Before European Hegemony: The World System A.D. 1250-1350In this important study, Abu-Lughod presents a groundbreaking reinterpretation of global economic evolution, arguing that the modern world economy had its roots not in the sixteenth century, as is widely supposed, but in the thirteenth century economy--a system far different from the European world system which emerged from it. Using the city as the working unit of analysis, Before European Hegemony provides a new paradigm for understanding the evolution of world systems by tracing the rise of a system that, at its peak in the opening decades of the 14th century, involved a vast region stretching between northwest Europe and China. Writing in a clear and lively style, Abu-Lughod explores the reasons for the eventual decay of this system and the rise of European hegemony. |
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Aden Al-Muqaddasi Arab Ashtor Asian Baghdad Black Death Bruges Cairo capital caravan Central Asia Champagne fairs Chapter China Chinese Chola circuit cloth coast commenda commercial Crusaders culture decline developed documents dynasty early eastern economic Egypt eleventh empire entrepôt Europe European exchange expansion Fatimid Flanders Flemish foreign fourteenth century Genghis Genghis Khan Genoa Genoese Ghent Goitein Gujarat hegemony History Hormuz Ibn Battuta important Indian Ocean industry Islam Italian merchants Karimi Khan land later long-distance trade Malabar Malacca Mamluk Marco medieval Mediterranean Middle East Ming Mongol Muslim northern overland Palembang Paris period Persian Gulf population port Portuguese production Provins Red Sea region reprinted role Roover Samarkand sea route ships siècle silk sixteenth century Southeast Asia southern spices Srivijaya Strait subsystems Sung Syria tenth century textile thirteenth century towns trans Troyes twelfth century Udovitch urban Venetians Venice western world system Yuan