Janet L. Abu-Lughod

"First published in 1989 ... First issued as an Oxford University Press paperback, 1991"--T.p. verso.

The World System A.D. 1250-1350

Before European Hegemony

Conor Murphy

In Chapter 1 we criticized western historians for seeking in the unique virtues of western development a justification for Europe's success. And yet, in this first example we already see that virtue need not be rewarded. Champagne did not deserve to fail, and Bruges, the subject of the next chapter, did not necessarily deserve to succeed, albeit for only another brief moment before natural events overtook her, leaving her literally stranded in backwater when silt closed her opening to the sea. And if inadvertent failure occurred in two European cases, why should we wonder about the defeat of other even more promising regions, such as the Arab world or China? The Champagne fairs prepare us to look for more than internal virtue or defect in explaining what happened in other parts of the world system.

Before European Hegemony quotes

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