Resources for learning about a systems thinking approach to history?
July 14, 2013 10:48 AM Subscribe
Can you find me resources for learning about the grand forces that affect history?
I'm fascinated by the perspective on the human race and its history that disregards the agency of the individual and considers instead the effect of larger scale forces.
For example, I'm interested in people's hypotheses as to the forces that beget agriculture, industrialisation, war, religion, empire building, poverty, genocide, racism, slavery, the abolition of slavery, or any other historical phenomena that happen in some places and times but not others.
Not having a history education (or any related field) I'm struggling to know what terms to search for to come up with interesting reading on the subject.
Any suggestions for books or articles to read would be very welcome, particularly if written for a relatively lay audience.
I'm fascinated by the perspective on the human race and its history that disregards the agency of the individual and considers instead the effect of larger scale forces.
For example, I'm interested in people's hypotheses as to the forces that beget agriculture, industrialisation, war, religion, empire building, poverty, genocide, racism, slavery, the abolition of slavery, or any other historical phenomena that happen in some places and times but not others.
Not having a history education (or any related field) I'm struggling to know what terms to search for to come up with interesting reading on the subject.
Any suggestions for books or articles to read would be very welcome, particularly if written for a relatively lay audience.
Best answer: I found Wallerstein accessible. Try this perhaps, to start.
posted by larry_darrell at 11:33 AM on July 14, 2013
posted by larry_darrell at 11:33 AM on July 14, 2013
Not historians, but Acemoglu and Robinson's Why Nations Fail and Fukuyama's Origins of Political Order are some of the more interesting recent Big Ideas books that have come out.
posted by ropeladder at 11:48 AM on July 14, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by ropeladder at 11:48 AM on July 14, 2013 [1 favorite]
Best answer: A key phenomena to look at, is the transition between economic systems. Why did people move from (1) hunting and gathering to agriculture? (2) Why did people move from slave-labour agriculture to feudalism? (3) Why did people move from feudalism to capitalism and industrialization? These transitions have nothing to do with the agency of individuals. Capitalism didn't take off as it did just because a bunch of people coincidentally wanted to industrialize at the same time. The book recommendations I give below will largely be answers to those sorts of questions, and can serve as introductions to getting your mind to wrap around how history might operate.
As a side note, this is a common line in Marxism, that the economy (but what they really mean, in vague terms, is the outside world) drives the actions of people in a special way. Key terms would be: Theory of Productive Forces, Economic Determinism, and Historical Materialism. A good quote from Marx about this way of looking at the world is: "slavery cannot be abolished without the steam-engine and the mule and spinning-jenny, serfdom cannot be abolished without improved agriculture."
And back when Marxism was vogue, you saw a lot of this influence seep over into the professional work of historians and anthropologists. Of course, that's probably overstating the amount of politicization that Marxism had. It's still an accepted way of understanding the world.
But anyways, here are some works in recommendation to the above questions.
(1) The Food Crisis in Prehistory. The author has to wrestle with the facts which seem to indicate that humans knew about agriculture for a very long time before they actually decided to implement it. And it looks as though all across the world, unconnectedly, people began to practice agriculture around the same time. How is this?
(2) Here's a line from a book I highly recommend, Perry Anderson's Passages from Antiquity to Feudalism. It's concrete, and gives a picture of the world in which the economic forces determine the spread of technological invention, as well as the basic way society and work is structured: is there a slave class who performs most of the labor? is there a feudal economy where a serf works his and his lord's land?
"The slave mode of production was by no means devoid of technical progress; as we have seen, its extensive ascent in the West was marked by some significant agricultural innovations, in particular the introduction of the rotary mill and the screw press. But its dynamic was a very restricted one, since it rested essentially on the annexation of labour rather than the exploitation of land or the accumulation of capital; thus unlike either the feudal or capitalist modes of production which were to succeed it, the slave mode of production possessed very little objective impetus for technological advance... inventions by individuals can remain isolated for centuries, so long as the social relations have not emerged which alone can set them to work as a collective technology."
