costs to the

classical model is a way of acknowledging the continuous presence of non

linearities in the operation of real markets. One of the aims of the present

book is to attempt a synhesis between these new ideas and methodolo

gies in economics and the corresponding concepts in the sciences of self

organization.9

n Chapter One I approach this synthesis through an exploration of

the history of urban economics since the Middle Ages. I take as my poinof departure a view shared by severa materialist historians (principally

Braudel and McNeill) the specific dynamics of European owns were one

important reason why China and Isam despite heir early economic and

technological ead were eventualy subjected to Western domination

Given that an important aim of this book is to approach history in a non-

teleological way the eventual conquest of the millennium by the West

9


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A OUSAND YARS OF NONNAR SRY

w ot e vewed as te rest of "progress occrrg tere wle fag

to take pace otsde of Erope t as te rest of certa dyacs

(sc as te tay stlatg dyacs voved ars races) tat

tesfy te accato of kowledge ad tecooges ad of certastttoa ors ad orgazatos. Severa dfferet fors of ta

stUato (or of postve feedack to se te tecca ter) w e

aayzed eac vovg a dfferet set of dvdas ad nsttutos ad

evovg a dfferent area of te Eropea ra ladscape. Frterore

t wll e arged tat te I dstral Revoto ca e vewed ters of

recproca stato etwee tecologes ad stttons werey

te eleets voved aaged to for a cosed loop so tat te etre

asselage ecae sefsstg. refer to ts storca arratveas "geoogca ecase t cocers tsef exclsvey wt dynaca ee

ets (eergy ow oear casaty) tat we ave coo wt

rocks ad outas ad oter ovg storca strctres

Capter wo addresses aoter spere of reaty te world of gers

pats ad aas ad ece vews ctes as ecosystes aet

extreey spfed oes. s capter goes eyod qestos of a

ate eergy fow to cosder te fows of orgac ateras tat ave

fored ra fe sce te Mdde partcar t cosders te

fow of food wc keeps ctes ae ad ost cases coes fro

otsde te town tself. Ctes appear as parastc ettes dervg ter

ssteance fro eary rra regos or va coloas ad coqest

fro oter lands. s capter also cosders te flow of genet ater-

as trog geeratosot so c te fow of a gees as

tose elogg to te aa ad pat speces tat we ave aaged

to doestcate as well as tose tat ave costaty eded or cotro

sc as weeds ad croorgass. Coloal eterprses appear ts

capter ot oy as a eas to redrect food toward te oterad

t aso as te eas y wc te gees of ay oa speces

ave vaded ad coqered ae ecosystes.

Fay Capter ree deas wt te oter type of "ateras tat

eter to te a xtre gstc ateras. Lke eras

aate energy food ad gees te sods words ad sytactca

costrctos tat ake p agage accuated wt te was ofedeva (ad oder) tows ad were transfored y ra dyacs.

Soe of tese lgstc ateras (leared wrtte Lat for exape)

were so rgd ad cagg tat tey sply acclated as a dead

strctre. Bt oter fors of agage (vlgar spoke Lat) were dy

ac ettes capale of gvg rt to ew strctres sc as Frec

Spas I taa ad Portgese s capter traces te story of

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NRODUCON

ese emergeces, mos of hem i urba eviromes, as well as of he

eveual rigiificaio (roug saarizaio) of e ialecs belogig

o regioal a aioal capials a of e effecs a several geera

ios of meia (e priig press, mass meia, compuer eworks) avea o heir evolio

ac caper begis is arraive i e year 000 a coies

(more or less liearly) o e year 000 Ye, as sai above, espie eir

syle of preseaio, hese hree arraives o o cosie a "real

hisory of eir suecs bu raher a susaie pilosopical meiaio

o some of e isorical processes ha have affece ese ree ypes

of "maerials (eergeic, geeic, a iguisic) he very fac a eac

chaper coceraes o a sigle "maerial (viewig 1uma isory, asi were from e poi of view of ha paricular maerial) will make ese

arraives arly recogizable as hisorical accous. Ye mos of he

geeralizaios o be fou here have bee mae by isorias a are

o e proc of pure pilosophical speclaio.

he oliear spiri of is book, ese ree worls (geological, bio

logical, a ligisic) wll o be viewe as e progressively more sopis

icae of a evolio a clmiaes i maiy as is crowig

achieveme. is re ha a small sbse of geological maerials (car

bo, yroge, oxyge, a ie oer elemes) forme e sbsraum

eee for ivig creaures o emerge a a a small subse of orgaic

maerials (cerai euros in he brai) provie e bsraum for la

guage. Bu far rom avacig i sages of icrease perfecio, ese

sccessive emergeces werea will be reae ere asmere accumu

laios of iffere ypes of maerials, accmulaios i whic each suc

cessive layer oes o form a ew worl close i o isef bu, o he

corary, resuls i coexiseces a ieracios of iffere kis. Be

sies, each accmlae layer is aimae from whi by selforgaizig

processes, a e forces a cosrais bei is spoaeous

geeraio of orer are commo o all ree.

a very real sese, realiy is a sg ag uergoig phase

rasios of various kis, wi eac ew layer of accumlae "suff

siply ericig e reservoir of oliear yamics a oliear com

biaorics available for e geeraio of ovel srcures a processesRocks a wis, germs a wors, are all iffere maifesaios of

is yamic maerial realiy, or, i oher wors, hey all represe he if

fere ways i wic is sigle maereergy sss s us, wa

follows will o be a chroice of "ma a "is hisorical acievemes,

bu a pilosophical meiaio o e isory of maereergy i is if

fere forms a of e muliple coexiseces a ieracios of hese

2


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A OUSAND YEARS OF NONNEAR SORY

fors. Geological, organic and linguistic aterials wil all be allowed to

have their say in the for that this book takes and the resulting cho-

rus of aterial voices wil I hope give us a fresh perspective on the

events and processes that have saped te history of this ileu.


21/330


22/330


23/330

Geological History1000-1700 A.D.

We live n a world populated

by structures-a complex

mxture of geologcal, bologcal, soca, and lngustc con

structons that are nothng b

accumulations of materials

shaped and hardened by hs

tory. mmersed as we are in

this mxture, we cannot help

but interact n a variety ofways wth the other hstorcal

constuctons that suround


24/330

I L AA S AND MAGMAS

us , and n tese nteract ons we generatenove combnat ons some of wc possess

emergent propert es n turn tese synerg st c combnat ons weter of uman or ig n

or not, become te raw mater a for furter

mxtures Ts s ow te popuat on of struc

tures nab t ng our p anet as acqu red ts

r c var ety as te entry of nove matera snto te mx r ggers w d pro ferat ons of new

fo rm s

n te organ c wor d for nstance soft t s

sue (ge s and aeroso s musc e and nerve)

