ReORIENT: Global Economy in the Asian Age » (1st Edition)

Andre Gunder Frank, of the University of Toronto, has published more than thirty books. Most recently he coedited, with Barry Gills, World System: Five Hundred Years or Five Thousand? (1996).

"Frank shows how Marx and Weber got it all wrong. A fundamental rethinking of the rise of the West and the origin of the world-system. Absolutely essential to understanding world history."—Albert Bergesen,University of Arizona

"The great virtue of this stimulating book is its relentless push to redefine our framework for thinking about the early modern economy. . . . A benchmark study."—R. Bin Wong,University of California, Irvine

Saubhik Chakabarti

ReOrient's biggest virtue: it forces the reader to at least look differently at world history- This impressive and illuminating analysis 20 sets out to challenge the mother of all orthodoxies that Europe discovered capitalism and industrialisation and that what followed and is happening and will happen is essentially a fallout of this European preeminence. -- The Statesman

EPIGRAPHS

PREFACE

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION TO REAL WORLD HISTORY VS. EUROCENTRIC SOCIAL THEORY

HOLISTIC METHODOLOGY AND OBJECTIVES

GLOBALISM, NOT EUROCENTRISM

CHAPTER OUTLINE OF A GLOBAL ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVE

ANTICIPATING AND CONFRONTING RESISTANCE AND OBSTACLES

CHAPTER 2

THE GLOBAL TRADE CAROUSEL 1400-1800

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE WORLD ECONOMY

Thirteenth and Fourteenth Century Antecedents

The Columbian Exchange and its Consequences

Some Neglected Features in the World Economy

WORLD DIVISION OF LABOR AND BALANCES OF TRADE 1400-1800

Mapping the Global Economy

The Americas

Africa

Europe

West Asia

The Ottoman Empire

Safavid Persia

India and the Indian Ocean

North India

Gujarat and Malabar

Coromandel

Bengal

Southeast Asia

Archipellago and Insular

Continental

Japan

China

Population, Production, Trade

China in the World Economy

Central Asia

Russia and the Baltics

A Sino-Centric World Economy Summary

CHAPTER 3

MONEY WENT AROUND THE WORLD AND MADE THE WORLD GO ROUND

WORLD MONEY: ITS PRODUCTION AND EXCHANGE

Micro- and Marco- Attractions in the World Casino

Dealing and Playing in the Casino

The Numbers Game

Silver

Gold

Credit

HOW DID THE WINNERS USE THEIR MONEY?

Spenders vs Hoarders

Inflation or Production in the Quantity Theory of Money

Money Expanded the Frontiers of Settlement and Production

CHAPTER 4

THE GLOBAL ECONOMY: COMPARISONS AND RELATIONS

QUANTITIES: POPULATION, PRODUCTION, PRODUCTIVITY, INCOME AND TRADE

Population, Production and Income

Productivity and Competitiveness

World Trade 1400-1800

QUALITIES: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Eurocentrism Regarding Science and Technology in Asia

Guns

Ships

Printing

Textiles

Metallurgy, Coal and Power

Transport

World Technological Development

MECHANISMS: ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

European - Asian Comparisons

Global Institutional Relations

In India

In China

CHAPTER 5

HORIZONTALLY INTEGRATIVE MACROHISTORY

SIMULTANEITY IS NO COINCIDENCE

DOING HORIZONTALLY INTEGRATIVE MACROHISTORY

Demographic/Structural Analysis

A "Seventeenth Century Crisis"?

Monetary Analysis and the Crises of 1640

Kondratieff Analysis

The 1762-1790 Kondratieff "B" Phase Crisis and Recessions

More Horizontally Integrative Macrohistory?

CHAPTER 6

WHY DID THE WEST WIN [TEMPORARILY] ?

UP AND DOWN THE LONG CYCLE ROLLICOASTER?

THE DECLINE OF THE EAST PRECEDED THE RISE OF THE WEST

The Decline in India

The Decline Elsewhere in Asia

HOW DID THE WEST RISE?

Climbing Up on Asian Shoulders

Supply and Demand for Technological Change in the World Economy

Supplies and Sources of Capital

A GLOBAL ECONOMIC/DEMOGRAPHIC ACCOUNTING FOR THE DECLINE OF THE EAST AND THE RISE OF THE WEST

A Demographic Economic Model

A High-Level Equilibrium Trap?

The Evidence 1500-1750

The 1750 Inflection

Past Conclusions and Future Implications

CHAPTER 7

HISTORIOGRAPHIC CONCLUSIONS AND THEORETICAL IMPLICATIONS

HISTORIOGRAPHIC CONCLUSIONS: THE EUROCENTRIC EMPEROR HAS NO CLOTHES

1. The Asiatic Mode of Production [AMP]

2. European Exceptionalism

3. A European World-System or a Global Economy?

4. 1500: Continuity or Break?

5. Capitalism?

6. Hegemony?

7. The Rise of the West and the Industrial Revolution

8. Empty Categories and Procustean Beds

THEORETICAL IMPLICATIONS: THROUGH THE GLOBAL LOOKING GLASS

1. Holism vs. Partialism

2. Commonality/Similarity vs. Specificity/Difference

3. Continuity vs. Dis-continuities

4. Horizontal Integration vs. Vertical Separation

5. Cycles vs. Linearity

6. Agency vs. Structure

7. Europe in a World Economic Nutshell

8. Jihad vs. McWorld in the Anarchy of the Clash of Civilizations?

REFERENCES CITED