(3) The Brenner Debate
As someone described the book: "From the distance of several decades, the dividing lines of the Brenner debate are pretty clear. One school of thought (Postan, Ladurie) attempts to explain the economic transformations described here in terms of facts about population, while the other (Brenner's) argues that the central causal factors have to do with social institutions (social-property relations and institutions of political power)."
Now, this approach is used everywhere too. For instance, there's a rich historiography of the United States Civil War, particularly around questions that ask along the lines of: how inevitable was the civil war? You had Northern states which were industrializing and employing free labour, which was in stark contrast to the stagnant South which produced based off of slave-labour. This and this Wikipedia link may be able to suggest some readings for you. Of course, this is such a rich topic, that there are other postulated causes for the Civil War that would meet what you're looking for in terms of large forces.
I didn't sleep last night, so I'm sure I'm missing some larger and better gems to cite, but these were the first to come to mind.
posted by SollosQ at 11:51 AM on July 14, 2013 [3 favorites]
As a side note, this is a common line in Marxism, that the economy (but what they really mean, in vague terms, is the outside world) drives the actions of people in a special way. Key terms would be: Theory of Productive Forces, Economic Determinism, and Historical Materialism. A good quote from Marx about this way of looking at the world is: "slavery cannot be abolished without the steam-engine and the mule and spinning-jenny, serfdom cannot be abolished without improved agriculture."
And back when Marxism was vogue, you saw a lot of this influence seep over into the professional work of historians and anthropologists. Of course, that's probably overstating the amount of politicization that Marxism had. It's still an accepted way of understanding the world.
But anyways, here are some works in recommendation to the above questions.
(1) The Food Crisis in Prehistory. The author has to wrestle with the facts which seem to indicate that humans knew about agriculture for a very long time before they actually decided to implement it. And it looks as though all across the world, unconnectedly, people began to practice agriculture around the same time. How is this?
(2) Here's a line from a book I highly recommend, Perry Anderson's Passages from Antiquity to Feudalism. It's concrete, and gives a picture of the world in which the economic forces determine the spread of technological invention, as well as the basic way society and work is structured: is there a slave class who performs most of the labor? is there a feudal economy where a serf works his and his lord's land?
"The slave mode of production was by no means devoid of technical progress; as we have seen, its extensive ascent in the West was marked by some significant agricultural innovations, in particular the introduction of the rotary mill and the screw press. But its dynamic was a very restricted one, since it rested essentially on the annexation of labour rather than the exploitation of land or the accumulation of capital; thus unlike either the feudal or capitalist modes of production which were to succeed it, the slave mode of production possessed very little objective impetus for technological advance... inventions by individuals can remain isolated for centuries, so long as the social relations have not emerged which alone can set them to work as a collective technology."
(3) The Brenner Debate
As someone described the book: "From the distance of several decades, the dividing lines of the Brenner debate are pretty clear. One school of thought (Postan, Ladurie) attempts to explain the economic transformations described here in terms of facts about population, while the other (Brenner's) argues that the central causal factors have to do with social institutions (social-property relations and institutions of political power)."
Now, this approach is used everywhere too. For instance, there's a rich historiography of the United States Civil War, particularly around questions that ask along the lines of: how inevitable was the civil war? You had Northern states which were industrializing and employing free labour, which was in stark contrast to the stagnant South which produced based off of slave-labour. This and this Wikipedia link may be able to suggest some readings for you. Of course, this is such a rich topic, that there are other postulated causes for the Civil War that would meet what you're looking for in terms of large forces.
I didn't sleep last night, so I'm sure I'm missing some larger and better gems to cite, but these were the first to come to mind.
posted by SollosQ at 11:51 AM on July 14, 2013 [3 favorites]
The Pursuit of the Millennium is a very readable account historical account of how a belief in the end of the world repeatedly comes up in times of social upheaval. The book looks at how this myth in combination with social factors influenced society over a long period of time during the middle ages.