re gned s up rene unt 5 m o n y e a r s a g o

At tat pont some of te congoneratons of

f esy matter -energy tat nade up fe under

w ent a s ud d en mineralization a n d a new nate

r a for construct ng v n g creatu res em erged

bone t s a most as f te mnera wor d tat

ad served as a substratum for te emergence

of b o ogca creatures was reassert ng tse f

conf rmng tat geoogy far from avng been

eft bend as a pr mt ve stage of te earts

evout on, u y coexsted wt te soft geat

nous newcomers Pr m t ve bone , a st f f ca

c f ed centra rod tat woud ater become te

vertebra co umn, nade ew forms of ove

m e nt co ntro p os s b e a0ng an m a s f ree ng

26


25/330

GEOLOGICAL HISTORY 000-700 A.D

tem from many constra nts and tera y set

t ng tem nto mot on to conquer every ava

ab e n ce n te a r , n water and on and .And yet , w e bone a owed te compex f

cat on of te an ma pyum to wc we, as

vertebrates be ong t never forgot ts mnera

or g ns t s te v ng mater a tat nost eas

y petr f es tat most read y crosses tetresod back nto te word of rocks For

tat reason muc of te geoogca record s

wr tten wt foss bone

Te uman endoskeeton was one of te

many products of tat anc ent mnera at on

Yet tat s not te on y geoogca nf trat on

tat te uman spec es as undergone

About e gt tousand years ago uman pop

u at o ns b egan m nera ng aga n w en tey

d e v e o p e d a n u r b a n exoskeleton: brcks of

s u nd r ed c ay beca m e te b u d ng nater a s

fo r te r o m es wc n tu rn s u rro u n d ed

and w ere s urro und ed b y s to ne m o nunents

and defens ve wa s Ts exoskeeton served

a p u rp os e s m a r to ts nterna cou nterp art

to contro te movement of uman f es n

and out of a towns wa s Te urban exoskee

ton a so reguated te moton of many oter

tngs: uxury objects, ews, and food, for

27


26/330

I A VAS AND MAGMAS

example. I n particular, the weekly markets that have always existed at

the heart of most cit ies an d towns constituted veri tabl e motors, peri

odica l ly conce ntrati ng peope and goods fro m n ear an d faraway regio ns

and the n sett in g th em i nto motion aga n a lon g a var iety of trade

circuits

Th us , the ur ban i nfrastructu re m ay be said to pe rfor m, for t ightly

packed populat ions of humans the same funct ion of moton control

that our bones do in relat ion to our f leshy parts. And in both cases

add ing m in eral s to th e mix reslted n a fantast ic comb nator ia l explo

s i on , great ly i ncreasing the var iety of an i ma and cu ltu ra l designs e

m u st be carefu l whe n d rawi ng th ese an al ogies, however I n p articu la r we

mu st avoi d the error of com pa rig cit ies to organ is ms , especi a ly whe nt h e metap ho r is me an t to im py (as it has i n the past) th at both exist n

a state of internal equi l ibr ium or homeostasis Rather, urban centers

and l iving creatures must be seen as nt dynamical systems operat

i ng far from eq ui br i u m , that is, traversed by mo re or less i ntense f ows

of matterenergy that provoke their unique metamorphoses.2

I ndeed u rba n mo rph oge nesis has depend ed, from its ancient begi n

nngs in the Fert i le Crescent on i ntensif ication of the co ns um ption of

non hu ma n ene rgy. Th e anthropoogist R ic hard N ewbod Adams, whosees social evou t io n as ust a noth er form that the selfo rgan ization of

en ergy may take, has po i nted out th at th e fi rst suc h i ntens ificato n was

the cu lt ivation of cereal s.3 Si nce pants v ia photosynthesis s im ply co n

vert solar energy into sugars, cult ivation increased the amount of solar

en ergy th at traversed h u ma n soceties hen food prod uctio n was

further intensif ied humanity crossed the bifurcation that gave r ise to

urban structures The e ites that ruled those eary cit ies in turn made

other intensif ications possibleby developing large rr igation systemsfor exampeand urban centers mutated into their imper ia l form. t

is i mportant to em p hasi ze however that cereal cu lt ivatio n was o n ly on e

of severa possi bl e ways of int en ifyin g energy flow As several an th ro

pologists have pointed out, the emergence of ct ies may have foowed

tntv t t ntntn as wh en the em ergence of u rban l ife

in Peru fed off a reservor of fish4 hat matters is not agricuture per

se bu t th e great i n crease in th e fow of matteren e rgy t h rough society,

as wel l as the tran sfo rmations in u rban fo rm that th is i ntense flow

makes possb le .

F rom t h is point of view ci t i es ar ise fr om th e f low of m atterene rgy, bu t

on ce a towns mi ne ral in frastructure h as emerged, it reacts to those

flows, creating a new t ntnt that e ithe r ntensif ies or i n h i b its

t hem eedl ess to say, the wa ls , m on u mental b u ld ings, streets and

8


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GELGICAL HISTY 1000-1700 AD

houses of a town would make a rather weak set of constrants f they

operated on ther own. Of course they do not Our hstorcal exploraton

of u rban dyna mcs m ust the refore ncl ude an an alyss of the

that nhabt ctes whether the bureaucraces that run them or the mar

kets that anmate them. Athough these nsttutons are the product of

colectve human decson makng once n pace they aso react back on

ther hum an co mpon ents to l mt them and control them or o n the con-

trary to set them n moton or accelerate ther mutaton (Hence nsttu

to ns consttute a set of em erge nt postve a nd negatve co n stran ts but

on a smal ler scale )

The b rth of Europe a roun d th e e leventh century of our era was made

possbl e by a great agrcu ltu ra l nten sfcaton As Lyn n hte r a h sto-ran of medeva techn ology has sh own n the centu res precedng th e

second ml le n nu m "a se res of nn ovatons occurred whch consodated

to form a remarkably effcent new way of explotng the sol5 These

n novato ns (th e heavy plow new ways of har ness ng the horse's m uscu

lar energy the openfeld system and trennal feld rotaton) were mutu-

a l ly en hancng as wel l as nterdepen dent so th at o n ly whe n t hey fu l ly

mes he d were ther nten sfyng effects fet. T he la rge ncrease n th e f ow

of energy created by ths web of technologes allowed for the reconsttu-t on o f t he Eurpean exoskeleton t he u rban framework th at ha d for the

most part col lapsed wth the Roman Empre Begn nng a rou nd 000 ,

la rge po pu aton s of wal l ed towns an d fortfed castle s a pp eared n two

great zones : n the south al on g th e Me dterranea n coast and n the

no rth al ong th e coastlan ds lyng between th e trade waters of th e N o rt h

Se a an d the Ba tc

As cty hstorans often pont out urbanzaton has always been a ds

contnu ou s phe no me no n B ursts of rapd growth are fo l owed by long per-ods of stagnaton . 6 Th e wave of accele rated cty bu ldng th at occu rred

n Europe between th e elevent h an d thrteen th centu res s no excepto n .

Many of th e great towns n t he north su ch a s Brusse ls and Antwerp

were born n ths perod and the far older ctes of Italy and the Rhne-

la nd expereced en orm ous growth. T hs accele raton n u rban devel op-

ment however would not be matched for another fve hundred years

when a new ntensfcaton n the flow of energyths tme arsng from

the expl otaton of foss l fue ls propel l ed an oth er great spu rt of cty

brth and growth n the 00s nterestngly more than the prol feraton

of factory town s m ad e possble by coa l the "tda wave of medeval u rba n-

zaton lad out the most endurng features of the European urban

structu re features that wou ld contn ue to nf l ue nce the cou rse of hstory

wel l nto the twenteth ce ntu ry


28/330

AVAS AND MAGMAS

There are two basc processes by whch ctes can emerge and grow

A town may develop spontaneously acqurng ts rregular shape by fol-

lowng the topographcal features of the landscape, or t may nhert

ts shape from the dstrbuton of vllages that have amalgamated to formt Such was the case of medeval Vence, whch accounts for ts labyrn

thne streets On the other hand, a cty may be the result of conscous

plannng a regular symmetrcal form may be mposed on ts deveop-

ment to facltate ordery settlement urng the deceeraton that fol-

lowed the year 00 the relatvely few new ctes that were born were of

the latter type perhaps reflectng the ncreasng poltcal centralaton

of the tme Veralles wth ts grd of broad avenues convergng at the

center of power s a perfect llustraton However, the dfference betweenselforganed and planned ctes s not prmarly one of form but of the

