Global History, Area Studies, and the Idea of Europe

From Firenze University Press Journal: Cromohs

Alessandro Stanziani, EHESS and CNRS, Paris

In 1949, Fernand Braudel proposed a view of the Mediterranean in which part of the Muslim World appeared integral to Europe. This was a courageous act. At the very moment when, after the Second World War, Europe was reflecting on its unity and the idea of pan-European institutions was first conceived, Braudel did not think of Europe as stretching only from the northern Mediterranean shores of the North Sea. Instead, he emphasized the unity of the Mediterranean Sea and the structural compenetration of Muslim and Christian societies with their respective values, despite the multiple conflicts that had opposed them over the centuries. He reached this conclusion without reading Arab sources, for which he was strongly criticized. Moreover, later in his life, Braudel would change his mind. In A History of Civilizations, he clearly distinguished the European “civilization” from the Islamic one. He also differentiated between Russian, African, Indian civilizations, and so on.

The question still stands: even if we do not speak of civilizations, is there any specificity of European societies as compared to the Middle-East, Africa, or India?

Here lies our present investigation: not only in Europe, but also in many Asian and American countries, “general history” is often conceived as that country’s national history, while “area studies” are divided into separate departments, when they do not belong to other faculties altogether (oriental studies in the West, European studies in Japan and China, and so on and so forth). In the academic arena, generalist historians and global historians are usually contrasted to specialists of specific areas, both unaware that they share more than they imagine. Area studies are identified by their “specificity,” a vague, tautological notion in fact not very far from the notion of “civilization,” which seeks to relate a country or area to some enduring characteristics. This attitude is rather problematic, insofar as it consciously ignores or even rejects existing connections between areas, foregrounding instead “imagined communities” — nations mainly — or even transnational entities such as Europe. In the latter case, the question is even more intriguing: is Europe one area to be studied like so many others?

In most history departments on the European continent the answer is: No! Europe is History while the history of other regions only can be described as “area studies.” Contesting this point of view, Dipesh Chakrabarty famously suggested “provincializing Europe.” This suggestion has the benefit of making Europe one among other areas, but it also bears the risk of opposing “civilizations,” envisaged as static, ideal entities.

As I will suggest here, another option is to examine the idea of Europe itself. This requires historically unpacking this idea while seeking to show, also, the many connections between “Europe” and other parts of the world. Of course, I cannot cover all the possible interconnected fields where the ideas and practices of Europe emerged and evolved, and will focus, rather, on a particular but crucial datum: the writing of history. Criticism of texts, the identification of sources, and general philosophies of history have been major historical expressions of the idea of Europe, as well as an important venue for thinking about the way “Europe” refers to and interacts with other, distinct worlds.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/cromohs-12562

Read Full Text: https://oajournals.fupress.net/index.php/cromohs/article/view/12562