world history, slideshow

8/11/2019 World History, Slideshow

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WORLD HISTORY:WORLD HISTORY:

A NEW COURSE FORA NEW COURSE FORHISTORIOGRAPHICAL RESEARCHHISTORIOGRAPHICAL RESEARCH


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What and why is W!"dWhat and why is W!"dHist!y#Hist!y#World history has rapidly grown, in the lastorld history has rapidly grown, in the last

decades, to become one of the most popular andecades, to become one of the most popular and

talked about NEW APPROACE! "O "E !"#$% O&alked about NE APPROACE! "O "E !"#$% O&'!"OR%('!"OR%(

'ts rise maybe constitutes "E )O!" !'*N'&'CAN"ts rise maybe constitutes "E )O!" !'*N'&'CAN"

CAN*E 'N '!"OR% "EAC'N* for the past halfAN*E 'N '!"OR% "EAC'N* for the past halfcentury(entury(

"he construction of World history, as ahe construction of orld history, as a distinctistinctacademic +eld of historical study, represents incademic +eld of historical study, represents initself a product of history, since it reects "Etself a product of history, since it reects "E#)AN A""E)P" "O --% #N$ER!"AN$ AN$#)AN A""E)P" "O --% #N$ER!"AN$ AN$

RE!PON$ "O "E CON"E)PORAR% CA--EN*E O&E!PON$ "O "E CON"E)PORAR% CA--EN*E O&"E *-O.A- A*E, pro/iding a meaningful historicalE *-O.A- A*E, pro/iding a meaningful historicalconte0t for the globali1ed society we li/e in today(onte0t for the globali1ed society we li/e in today(


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F! a s$%&i'& d%'nitin (W!"d hist!y)))

...The historiographical feld that exalts a 2'!"OR% O&CONNEC"'ON! 'N!'$E A *-O.A- #)AN CO))#N'"%3: itpriviledges the CRO!!4C#-"#RA- AN$ CRO!!4NA"'ONA-

$')EN!'ONo the historical becoming, choosing the'N"ERAC"'ON A)ON* $'&&EREN" #)AN *RO#P!,

whether it is related to migratory ows, uctuations on a largescale, spread rom a civilization to another o technological

innovations, propagation o contagious diseases, commerciallong-distance trades or circulation o religious aith, ideas,

ideals.

...a ind o !)ACRO'!"OR%", transregional, transnational,and transcultural, with multiple prospectives and narratives,created by an on-going dialectic between the common and

collective past and the many individual voices o memory thatpast contains.


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Th% n%&%ssa!y att%*$t atna!!atin+ hist!y in th% a+%

( +",a"ity)))#n ront o the extremely complex and interconnected world welive in, at the end o $$th century:% pressing need or a NEW 5'N$ O& '!"OR'CA- !COPE,which deals with the issues that contemporary global societyposes and will pose in the uture E6A)'NA"'ON

O& #)AN'"%7! !ARE$ PA!", especially to clariy what itreally was all about and how it relates to the present, in

explanation o and in response to the &uestions shaped by theactual globalized world

!We need a history that shows how world relationships have emergedand how diferent cultural and political traditions have ormed andinteracted." '.(. )tearns

)o, only !a clear and vivid sense o the whole human past can help tosoten uture conicts by making clear what we all share."

*.+.c(eill


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N%w $%!s$%&ti-%. "d$a!adi+*)))

*orld history as an 'NNO8A"'ON a $E-'.ERA"E$EPAR"#RErom the way history has been usually ramedat the teaching level

)ubstantial CR'"'C'!) A*A'N!" "E "RA$'"'ONA-E#ROPEAN '!"OR'O*RAP%, charged with having

imposed, or a long time, a historical methodologyexpression o an E#ROCEN"R'C PER!PEC"'8E, accordingto the ideology o western imperialism and the centralconcept o european national states.

rom the age o decolonization, this paradigm estabilished on

a narrow, exclusive western ramewor needs to be totallyrereshed and surpassed...