decsonakng csse bend the geness and subsequent develop

ment of that form That s the crucal dstncton s between centraled

and decentraed decson makng n urban development There are

towns that have been purposefuy desgned to mmc the organc form

of curvlnear streets, and there are towns whoe grdpatterned streets

evolved spontaneosly due to some pecularty of the envronment

Furthermore most ctes are mxtures of the two processes

f w wr t an vral unr t lan at ranm ar the ran

f tr ul vr a r naental rean t tn

t uln ran t ae n tr l fn

tat te t rmar vrn ran arrannt t lann an

t ran ten ext In ur, n atn t t

en meval re tr tn r ala rlar t

tr tn an vrtall al t etrltan ar l f

retat and ntane ent varl ntrlk r xta-

e e an n t kn ran r nt ala

tan n nt rlatn tar rerkn

rr eoetr ver te lav ran alt er a n rular

r lan el nned thn a a a an narrw

nn tret

The mneralaton of humanty took forms that were the combned

result of conscous manpulaton of urban space by some central agency

and of the actvtes of many ndvduals thout any central decder

And yet, the two processes and the forms they typcay gve rse to

reman dstnct despte ther coexstence and mutual transormatons

On the one hand the grd s th best and quckest way to organe a

30


29/330

GEOOGCA HSTORY 000-700 AD

homogeneous populaton with a singe socia purpose9 On the other

hand whenever a hogos group of people comes together spon

taneously they tend to organize themseves in an interlocking urban

pattern that interconnects them without hoogzg them.ven though from a strictly physical viewpoint accelerations in city

bulding are the result of intensifications in the flow of energy the actua

form that a given town takes is determined by human decision making

A similar distinction between centraized and decentralized decision mak

ing must be made with respect to the social institutions that determine

how energy flows through a citythat is with respect to the citys "dstri

buton systems.0 On the one hand there are bureaucracies hierarchi

ca structures with conscious goas and overt contro mechaisms. Onthe other there are peasant and smalltown markets selforganized

structures that arise spontaneously out of the activities of many individu

als whose interests only partially overlap. I have in rnind here a pacein a town where people gather evry week as opposed to markets in

the modern sense dispersed colections of consumers served by many

middemen

Bureaucracies have aways arsen to effect a planned extraction of

energy surpluses (taxes tribute rents forced labor and they expandin proportion to their ablity to contro and process those energy lows.

Makets in contrast are born wherever a regular assembly of indepen

dent decision makers gathers whether at church or at the border between

two regons presenting ndividuals with an opportunity to buy sell and

barter The distnction between these two types of energy dstributon

systems exacty paralels the one above only on a smaer scale. One sys

tem sorts out human beings into the internally homogeneous ranks of a

bureaucracy he other brngs a heterogeneous collection of humans

together in a market where their complementary economic needs enmes.

Markets and bureaucracies are however more than just coective

mehanisms for the allcaton of material and energetic resources When

people exchanged goods in a medieval market not only resources

changed hands but also ghs o osh, that is the rights to use a

given resource and to enjoy the benefts that may be derved from it

Hence market transactions invoved the presence of collective nstitutiona norms (such as codes of conduct and enforceabe contracts Simi

larly medieval bureaucraces were not only organizations that controlled

and redistrbuted resources via centralzed commands they themselves

were sets of mutualy stabilizng institutional norms a nexus of contracts

and routines constitutng an apparatus for collectve action. The rues

behind bureaucracies tended to be more formalized than the informal

3


30/330

AVA AND MAGMA

conventons and codes of conduct behind markets an more mpor-

tanty they tended to become a consttution that s a set of contracts

defining a homogeneous common enterprise not easly disaggregated

nto a set of heterogeneous blateral contracts ke those nvolved mar

ket transactions.3

Markets and bureaucracies as well as unplanned and planned ctes

are concrete nstances of a more general distinction selforganzed

wk of dverse elements versus of uniform eements But

agan meshworks and herarches not only coexst and ntermingle they

constantly gve rse to one another For nstance as mrkets grow n sze

they tend to form commercal herarchies In medieval times ths was

true of the great fairs such as he Champagne fars of the thrteenth cen-tury which came to have as many particpants as most towns hd inhab

tants I a far s ensage as pyramd the base conssts of the many

mnor transactons in local goods usully pershable and cheap then

one moves up to the luxury goods expnsive and transported from far

away. At the ery top of the pyramd came the actve money mrket th

out whch busness could not be done at all or at any rate not at the

same pace.14

hus once markets grew past the sze of oca weekly gatherings theywere ranked and organized from the top gving rise to a hybrd form

a herarchy of meshworks The opposte hybrid a meshwork of herar-

ches may be llustrated by the system of power in the Middle Ages Urban

bureaucraces were but one of a number of centralized insttutions that

coexsted n the Mdde Ages. Roya courts landed arstocracies and

ecclesastcal hierarchies all entered nto complex unesy mixtures here

was never a "superelte capable of globally regulatng the mx so local

constrants (shftng alances truces legal debates) worked alongsdeformal procedures in genertng stablity. If we add to this the fact that

the state and the church n the West arose fro heterogeneous origns

(unlike Chna or slam where all these herarchca structures had emerged

wthn a homogeneous cultual tradtion) the system of power in the erly

part o ths millennum was a true mesh of hierarchcal organzatons1

eshworks and herarches eed to be vewed not only as capable of

gvng rse to these compex hyrds but aso as n constant nteracton th

one another rimitve bureaucraces had evolved n the Mddle Ages to

regulate certan aspects of market fe (for nstance to arbitrate dsputes

between markets when ther catchment areas overlapped) or to provide

securty for the bg fairs However we must not imagne that the mere

existence of command herarchy meant that the globl rules of a

bureaucracy coud n practce be enorced. n medieval tmes the norms

3


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GEOGCA HTOY 10001700 AD

ha overned economic lifehe norms ha uaraneed ha conracs

would be honored or ha measures weihs and currencies woud

reman sabe were for he mos par no lobal bu based on self

defense realiation and other oca controls As one historian has pu itthe enforcement of economic norms in the Middle Aes was a combina-

tion of cenralized decision makin and a selfreulatin mechanism

compounded by a balance of error and a lively sense of mutual advan

tae felt by al members of the inernationa ommuniy6

he lare populations of towns and ciies that emered in Europe after

the year may be cassified by their reative proportions of meshwork

and hierarchical components. y far the majorty of setlements were

small towns with more market than command inredients in their mix.ver half of all European urban dwelers lived in those ocal maket centers

even thouh each own had fewer han wo housand residents. Then

came intermediatesized towns fewer than ten thousand nhabitants)

which bean addin local and reional administrative funcions and hence

a hiher proportion of command componens Contro o roads and super-

vison of travelers two centralized functions absent from smal towns

were aready practiced here. A wider variety of instuiona forms inhab

ited hose larer selements courts jals hospitals reliious founda-tions ut as complexiy increased so dd raiy while here were about

small towns in northern Europe there were only of intermediae

sizeY Denser urban concentrations were even rarer but for the same

reason sustained a wider rane of functions

Ctes wth more than 10,000 resdents stood out n Medeal Europe,

ecept n northern Italy and Flanders where the spread of loth producton

and the ncrease n trade pemtted relatiely ntense urbanaton. lse

where, large sie was coelated wth comple admnstrate, relgouseducatona, and economc unctons Many of the bg towns-o exampe,