John Gray's Black Mass takes on the same idea but applies it to a more modern context. I'd highly recommend both books for how they show how a idea can systemically influence history.
posted by SpaceWarp13 at 12:11 PM on July 14, 2013 [1 favorite]
John Gray's Black Mass takes on the same idea but applies it to a more modern context. I'd highly recommend both books for how they show how a idea can systemically influence history.
posted by SpaceWarp13 at 12:11 PM on July 14, 2013 [1 favorite]
The Communist Manifesto, by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
posted by LonnieK at 12:13 PM on July 14, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by LonnieK at 12:13 PM on July 14, 2013 [1 favorite]
Fernand Braudel is your guy, as is Giovanni Arrighi.
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 1:00 PM on July 14, 2013
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 1:00 PM on July 14, 2013
Braudel's The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Phillip II.
Thompson's The Making of the English Working Class.
Mind you, in the end, the actions of individuals are the only thing that happens and when we talk of larger forces we are adding a layer of approximation that (hopefully) explains things more effectively.
posted by Ironmouth at 2:38 PM on July 14, 2013
Thompson's The Making of the English Working Class.
Mind you, in the end, the actions of individuals are the only thing that happens and when we talk of larger forces we are adding a layer of approximation that (hopefully) explains things more effectively.
posted by Ironmouth at 2:38 PM on July 14, 2013
Also Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie's The Peasants of Languedoc. The plauge plays a huge role in that one.
posted by Ironmouth at 2:45 PM on July 14, 2013
posted by Ironmouth at 2:45 PM on July 14, 2013
Not strictly historical but this book takes an objective approach to investigating the rapid (and unprecedented) impact of women's ability to delay or avoid pregnancy on a societal level: The XX Factor by Alison Wolf. It's fascinating to read about the big picture stuff from a systems perspective whilst we're in the midst of it.
posted by freya_lamb at 3:04 PM on July 14, 2013
posted by freya_lamb at 3:04 PM on July 14, 2013
I don't agree that EP Thompson's Making of the English Working Class deserves listing here: what he was trying to do, he explicitly stated in the famous Foreword, was to rescue the lives and pasts of individuals from the 'enormous condescension of posterity' (by which, he implicitly meant, the vulgar determinism of his more orthodox Marxist colleagues).
'Determinism' by the way is the key term you're looking for here. It's often a term of derision meaning work that focuses overly on a writer's pet theories, say, 'agriculture!' or 'religion!' or 'fiat currency ponzi schemes!' but really just connotes history that, as you say, emphasises larger forces over the agency of individuals. Jared Diamond is a perfect example (emphasising technology and ecology), as are the Annales School (for which see Braudel mentioned earlier). McNeill & McNeill's The Human Web: A Birds Eye View of World History been a recent intro text to 'World History' I have taught from which is very accessible, and which, to spoil the 'plot' for you, emphasises networks of communications, interaction and trade.
I agree with spacewarp13 that John Gray's Black Mass is crackingly good and very provocative. I don't agree with it but it's well worth your time.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 3:37 PM on July 14, 2013
'Determinism' by the way is the key term you're looking for here. It's often a term of derision meaning work that focuses overly on a writer's pet theories, say, 'agriculture!' or 'religion!' or 'fiat currency ponzi schemes!' but really just connotes history that, as you say, emphasises larger forces over the agency of individuals. Jared Diamond is a perfect example (emphasising technology and ecology), as are the Annales School (for which see Braudel mentioned earlier). McNeill & McNeill's The Human Web: A Birds Eye View of World History been a recent intro text to 'World History' I have taught from which is very accessible, and which, to spoil the 'plot' for you, emphasises networks of communications, interaction and trade.
