Architects of World History: Researching the Global Past

by Kenneth R. Curtis (contributor)

Architects of World History presents an innovative collection of original essays by leading scholars associated with World History, exploring through intellectual autobiography the ideas, challenges, and inspirations that are shaping the fieldFeatures original, accessible contributions from pioneering scholars in the field Offers insights into the process of developing a workable world history research topic and the experience of professional life as a world historian. Points to methodological challenges; the scholar's current research agenda in relation to the development of world history; and future directions anticipated for key areas within world history

Genres: World History, History

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2014

Reviews

[Sense of History]

It had been a while since I last read a book that aligns with the World/Global/Big History approach (summarized below as WH/GH/BH). I plan to do a little catching up to get back on track. Because that approach is not so new anymore. Especially from 1990 – obviously coinciding with the end of the Cold War and the real breakthrough of globalization in economics and communication – more and more historians began to take a more global view on history. That is: away from Eurocentrism and the narrow nationalist/nation-state approach. Initially, this was mainly the work of academics in the United States and Europe, but in the meantime the WH/GH/BH approach is also deeply rooted in the world beyond, associated with an anti-colonial/subaltern reading of history. On top of that the transition was made from rather synthesis- and comparison-oriented studies to a focus on transnational, connective and cross-cultural links, and along with this also the methodologies evolved.

This book is interesting as a first introduction. It presents a number of authors (John McNeill, Kenneth Pomeranz, Jerry Bentley, David Christian) who have made their mark in the WH/GH/BH approach, not exactly as pioneers but as first-generation academics nonetheless. They outline their personal trajectory in which it is striking how much coincidences play a role: encounters, questions from a publisher, career opportunities, etc, or as Kerry Ward writes here: “the vagaries and serendipities of the academic job market”. It made it clear to me once again that the academic world is a very closed environment, where major evolutions are rarely inspired by deliberate, calculated motives, and therefore not all-encompassing.

Another striking thing that this book unintentionally illustrates, is the initial predominance of the Western world in the new approach. Unlike the book that I am currently reading, (Global History, Globally: Research and Practice around the World), this book only contains contributions from European and American historians, mostly men. As mentioned, they are of the first generation WH/GH/BH. This immediately means that voices from outside the West are largely left out of the picture, and with it the subaltern, cross-cultural, connective approaches. It are precisely the latter perspectives that currently still predominate in the institutionalized world of WH/GH/BH (although in Big History to a much lesser extent), in other words in specialized journals and at academic conferences. Unfortunately, this book is a missed opportunity to get more acquainted with that aspect.

[Marc Lamot · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another introduction to the most successful movement in recent historiography, that of World History, Global History and Big History. This is a collection of articles by a number of epigones of that movement (John McNeill, Kenneth Pomeranz, Jerry Bentley, David Christian). They outline their personal path to WH/GH/BH and give a brief overview of their own specialization. This book has its merits as an introduction, but what is striking is that it was written by (mostly male) academics from the Western world (Europe and the US), which undercuts the noble intentions of this approach. More in my History account on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Melissa Archibald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although reading the experiences of world history's heavy hitters induced feelings of inferiority and fear of personal academic laziness, the book was overall inspiring. Moreover, some of articles got me interested in specific areas of world history, particularly David Christian's Big History. This book is perfect for those interested in world history, but I warn that it can be tedious for those already familiar with the area of study