Barcelona, Coogne or Prague-suppoted unestes as wel as a wde

varety of relgous nsttutons Ther economes were dversed and

ncluded a wde range of artsans and sevce wokers The large ctes

o 1330 owed ther sze to the mutplcty o ther unctons The same

pont can be mae about the ew urban gants o the Mddle Ages Pars,Mlan, Vence and Florence were commercal and manuactung ctes, and

also poltcal captals8

This multplicity of urban centes inernaly differentiated by size and

complexity can be compared to other populations of towns that emered

elsewhere. Urbaization explosions had occurred in Islam and Chna at

33


32/330

I AVAS AND MAGMAS

last two cturis bfor thos i Europ. But i thos two rgios citis

ad tows had to compt with a largr sociopolitica tity that mrgd

oly latr i th Wst th ctral stat. Whil I slam i th arly part of

th millium had som tows (Crdova Cuta) similar to thos i th

Wst hug tows such as Baghdad or Cairo that housd royal hirarchis

wr th rul thr9 Cha too showd a gratr prctag of tows

subctd to a ctral authority tha autoomous tows dfid by th

movmt of popl ad goods through tir wals. Wilam Iclil is o

of svral istorias who thik that o of th rasos for th Wst's

vtual domiatio of th mllium ls i th diffrt mixturs of

ctralzd ad dctraizd dcisio makg i its tows

h ft th h rid id ltily fr dr ti

vid f th ird wr vr rl wildd i

ri w h id f h rkl d h f vr

wr rl h a l ffi ld r vrridi l wr

whvr h wr l r rvl dfid h d l i h

ix rid r di r hi r h i hr-

r h r rl d idri xi xhiid w

h vh d h ih r vr rd i hi.2

I short McNil's hypothsis is that xposiv slfstimulatig ("auto-

catalytic) urba dyamics caot mrg wh hirarchica compots

ovrwhm mshwork compots. Frad Bradl sms to agr with

this hypothsis wh h assrts th xistc of a "dyamic pattr of

turbut urba volutio i th Wst wi th pattr of lif i citis

th rst of th world rus i a log straight ad ubrok li across

tim. 2 O xampl of th oliar ruaway atur of autocataytic

dyamics i may mdiva Wstr tows is th squc of itsifica-

tios of rgy flow that propld urba growth First cam a agricul-

tura itsificatio causig massiv icrass popuatio ad

thrfor gvig birth to may cits. Th as i acit tims th tr

actio of ths urba ctrs furthr itsifid rgy cosumptio.

O of ths itsificatios was achivd by harssig th rgy of

ruig watr to powr grai ills ad triphammrs i forgs ad to

faciitat th fulig of coth. This was without xaggratio a lvth-

ctury idustrial rvolutio fuld by solar (agricultural) ad gravita

toal (watr) rgy.

I addito to raw rgy t turbult dyamics to which both McNill

ad Braudl rfr wr associtd with th itsificato of aothr flow

th flow of moy. Howard Odum a systms cologist has dvlopd a

34


33/330

GEOLOGICAL HITORY 000700 A D

thory of moy that though prhaps too simpl offrs a usful imag

hr. Moy Odum says is lik rgy oly it rus i th opposit dirc-

tio: rgy fows from agricultural vilags to th tows thy fd whil

moy fows from tow to coutrysid to pay for th food "Th flow of

rgy maks possib th circulatio of moy [i clud g th rgy sp t

o paprwork bakig closig das] ad th maipuatio of moy

ca cotrol th flow of rgy.23 To apply Odum's schma to mdiva

f w d to brig our mixturs of markt ad commad igrdits

to bar. Cotrary to what may b supposd motary systms ar of

ot commrcial but politica origi. Spcifcally thy wr dvlopd by

ctral hrarchis to faclitat th xtractio of agricutural surplus

ad th raisig of taxs.24 I th ary part of th mil ium fuda Fd-ords xtractd this xcss rgy ad i may cass pasats woucom to a markt tow to sl thir goods ot to buy othr goods b t to

gt cash to pay thir rt to h owrs of thir lad.5 Wit that qualifica

to Odum's da is usful motar flows rgulat (hibit or itsify)

rgy flows particulary wh th flow of moy scaps total coro by

th stat.

Moy is bst dfd as a catalyst or stimat of trad (ad its

absc a ihbitor). Bartr th xchag of goods for goods is rlativly ifficit that popl must wait for thir complmtary ds

to mt. Th occasios wh o prso has xactly th good tha th

othr ds ad vic vrsa ar xcdigly rar. But ay good that is

higly dsirabl ad ca asily b put back to circulatio ca pay th

rol of moy blocks of sat cowry shlls coral ivory v cigartts

odr prisos.26 Ay o of a umbr of widly dsrd goods ca

spotaously bcom moy simply by big abl to flow fastr ad

mor asily. Ad oc such slforgaizd moy coms ito xistc

compmtary dmads ca b mshd togthr at a distac graty

icrasig th itsity of markt xchags Frqutly coxistig with

this spotaous moy ar ot ssts wth thir hirarchy of

homogous mtal cois of diffrt domiatios a systm that is

ot slforgaizd but pla d ad impmtd by a lit. Pla d

moy sc its icptio i acit Egypt has usd mtals as its physi

ca vhicl bcaus thy ca b wighd ad masurd uiformly cut

ad stadardizd.27

W vr ths two typs of moy th pa d ad th spo taous

cam i to co tact sta dardizd moy would i vitaby wi causig

dvaluatio of th othr icrass i ts rsrvs ad catastrophic ifla-

tio. This situato woud ars tim ad agai ovr th cturs particu

lary wh Europ bga cooizig th word. Howvr i th frst fw

35


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AA AND MAGMA

centuies of the millennium the situation was evesed: ealy Euope

was, in a manne of speaking, a colony of slam, an empie that not ony

had a moe advanced monetay system, but also had invented any

of the instuments of cedit (fom bis of exchange to poissoy notes

and checks) As Baude says, "f Euope finay pefected its oney, it

was because it had to ovethow the doination of the Musim wold 8

Venice, oence, Genoa and othe age medieva cities stated coining

thei own coppe, silve, and gold money, and the volume of Euopean

tade began to se o then on, this new flow, catalyzing and contol

ling the flow of enegy, neve ceased acceleating the pace of Euopean

histoy. he flow of money could itsef be intensified, ethe by inceas-

ing the exploitation of mines, and hence the esevoi of meta, o byspeeding up its ciculation. hese two intensifications, of the voue and

veocity of oney, affected each othe, since "as pecious metas becae

moe pentifu coins passed oe quicky fo hand to hand

hese intense flows of enegy and monetay cataysts fueed the geat

uban acceeation in medieval Euope and kept the towns that ade up

Euopes geat exoskeleton in a tubulent dynaical state Although lage

accumulations of money ceated new commecial hieachies, the net

esult was a decease in the powe of cental states and a concomitantincease in the autonomy of cities. he intensity of the flows themselves,

and not any specia featue of the "Euopean psyche (calculating atio-

nality, say, o a spiit of thift), is what kept the ixtue of aket an

comand components in the ight popotions to foste autocatalytc

dynaics30 ne oe eeent must be added to this explanation, how-

eve, but this wil invove going beyond a conception of makets (and

bueaucaces) as allocation echanisms fo scace esouces.

his point ight be claified by applying cetain ideas ecently devel-

oped by the neoinstitutionalist economist Douglas Noth. As we noted

above, not only esouces change hands in the maketpace but also

popety ights; hence the maket faciitates simpe exchanges as well as

potentialy compex tansactions he latte invoves a host of hidden

costs anging fo the enegy and ski neede to ascetain the quality

of a poduct to the dawing of saes and epoyent contacts, to the

enfoceent of those contacts n sal edieva akets these "tans-

action costs wee inia, and so wee thei enfoceent mechaniss

theats of utua etaliation, ostacism, codes of conduct, and othe

infoal constaints sufficed to allow fo the moe o less smooth func-

toning of a maket But as the volume and scale of tade intensified (o

as its chaacte changed, as in the case of foeign, longdistance tade),

new institutional noms and oganizatons wee needed to egulate the

36


35/330

GEOOGCA HTOR 0000 A

flow of eoce angng fo andadzed weg and eae

o e e of noaal ecod a evdence n ecan aw co o ae

co No an pon a a edeva ae gew and co-

pexfed e anacon co nceaed aodngy; wo a e of

nona no and oganzaon o eep oe co down e

blen nenfcaon of ade n e We wod ave coe o a al.