I agree with spacewarp13 that John Gray's Black Mass is crackingly good and very provocative. I don't agree with it but it's well worth your time.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 3:37 PM on July 14, 2013
The Great Wave: Price Revolutions and the Rhythm of History
How price stability and inflation could stabilize or destabilize society, backed by solid research.
Generations: The History of America's Future, 1584 to 2069
How US history could be explained through different generations.
posted by Carius at 3:39 PM on July 14, 2013
How price stability and inflation could stabilize or destabilize society, backed by solid research.
Generations: The History of America's Future, 1584 to 2069
How US history could be explained through different generations.
posted by Carius at 3:39 PM on July 14, 2013
William Cronon is fantastic, his Changes in the Land is an ecological/economic history of colonial New England.
I haven't read 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created yet, but it seems like a more indepth ecological history of post-European contact, for those who've gotten their feet wet with Jared Diamond.
To hop eras and across the Pacific Ocean for an economic/political history, David Kang's Crony Capitalism looks at how and why South Korea and the Philippines diverged in their development trajectories. It's a great reminder that the Asian Tiger development model is so very very context specific. Thank you Cold War.
posted by spamandkimchi at 4:44 PM on July 14, 2013
I haven't read 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created yet, but it seems like a more indepth ecological history of post-European contact, for those who've gotten their feet wet with Jared Diamond.
To hop eras and across the Pacific Ocean for an economic/political history, David Kang's Crony Capitalism looks at how and why South Korea and the Philippines diverged in their development trajectories. It's a great reminder that the Asian Tiger development model is so very very context specific. Thank you Cold War.
posted by spamandkimchi at 4:44 PM on July 14, 2013
Salt: A substance so valuable it served as currency, salt has influenced the establishment of trade routes and cities, provoked and financed wars, secured empires, and inspired revolutions.
The History of Money
The Many-Headed Hydra: Sailors, Slaves, Commoners, and the Hidden History of the Revolutionary Atlantic.
The Slave Trade: History of the Atlantic Slave Trade, 1440-1870 - Hugh Thomas.
The Silk Road: A New History.
posted by adamvasco at 6:23 PM on July 14, 2013
The History of Money
The Many-Headed Hydra: Sailors, Slaves, Commoners, and the Hidden History of the Revolutionary Atlantic.
The Slave Trade: History of the Atlantic Slave Trade, 1440-1870 - Hugh Thomas.
The Silk Road: A New History.
posted by adamvasco at 6:23 PM on July 14, 2013
or any other historical phenomena that happen in some places and times but not others
Witchcraze
posted by january at 6:21 AM on July 15, 2013
Witchcraze
posted by january at 6:21 AM on July 15, 2013
Seconding the writings of the Annales_School">Annales school of history. Braudel and Le Roy Ladurie (that whole thing is his last name), mentioned earlier, are key writers in that tradition. Though, like Ironmouth, I am inclined to place more emphasis on events and individuals myself.*
*A professor in my graduate program once joked that Annales history became popular in France after WWII because of its emphasis on deep structures and historical inertia rather than pesky events -- for example, the French capitulation in 1940....
Wallerstein would be another good example of a systems-based historian.
Something a bit more challenging might to do searches for "actor-network theory" and "history."
posted by dhens at 3:55 PM on July 15, 2013
*A professor in my graduate program once joked that Annales history became popular in France after WWII because of its emphasis on deep structures and historical inertia rather than pesky events -- for example, the French capitulation in 1940....
Wallerstein would be another good example of a systems-based historian.
Something a bit more challenging might to do searches for "actor-network theory" and "history."
posted by dhens at 3:55 PM on July 15, 2013
Response by poster: Thanks for such an interesting and comprehensive set of answers. I have favourited some that I just bought, but all of you have given me some thinking (and reading) to do...
posted by emilyw at 1:25 PM on July 23, 2013
posted by emilyw at 1:25 PM on July 23, 2013
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It's such a great read. I believe it won a Pulitzer as well.
posted by readygo at 11:12 AM on July 14, 2013 [2 favorites]