'RR#P"'ON O& A NEW 8'EW O& '!"OR%: claim togenerate a RA$'CA- CAN*E O& )'N$ A.O#" "EPA!", proceeding well beyond purely european or american

content


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)))An inn-ati-% *d%")))

/eaving the traditional, national-with-civilizational approach,aiming particularly at use the historical lens o world0s past to

understand present global conditions, *orld history proposes anew !EC#)EN'CA- '!"OR%", characterized by:

a propensity to AC"'8E PROCE!!E! ON A CRO!!4NA"'ONA-,tendentially global, !CA-E9 CO)PARA"'8E

A""EN"'ONto several distinct cultural and politicalexperiences1

an emphasis on the deep 'N"ER$EPEN$ENCE A)ON**-O.A- PENO)ENA, re2ecting the idea o an exclusivelylocal history which wouldn0t deal with international processes:

ocus on actors that trascend single societies1


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a serious attention to several ma2or cultural traditions andC'8'-':A"'ON!, assumed as the oundamental #N'"! O&

ANA-%!'!on a space-time wide-scale1

% careul exploration and widening o CON"AC"! A)ON*$'&&EREN" !OC'E"'E!and o the larger orces 3that is,

E6CAN*E O& '$EA!, 5NOW-E$*E, "ECNO-O*'E!and"RA$E PA""ERN!4 that shape the experience o any particularregion: all these elements are now choosed as the ey-actor in

the historical becoming.

*-O.A- PER!PEC"'8E, which allows to acnowledge andintegrate, in a comprehensive !.'* P'C"#RE", the historical,

shared experiences o all o the world0s people.

The history o the world is not seen as theassembling o separated histories o all places and times intoone grand narrative, but as an 'N"E*RA"E$ WO-E, a .RA'$

O& 'N"ER"W'NE$ AN$ !ARE$ '!"OR'E! ; 'N"ERPRE"A"'ONO& "E '!"OR'CA- ANA-%!'! 'NC-#!'ON O& NON4E#ROPEAN

PEOP-Eas active participants in the dynamic meeting?interactionwith *estern civilization 3AC5NOW-E$*)EN" O& "E

2A*ENC%3O& "E 2RE!"3in the relation with the !central" *est4 =RE-A"'8':A"'ON O& WE!"ERN '!"OR'CA- E6PER'ENCE,

integrating it with the other parts o the world and regarding *esterncase as 2ust one among several rather than one possessed o clearlyspecial virtues 3debate o the !8uropean iracle" and o the myth o

!%merican exceptionalism"4

"d i d "d


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W!"d Hist!y and w!"dhist!ians twa!d an wn

a&ad%*i& stat/t%)ince the dawning o $$ century, ew ambitious historians and,moreover, philosophers o history began to turn to the PRO?EC" O&!5E"C'N* A *-O.A- &RA)EWOR5 &OR #)AN

E6PER'ENCE, in response to the crisis o the conceptual dimensiono national state and o the enthusiastic, progressive confdence othe european nineteenth-century model o development.

@ frst attempt to elaborate a more comple0 concept ofsociety on a large scale, establishing it as the suitable category o

a new global historical analysis 3embryonic interest in the analysis oextra-european cultures and claims4


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&ORER#NNER! O& WOR-$ '!"OR% APPROACE!, thatanticipate this globalizing trend:

O) S$%n+"%!3ABBC-ADEF4: polemic with regard to theeurocentric scheme of traditional, uni/ersal history1P'ONEER'N* PA!!A*E &RO) A '!"OR% O& 2Ci/ili1ation3"O A P-#RA- '!"OR% O& )#-"'P-E 2ci/ili1ations3,2ust

conceived as indipendent and not interconnected GThe declineo the WestH1

A)Tyn,%% 3ABBD-ADIJ4: !spiritual" theorization?oundation oactual world history: underlining o the historical importanceof the 'N"ERAC"'ON'!" &AC"OR among di@erent

cultures>societies1 emphasis accorded to the CA"E*OR%O& C'8'-':A"'ONA- CON"AC" as an essential dynamics inhuman historyGA tudy o !istory".