Econoe of cale n ade and lowco enfoceably of conac

wee accodng o Noh ally lang.3

any nonal no eeged n an nplanned wayoe elaed

o coon law o o nfoal code of condc fo exapleand owy

"edened wn own n e Mddle Age. e c a pned

of pce o ae nance cee wee delbeaely nodced o edce anacon co by povng e flow of ae nfo

aon o by peadng e of lage nveen Toe ce

engagng n ype of ade wh pacaly gh anacon co ch

a longdance ade ee o have been he ncbao of any n-

onal nnovaon A ee "clal aeal (nfoal conan

foal le enfoceen pocede) acng a ade caay acc

laed ey began o dffe ogh e ban envonen. A No

oeve "ecan caed w he n ongdance ade code ofcondc o a Pan aw paed no e ea code of Maele. eon

and bec gave aw o e no of Eope Baceona o e o of

Eope and fo ay cae e egal pncple of nance and b of

excange.3

ne dffeence beween e neononal appoac and e one

a yng o ec ee : beyond e leve of e ndvdal oga-

nzon e neononal doe no ee o envon ye anoe

eegen lagecale eny b ply efe o "ocey o "he polya a whole Th oweve n e of nodcng oo c oo

geney no o odel and of ggeng a an ocee fo a

"oay a an eny on a ge onoogca pane an ndvdal

non and ndvda an beng. By cona peang of con

cee ce (nead of "ocey n e abac) enable o nclde n

o el ocally eegen wole ha do no fo oale bply lagecae ndvdal ene. alo edce e dange of ang

oo c ocal nfoy fo ganed. ndvdal ce (and naon

ae) ae eae o valze a encopang a vaey of cone

wn he bode and f a a ae of epca fac a gven cy (o

naonae) dplay a g degee of cal oogeney elf

ecoe oehng o e odeed a e e of concee oca

pocee We ave aleady een a dependng on e xe of cen

7


36/330

I LAA AND MAGMA

tra zed and decentra l zed decs on man g beh nd a c tys b rth and

growth we can e xpect d fferent degrees of n form ty an d d versty n ts

nfrastrctral ayot To ths t mst be added that dependng on the

roe that a cty pays n th e la rger rban context n wh ch t f nct on sthe "c lt ra l mater a ls that accm l ate wth n t w l l exh b t d fferent

degrees of homogenety and heterogenety. Specfcally a cty may play

th e role of po t cal captal for a gven rego n and e nco rage a certa n

degree of n formty n ts own c ltre and n that of th e sma ler towns

nde r ts comm an d. On th e contrary a cty may act as a g o or

ig crs promot ng th e entry and dffs on of heterogeneo s mater-

als that ncrease ts dversty and that of the ct es n cose contact wth

t. I n et he r case v ew ng ct es as n dv d a s a l l ows s to stdy th e n teracton s between t hem a nd th e emergent whole s that may reslt from

hse nteraons

Th at gro ps of ct es may fo r h erarch cal strctres s a we l k nown

fact at east snce the 0s, when the term "Central Place system

was ntrodced to refer to pyramds of rban centers. More recentl

rba n h stor ans Pa l o he nbe rg and Lyn n ol le n Lees have sggested

that n addt on to h erarchcal strctres c t es n Eope also formed

a meshwork ke assemblage whch they refer to as the "Network Sys-te m. Lets exam n e s ome of the def n ng trats of these two types of cty

assemb lages begn n ng wth th e Centra l P lace system exem pl f ed n

the M dd e Ages by th e h erarch es of towns that formed nder strong

regonal captals sch as Pars Prage and M lan. As we saw before the

poplat on of towns n medeva Erope was dv ded by the sze and com-

plexty of ts ndv dal nts. Ths dstr bton of s zes was not accdental

bt d rect ly related to the l ks and con necto ns between sett lem ents.

M ch as s mal l towns offered the s rro nd ng contrys de a var ety of

commerca l adm n strat ve and re l g os serv ces the towns them selves

looked to the mo re dversf ed la rger ctes for serv ces th at were nava l -

able local ly Ths created pyramds of towns organzed arond herarchcal

lev e ls of com p exty The d str bt on n space of th ese h erarch ca l sys-

tems was d rectly t ed to geograph cal d sta nce, s nce th e resde nts of a

town wol d o n ly travel so far n s earch of a des red servce A n m ber of

sch pyramda l strct res arose n th e M dd e Ages each o rgan z ng abroad mo re or less clear y de fne d rego n Ge ne ral ly th e f lows of traded

goods th at crcated p an d down these h e ra rche s cons sted of basc

necesst es sch as food and manfactred prodcts.

I n contradst nct on the c rc l at o n of xr is orgnated so

hr s Longdstance trade wh ch has s nce Antq ty dea lt wth pres-

t ge goods s th e p rov nce of ct es otsde the Centr al P l ace system

8


37/330

GEOLOGICAL HITORY 00000 A D

cities that act as gateways to faraway trading circuits, as well as nodes

in a network not drectly constrained by dstance. For example many

uropan gateway cities were maritime ports connected more than sep-

arated) by the Mediterranean and the Batic and North eas.33 Theseurban centers formed accordng to Hohenberg and Lees a Network

system

twr t, wth t ffrt rts t th

tl l st t f hihil nti of t

the l th it f vi ffee, it rst

ei f ftin et iti ur ettleent.

The ke tei t f it i lt the th etlit . etwk iti ei eeie t t ite the iflu f

tw h little t with it evn l with fl

tit h tl fte f th twk te e ll iii

n nta t t ti tw tt.3

nstead of a herarchy of towns, longdistance tradng centers formed a

meshwork an interlocking system of complementary economc functons.

This s not to imply however that all the nodes in the meshwork were ofeual importance Certain economic functions especally those giving

rise to innovations) formed a privileged core within a given network whie

others e.g. routine production tasks) characterized ts peripheral zones.

Yet, the core of the Network system differed from the acme of the Central

Place pyramid I n particular, the influence of a networks main city was

more precarious than that of the Centra Place, whose dominance tended

to be stable Core cties tended to replace one another in ths roe, as the

ntesity of exchange in a given trade route varied over time, or as erst

whle luxury goods pepper, sugar) became everyday necessities "nce

[these cities are links in a network, often neither the source no the uti-

mate destinaton of goods they are n some measure nterchangeabe as

are the routes themselves.35 Roughly the seuence of cores was fom

the fourteenth to the twentieth centures) Venice, Antwerp, Genoa, Ams

terdam, London, !ew York.36 The two systems coexisted, with Centra

Place towns usually belonging to the middle zone or semipeiphery) ofthe Network system37

Oe very important feature of Central Place and Network systems is

the type of cr srcrs they gve rse to As with many other struc

tures, the raw materials n this case cultual habits and norms) need to

accumulate sowly and then consolidate as more or less permanent links

are stablished among them. Herarchical constructons tend to undergo

9


38/330

LAVAS AND MAGMAS

a homogenzaion before heir maerals harden into a pyramid whi le

mes hworks ar icuae h eerogene ous el eme ns nerockng h em wihout

mpos ng u nfo rmty

n ne leve the entral ae ste serves a heneus ele we

settled in its histal lands The natinal aital disti s and fralizes

the mmn fl k ult ue and rei nets the vlized rdut ak int al

i e [Ths ntrasts with the rtless s tan is f the etwrk

ste with its sha ultura disntnuities etween it and untr and

etween re and erher re values and teh ni ues are sueri-

sed n a trad tin al er he with n atte t at in teratin r radua

synthess38

Even before the adv ent of nato nal capitas the d om in ant cit ies of Cen

tral Place hierarchies performed their homogenizations at the regiona

leve transformng loca cultures into great traditons as they engaged

in book pr in tng an d p u bl i shng as wel l as schoolng Gateway cites on

the other hand helped diffuse heterogeneous elemens from aen cu-

tures as when medeval Venice introduced into Europe products technol-

ogy and architecture from the East Later on the cit ies of the Networksystem woud propagate the ideas of humanism en ightenment and radi-

cal thought whe giving refuge to persecuted thinkers and pub ishing

fob id de n b ooks3 Th e circu lat n a nd processng of cutu ral materi als

h roug h these two d i ffe rent systems of cites are as i m portan t n the lo ng

run as the mi ndsets of the i n habtants of the towns them seves T he l at

te a e of cou rse an active el em en t i n the mx to th e exte nt th at psyc ho-

oga structures once they have come nto beng affect the dynamics

of decsi on ma ki ng and hen ce the flows of en ergy a n d mo n ey kn owledgean d idea s Bu t wh at is cruci al to em ph asize here i s that the e ntre p ocess

does not emanate from some essence housed wthin peoples heads

parcuary not any reif ied essence such as rationaity

I n the original version of Central Pace theory created by alter

Ch rsal l er i n th e eary 0s the h um an capacity fo r maki ng maxi ma l ly

efficent decis io ns (wha t is now cal led optmzi ng rati on al ity) was take n

for granted The model of Chrsta ler also assumed a frctonless word

where geography lacked irreguarit ies wealth and power were dstributed

evenly and the leves of demand for city services as wel as the distances

people wou ld be wi l l ng to travel to get them rema ine d fxed In this i ne ar

wor ld particu ar spa ia l d istr ibut ons of c ites of d ifferent ran k resu lted

as the di fferent ce nters ar ranged th emselves to mi n i mze travel tme for

a gven se rvice t hu s optimizi ng the ir col l ective be nefit or ut i l ity I n no n


39/330

GELGICAL ISY 1000100 AD

near dynaica odels of cy developen, such as hose creaed by

Peer Al le n a nd Dirios Den dri nos, u rban paerns do n o resu l fro

soe gobal optiizer (su ch as su perratio na l h uan decis ion ak ers

i nizng trans po rtation costs) bu t fro a dynacs of cooperatio n a nd

conf ict aong cities, involvng growth and decay of centers I n theseodel s, urba n settleents grow by atracting p opu aton fro s u rrou n d

ng rura areas, with ob avai la bi l ity and ncoe acting as ince ntves to

igration wh le congestion and pol lut ion act as dis incenves Athough

n pr inciple severa ct es could share these huan resources ore or

es s even ly t he od es sh ow a stron g ten de ncy fo r soe u rban centers

to grow at th e expe n se of other s an d for arge centers to n h i bit the

growth o f siil ary scaled towns i n th ei r vic in ty Mo reover the eerge nce

of sta ble pattern s of coexisi ng cen ters sees rel ated to a decrease i n

th e srength an d n uber of d rect in teraction s aong towns too uch

con nectvity (as when eve ry city in the ode l in teracts with eve ry othe r

one) lead s to un stab e patterns , wh i e d ecreased con nectivty with in a

hi erarchy of towns (that s, fewe r interactio ns between ran ks th an wt hi n

a given ran k) lea ds to stab i l i ty4

Con tepora ry stude s i n no nl inea r u rba n dynacs teach u s that, in

any cases, frcton (delays, bottlenecks, confl ict, uneven distrbuton ofresources) pl ays a cruc ial role in gene rati ng selforga ni zatio n He nce

el iin ating it fro our odes (by postu lat ing an optizi ng ration a ity,

for insta nce) autoatical ly el ii nates the possb i l ity of captu ring any real

dynacal effect This nsight is even ore iportant when we consider

the dynaics of the in st itut io ns tha t ch an nel the f low of ene rgy th rou gh

cit ies a rkets and b u rea ucraces Th e classical pictu re of the arket,

Ada Siths invis ible hand ode , s ust l ike Chrstal lers odel of

urban patterns It operates in a world copletely devod of friction whereo nop olie s do n ot exist an d age nts are e nd owed wth pe rfect fore sight

and have access to costless and unl ited inforation Siths odel (or

ore exactly, its ipleentation n neoclassical econornics) also gener

ates patterns that axiize the benefts to socety as a whole, hat s,

pattern s i n w hich su ppy an d dea nd interact so as to reach optia l

eq ul i b riu precl u d i ng wastefu l excesses or deficts Th i s type of arket

dynaics is, of course, a fction And yet ths picture of a rationa free

a rket dynaics eanat ng fro the nt eraction of sefish agents reach

i ng optial con cl usio ns a bout alternatve u ses of scarce resou rces s st i l l

at the core o f odern l near econoics

o n n ea r approaches to arket dynaics, n contrast, ephas ize the

role of unce rta nty in decis ion ak ing and th e i n here nt costs of in fo ra

ton gathering Iperfect knowledge, ncopete assessent of feed


40/330

I AVAS AND MAGMAS

back l iited eo ry a nd reca as we l as poo r problesolving sk l ls

resu lt in a for of ratio na l ity th at attai ns not optal dec isi ons but o re

or less satisfactory coproises between confl icting constraints42 This

"satsfcing or "b ou nde d rato na ity proceeds i n a ny cases by rul es

of thub and other adaptive behaviora patterns This does not preclude

soe co he rence aon g an agents expectatio ns needs an d actio ns but

it does cal l for a dynaic expla nation of the foration o f adequ ate be i efs

as opposed to sipy assung static fors of rationaity Moreover it

ephasizes t hat the respo nses of econoic agents i n the arketpla ce

a re not un fo r th at soe agents wil l act o re co he rently th an oth ers

and that the adequacy o their decisions wi l vary fro tie to tie43

A nonlinear odel of arket dynaics differs greatly fro Adaiths n partcu la r in stead of a si ngle static eq u l i br i u toward whc h

arkets are su pposed to gravitate th e non i nea r ode al lows fo r u lt i-

ple dynaical fors of sta bi lty For exapl e arkets ay get caught in

cycl ical equl ibrus that force the to undergo successive periods of

growth and decay Hence arkets ay be both selfregulating and non

optial4 These issu es are a l l the o re portant when co nsi deri ng

ed ieval a rkets w hi ch had to cope not o n ly wth t he effects of per-

fect foresght but with a ultipl icity of other nonl inearit ies agrarian hier-a rc hies exactin g a port ion of prod uction tak ing it out of ci rculat ion

craftsen se l ing their products speculatively oney suppy affecting

prices an d so o n No netheless by the twelft h centu ry p r ices th rougho ut

urope f luctuated n unison and this is what above al l characterizes a

selfregul at ing a rket econ oy Th is col lective osc l lat ion this assive

rhythical breathing across the cties that ade up the Central Place

and Network systes can now be captured through the use of nonl inear

odel s wh ere the ipedents created by bou nded ration al ity play aco nstructive rol e4