nce s: a more ec s ve se o eve opmen s oo s ape


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nce s: a more ec s ve se o eve opmen s oo s ape

irst active promoter o an authentic world history, the mostrepresentative o this historiographical turning point W)H) 0&N%i""GThe #ise o the WestH: ci/ili1ationsas pri/ileged units ofanalysis3looing at the ormation o great cultural and political

traditions in all the world41 preerential study o historical processes ona large space-time scale1 contacts among societies = e0change ofideas, technologies, knowledgeas key factors of historicalbecoming1 thematic approach towards acti/e processes in across4national perspecti/e3encouraging attention to historicalexperiences outside the *est4

#t was only in the ADBCs that world history began to come into itsown, as the result o constant and coherent e>orts o particular

teachers and students in collaboration with each other:

BD:?erry ( .entleyounds the WOR-$ '!"OR%A!!OC'A"'ON and, as its director, launches the review 2?O#RNA-O& WOR-$ '!"OR%3, published &uarterly by the *orld +istory

%ssociation since ADDC1 it becomes the e>ective organ o discussionabout this innovative perspective o historiographical research.

Gadvent o world history as a distinct academic feld o study, with owngraduate programs in several universitiesH


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F%asi,i"ity and %n!i&h*%nt(!* W!"d hist!y ha,its (

*ind and 1%y &ha""%n+%s)))

)tarting rom the establishment o its distinct academic ambit inthe last three decades, *orld history has become an

increasingly inspiring course,particularly in college curriculao 9nited )tates, of history education: it has rapidly evolved,

moving rom the status o precocious upstart, in a matureresearch feld, able to produce inno/ati/e teaching methods,in addition to a clear set of purposesand a de+nite agenda.

*orld historians, specifcally, wor according to three basiclines or analytical approaches1


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K5efne ma2or societies?civilizations, trace their evolution andinteraction, use AC"'8E CO)PAR'!ON3the connective tissue and

crucial hermeneutic category which could permit to ac&uire some real

sense o how di>erent cultures operate4 to help mae sure that worldhistory doesn0t spin o> into separate and unrelated strands 1

K)how deep interest in contacts among maor societies andresults of its occurring: the analysis expands beyond comparisonto embrace sill appropriate to understanding interactions and their

historical change 3 attention to the perennial CO).'NA"'ON O&-OCA- AN$ *-O.A-in the diachronic development o human

societies41

K#dentiy and trace larger forcesthat impinge on a number odi>erent societies, even when they0re not in direct contact: invitation

to compare how di>erent societies react to these common orces, toexplore how contact relates to these larger orces 3 clarifcation o

the CO)P-E6 CA#!A"'ON O& CAN*Ein its own nature, over timeand in global context4.


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Lriey, operating to capture the di/ersity and similarities of

human e0perience, world history stimulates and encourages someundamental &uestions:

+ow people?societies have aced global challengesM

+ow much mutual interaction represents an inuential actor in

historical evolutionM

+ow environment and spatial constructs inuence our ways tounderstand and interpretate the pastM

+ow the units o analysis historians choose to investigate the past

3whether civilizations, area studies, cities, nation )tates4 inuencethe stories told about history as well as the &uestions asedM


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emarable importance o periodization in world history preerenceor global,long4term periodas the uni&ue indicative dimension in

which interrogate ade&uately the past in relation to present time

Periodi1ation: vital to world history, by reason o its usefulness ofhelping to identify big changes to which many societies had to

respond, that is to say the ey points at which ramewors changeGthe temporal seleton that gives coherence and manageability to

historical interpretation, allowing discussion upon actors, complexitiesand contingent continuities in this ind o transitionsH

-------------------------The sudden changes that have modifed planet0s appearence in thelast hal century mae still more urgent the study in depth of theincreasing e/idence of long distance interactions that crossthe boundaries of traditional scholarly speciali1ation

(eed o new interpretative, space-time coordinates, re2ectingdefnitively the categories tied to a traditional, auto-explanatory,

western model o development 3which could only produce or now adistorted vision o history4


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T$i&s and th%*ati& a!%as inw!"d hist!y

Area studies: demand o promoting a study o world areastraditionally marginal 3in respect to centrality o european- northamerican academic paradigm41 important contribution to theenlightenment o historical dynamics released rom theanamorphic, canonically eurocentric recount o history1supranational perspective = emphasis on extraeuropean agency1ocus on comparativism = interdisciplinary approach1

Contact topics and ibridation in historical e0perience:

Transer o technological nowledge1

!metissage" 3loo at cultural meetings and at products o

ibridation?interaction among di>erent societies vs. the rethoric o!alterity" and the myth o cultural incompatibility41

!entangled history" 3 !histoire connectNe", idea o contaminationand o !entangled empires" as intricate entities characterized byinterconnections, leading to a single system or hemispheric

community41


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%tlantic history 3particular interest in creative=adaptive interrelationsamong di>erent people in this transitory space o circulation41

igrations and diasporas = trade patterns 3transnational perspective,conception o a non-conventional spatiality1 revision o the notion o!rontier" = special ocus on the concept o !net"1 recovery o the ideao interaction among di>erent spaces and various dimensions ohistorical experience1 exhaltation o the constant relationship betweenlocal and global1 !cross-community migration"= emphasis on mobility

and globalization as dynamic processes with distinct levels ointerconnectivity and subse&uent orms o agencysm41

8nvironmental history 3energetic interdependence between anthropicand natural history1 interest in human modifcations and interventionson environmental space, as well as in the repercussions o these acts41

Lig history 3a total history o human existence beginning rom theorigins o universe1 lin with environmental history as regars the studyo the relation between man and natural space4.


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twa!ds a n%w hist!i&a"%!a)))#n spite o the widespread bias and sceptical mistrust that permeate some academical ambients,

the gradual advance o wordly and globalized approaches to the study o the past reveals todayan increasing, irrepressible recognition of the reality and historical importance oftrans4ci/ili1ational encounters( #t seems plausible to predict that this will becomethe mainstream o uture wor in world history. %iming to provide the largest and mostinclusive ramewor o human experience, and the lineal ancestor o the ;ne *orld in which wefnd ourselves so conusingly immersed today, *orld history, in e>ect, ocuses above all on thechanging dimensions of the tension between human separateness 3created initially bythe wider dispersion o the species4 and the recurrent impact and ad/antages of contact

and e0change(

This aspect, surely, continues to shape nowadays our own world.

)o, the signifcance, and strategic utility, o this historical perspective shit is entirely proved bythe actual course o human evolution. Through theconstruction of an integrated past thatretains /oices of di@erence,*orld history in the OAst century has the merit o proposing anambitious and promising challenge: support a comprehensi/e e0ploration of the e@ecti/e

2world history3, a deep and nuanced understanding of each of the /ariouscultures>states 3that have been part o the vast mosaic o human history4 and, beyond theseindividual elements, also the conscious acFuisition of the entire picture, or at least a largepart o that picture. This purpose would seriously represent the only avourable way to tae parto the present global dynamics o civilization and to penetrate the real causes and logics thatinuence, and will probably continue to inuence in the uture, the historical con2uncture inwhich we live .

Then, we could agree hopeully with *.c (eill, when he aPrms that: ,y &nst!/&tin+ a%!s i&a&i/s and a&&/!at% w!"d hist! hist!ians &an "a a *d%st ,/t /s%(/"


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Libliography:-'. )tearns, !*orld +istory", outledge, OCAA-/. 5i iore, . eriggi, !*orld history. /e nuove rotte della storia"-Q.5iamond, !%rmi, acciaio, malattie. Lreve storia del mondo negli

ultimi tredicimila anni", 8inaudi, OCCF-*.+. c(eill, !The ise o the *est: % +istory o the +uman6ommunity"-ichael Reyer, 6harles Lright, !*orld +istory in a Rlobal %ge" TheAmerican !istorical #eview, 7olume ACC, #ssue. S 3;ct., ADDJ4, ACES-ACFC

-Qerry +. Lentley, !6ross-6ultural #nteraction and 'eriodization in *orld+istory", The American !istorical #eview, 7olume ACA, no. E3QuneADDF4: ISD-IIC.-'atric anning, !The 'roblem o #nteractions in *orld +istory" TheAmerican !istorical #eview, 7olume ACA, (o. E 3Qun., ADDF4, IIA-IBO.-%ne /intvedt, !Teaching the *orld +istory )urvey 6ourse in the OAst

6entury:ationales, esearch, and Themes"-'.ossi, !#l senso della storia. 5al )ettecento al 5uemila", #l ulino,OCAO

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