On e ay thi n k that the s u boptia l coproses to w hi ch edeval

a rkets we re cond ened de rived fro the d ecentral ized natu re of the ir

deciso nakng processes But a sii la r co ncl us io n ay be reach ed vs

vis centra ized bu reau cracies eve n though their fora l ized pl ans a nd

wel l defi ned goal s woul d see to be prod ucts of an optizin g ration al ity

But here too decision aking takes pace in a world ful l of uncertaint ies

Any actu a syste of in fo ration processing pl an ni ng and control wi l l

never b e optial b ut erely practical app lying rote esponses to recur-

rent probles and eploying a variety of contingency tactcs to deal wth

u nforese en events oe of the flows of atte r an d en ergy n a nd ou t of

ctiesflows that edieva hierarces were supposed to reguate

received ore attenion whle oters were overlooked and isanaged


41/330

GEGICA HISTY 1000-1700 AD

For instance by the thi rteenth ce ntu ry Lon do n had al ready ge ne rated a

speca ized bureaucracy for handl ing the flow of water into the city but

man ageme nt of the f low of waste out of the c ty dd not come a bout unt i

t h e ni neteenth century even though the ngl is h capita l had ha d recu r-

rent sewage crses since the 10s. It was not u nti l th e rive r Th am es s

capacity to transport waste reached ts imits causing an odor that made

par l iamentary session s i mp ossi b le to co nd uct th at the probl em was co n-

fronted . Befo re that the a pp roach to sewage m an agem ent h ad b een

reactive unp l an ned and p ecemeal hard ly opt ma . 4

T us to un de rstan d the roe of decis ion m aki ng i n the creat ion of socia l

o rde r we ne ed to conce ntrate not so m uch on the mo re o r less rat ional

character of v decis ions but on the dynamics (centra ized ord ecentra l ized) amon g many interact ing decis ion makers. The h ie rarchi es

and meshworks that develop from these nteractions (pa rt icu ar b ureau -

cracies i nd iv idu al markets) n tu rn become eleme nts of other homoge

neo us an d heterogen eou s structu res (capitals or gateways) w hc h in tu rn

go on to fo rm Central Place a nd Networ k systems . At ea ch l eve l d iffere nt

no n near dyn amics take p ace with the i r own mu lt p e eq u i i br um s and

bifurcations between alternative stable states Hence individual decision

mak ng whi le im po rta nt is s imp ly one e lemen t in the mix i nteract ingan d nf luenci ng dynam ics on o n y one of c nu mb er of sca les.48

But eve n at the ind iv idu al level what atters is not any particular psychological structure (rat ional ity) so much as problemsolving ski l ls ru les

of th um b a nd rout ne proced u res that is cu ltu ra l mater ia s that can

t vr t withi n a towns wal ls . I ndeed m any prei nd ustr i al

cit ies may be seen as la rge reservors of sk i l ls a nd rout ines T hose cit ies

recruited from the cou ntrysid e art isans possessing the most varied ab l i

t ies an d trades an d they were co nstantly struggl i ng to steal t hi s val u ab e hu ma n capital away from eac h oth er. To ma intai n an d i ncrease the ir

reservoi rs towns attracted a flow of craftsme n as wel l as a va riety of p ro

fessionals who brought wit h them ski l ls and proedures that cou d n ow

be ta ught to othe rs or mitated a nd he nce add ed to th e exi sting stock . As

these cu ltu ral m aterals accu mu lated they mixed in var ou s ways fo rm

ing novel meshworks and hierarchies

On one hand the ru i ng e l ites of many towns created betwee n the

twelfth and the f ifteenth centuries the gu ld system through which they

organized al craft activity within the city. ach gui ld brought together the

sk i ls that formed a given trade an d homogen ized the mea ns of t hei r

transmission by regulat ing training methods and cert if ication procedures

As ski ls accumulated and began interacting with one another trades

began to d ivers ify and mu l t ip ly I n Nu remberg . . the meta working

3


42/330

I: AVAS A D MAGMAS

gu ha v e, a ea r y a the th rteenth century, nto evera

ozen nepenent profeon an trae The ame proce occurre

n hent, Straour, Frankfurt an Forence, where the wooen nutry,

a eewhere, ecame a co ecton of trae n fact t wou e true to

ay that the oom of the t h rteenth century a roe out of th newy cre-

ate v on of aor a t pro ferate 4 On the other han, a peca-

t e mut p e o the nteract on etween n v a trae, an

th gave r e to me hwork of m a proucer, ym ot c co ect on of

tt e enterpr e, a the urant Jane Jaco ha ca e them

Whe the g ateway cte at the core of the etwork ytem, a we

a thoe at the top of entra P ace pyram, gave r e to e aorate h er

arche of gu an ever more r regat on , town n h at n them e zon e (tha t , not too ma to e conem ne to rem an a ppy

reon for the core, engae n what Jaco ca mportuttuton

ynam c ntea of m py excha ngng raw mater a for ma n ufacture

oo fro m the g c t e, the a rt an of thee town eveope th e

k neceary to owy repace thoe mport wth oca proucton

Thee new, e regu ate k , n t rn, egan form ng me hwork, a

t h ey nter ocke wth on e another n fu nct ona compe mentar ty

he m arket yna mc of thee m ezon e town were eft mu atn gecaue the money ave y repacn ome mport cou e pent on

new mport, whch n turn enerate a new roun of uttuton A

Jaco pt t , thee ma meeva town, an ther ma proucer

wer e forever procn g n ew export for on e an othe r e , ye, uck

e, parchment, ace, neee, pante canet work, ceramc, ruhe,

cutery, paper, eve an neee, weetmeat, e x r, f e, p tchfork,

extant re pac n g them wth oca proucton , ecom ng cutom er for

t more nnovat n 2 Jaco ecre the autocataytc ynamcthat prouce thee hme goo a evovng throh frcaton , a a

crt ca ma of potenta y repaceae mport accumuate wthn a

town, gv ng r e to a n ew expove epoe of m port repacem ent T he

n novat on t hat came ot of th p roce not h ave to e gamorou

or h h y v e ; what mattere wa the generat on of new k a n the

con equ ent comp ex f cat on of th e mehwo rk

om puter m aton of econo mc mehwork yna mc have hown

that, at a certa n cr t ca ev e of comp exty, a k n of n utr a tak eoff

occu r n th e nter ocke ytem of fun cton co ntttn g the me h

work Jaco h a gathere evence n cat ng that th n ee the

way n whch the eco nomy of Europe took off at the tu rn of the f rt

m e n n m At th e t m e, ontant no pe wa at the top of the u ran h er

archy, a n Ven ce (whch y th e fourteenth cent ry wa the m etropo at


43/330

GEOLOGCAL HSTORY 1000-1700 A.D

the core of the etwork ytem wa on e of t h um e up py on e. The

Ven et an o t mer an alt to the capta , n excha nge fo r ma nu fac

tu re prou ct n the e leven th cen tu ry however, th e econ omy of Ve n ce

egan to grow expovey, a a mehwork of ma proucer egan uttutng oca y manufacture goo for thoe prevouy mporte from

ontantnope Snce the ocal goo were necear y rough an prmt ve

y the tanar of the capta , Vence cou ony trae t new urpu

prouct wth othe r ackwar ct e (Thu t h type of autocatay

n vo ve n ot nge c t e u t team of c t e n th way th e eco nomy of

Ven ce took off an p rop el le th e cty to a pot on a o m na nt center

ecaue the mal er town that now mporte Venetan prouct were

ao reervor of f lexe k , they eventual y create ther own mport-uttuton mehwork Such wa the cae of Antwerp, whch egan a

a Venet an u pply regon for woo y th e f fteent h centu ry t too ha

ecome a co re of th e etwork onon ha to wa t unt the n n eteenth

century efore ecomng the etwork core, ut nce the Me Age t

ha een uttutng mporte eather goo from rova, to e l to

other ackwar cte4

Th k n of voat e trae among mal l town h ou e ae to our

t of autocataytc p rocee an matn g meeva Eu rope arge town,o n the o the r han , gave r e to a f fe r e nt typ e o f tu r u e nt y nam c ,

ae on ux ury goo ( ntea of everyay tem nvov ng g f rm

(ntea of mal l proucer, an on tratege that not re y on the

extence of heterogeneou k A rauel ay, the pro feraton of

new trae, an the reutant mcropeca aton, away charactere

the ottom ayer of the trae h erarchy g u ne n th e M e Age,

an for centur e afterwar, ha t own ynamc, whch ran n the

exact oppote rect on Even a hopkeeper who mae h fortu ne , a n

ecam e a merchant, m me ate y move out of peca l at on nto n on

pec a at o n oey ng th e ru e of trae at t u pper eve To ecome

an aove a to rema n a whoeaer meant havng not on y the r ght ut

the uty to hanle, f not everythng, at any rate a much a poe

The a vantage th at no n peca aton gave to th ee early capta t

wa freedom o f motion, wh ch a owe th em to h an e a ny f ow of goo

th at ecame h ghy prof tae , an to move n an out of f ow a the rprofta ty change Th freeom of choce ha charactere capta m

th ro ugho ut the m e n n um The me r chant an f na nc e r ( an ate r

n utra t who n hate the u pper eve of the trae h erarchy never

nvae owproft on e. Wth the exc u on of cah crop for the x ury

market, foo proucton an proceng were eft untouche unt the

eventeenth centu ry Th e am e true of tranportat on , u nt l the ra


44/330

I L AA AND MAGMA

roads a nd of th con strct o n nd stry nt l o r cnt ry ( f w xc d

factor s and p bl c b ld n gs. If w add to th s th rta l ng of goods w

ay conc l d th at no n of th f lows of n rgy and attr that ar n d s-

pn sabl for a n rban cntr wr pn tratd by la rg co rca l h r-arch s (an d th r cntra l zd dcs on a ng nt l r at vy rcnt ly.

Evn n t s ag of h g ltn at ona l corporato ns th coand

l nt n t co rca l xtr s far fro 00 prcnt . T h con o-

st o n Kn n th al bra th who sha rply d ffrnt ats btwn s po nta-

no s cono c act v ty (a rts and p la nn d con o c procsss

(bg b s nss c alc lats that today rog hly ha lf of th Wstrn con oy

has bn tan ovr by captal st h rarcs. Th othr half coprss

th lowprof t rgons wh ch ths h rarc s w l l ng ly abando n to tart. Accord ng to al brat h wh at gvs captal s ths frdo of

oto n s con oy o sca w hc h s why s nc th M dd l Ags cor-

ca l captal s has bn assocatd wth wholsal a nd n ot rta . A larg

f r s bttr abl to absorb shocs a nd f lctat on s and c rat th p lan s

a n d ct .t" IC that ay wn t a dgr of ndpndnc fro art

forcs ndd th ab l ty to c onrol an d manipulae thos forcs to a cr-

t a n

Sch cons dratons ld Brad l to t start l n g conc s on that wsh o ld not b too q c to ass that capta l s bracs th whol

of wstr n socty tat t acco nts for vry sttch n h soca l fab rc . . .

th at o r soct s ar organzd fro top to botto n a captal st sys-

t . ' On t h con tra ry . . th r s a d a lct c st l l vry c h al v btwn

capta l s on on ha nd and ts ant ths s th non capta l s ' of th

lowr lvl on t h othr56 And h adds that ndd capta s was car-

r d pward and o nward o n th sho d rs of sa l l s hops and th nor-

o s cratv powrs of th art of th l owr story of xcha ng . . . .

Th s l owst lv l not b ng paralysd by th s z of ts plant o r orga n

zato n s th on radst to adapt t s th sdbd of nsp rat on

provsat on a nd vn nn ovat on a lthogh ts ost br l l a nt d scovr s

soon r or l atr fa l nto t h ands of th h o d rs of cap ta l . t was not th

cap tal sts who broght abot th f rst cotton rvol t o n a l th n w das

ca fro ntrpr s ng sal l bs n sss.5

Thr s a sco ncpt o n wdly sha rd by cono sts and p loso-

p hrs on th r s d of th po t ca l spctr that capta l s dvlopd

n svra stags b ng at f rst coptt v and s bsrvnt to art

forcs an d on ly latr n th twntth cntry bco ng o nopol st c .

H owvr sta rt ng n th t h rtnth cnt ry capta l sts ngagd n varos

n o nco ptt v pract cs n o rd r to crat th l arg acc lat o ns of

o ny tat hav a lways charactr zd th p pr lvls of th trad


45/330

GELOGICAL HITOR 000700 AD

pyramd. As we dscssed the ear ly medeval a rs the m eet ng pons

o r ch m ercha nts rom a l l over E rope were ver table h erarch es o

meshworks n whch the lxry and money markets domnaed the

ppe r ec he lo ns. Ne t he r n the lo ngdstan ce trade o prestge goods no r n he wor lds o precos metals and credt d d sp ply a nd de ma nd re gn

s preme . O n the con rary mos ort nes n he se a reas were made by

he ma n p la on o these m arke orces h ro gh a var ety o no n co m-

pet ve pracces h ere was o co rse nense com pe o n a mo ng r ch

merchans and am es mch as oday la rge corporato ns compete wh

o ne a nohe r b hese r va l r es among o l gopol es are n dam ena l ly

d erent rom he k n d o "ano nymos compet on n wh ch sm al l pro-

dcers and traders engage.5rom the Mdd e Ages to the n neteenth centry not o n ly d d nd v d

al bsnesses engage n monopol st c practces en re c es dd oo

even grops o ct es. By means o noncompett ve practces a town

col d great y ad s merch ants and na nce rs protectn g the m rom or-

e gn r va ls a nd st m lat ng the acc m lat on o mon ey wth n ts wal l s .

he med eva l c t es that conro l led h e M edterranea n a nd the Ba lt c a nd

No r h Seas n anced m ch o he r growh rom ma n p l a on o m arkes

a nd by acq r ng excls ve conro l o cera n lows s ch as sp ces and

s lks rom h e Levan n h e case o Ven ce or sa l n the case o Lbeck .

Wh a mo nopoly on x ry goods won a nd ma nta ne d by m ary orce

o rteenhcentry Ven ce dom n ated he c t es a ro nd no on ly th e

sma l towns con s tt ng s s pp y regons bt other g an owns sch as

Florence and M la n . I n the n orth beween the h rteenth a nd teen h

cent r es c t es l ke Lbec k and Brges or med a meshwork o ct es kn own

as he Ha nseat c Leage wh c h was capab le o co l ect ve act o n wthot a

centra l ed organ a on be h nd . he eage a lso e ngaged n mo nopo l s-

c prac ces o trap h e towns wth n ts on e o econom c n l ence n a

web o sperv s o n and de pen dence. 59

We w l l re rn s hor ly o ohe r orms o marke man p lat o n whc h

accord ng o B ra de l hav e a lways characered certa n comme rca l n st -

ton s s nce the M dd le Ages . hs w l l m ake c lear how wrong s o

ass me (as many econom sts to h e r ght and cener o he pol ca l spec-

trm tend to o hat market power s somethng tha may be dsmssedor that needs to be std ed o n ly n re lato n to some aberrant n st to na l

orms sch as overt mon opol es Bt certa n co ncepto ns rom he e

(partcarly the Marxst let also need to be corrected n partclar a

eleol ogcal conce pto n o econo mc h story n terms o a linear progression

o modes o pro ct on . n th s Brad el expl c tly agrees wth G l les

elee and Fl x G attar capt

de landa, manuel - 1000 years of nonlinear history

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