…all of western Europe was very similar in the seventh to eleventh centuries. England was no exception, though it did have unusual centralization and a unity of economy and law which was different in degree to most areas.Alan Macfarlane, introduction to the 2005 Chinese edition of The Origins of English Individualism. Posted by Lexington Green at February 22, 2006 05:14 PMIt was really only after the eleventh century that England began to become different. This was not really so much because England changed rapidly, but rather because it remained the same in its basic structure, while on the Continent very large changes were taking place. The normal tendency of agricultural civilizations, can be seen repeated several times in Chinese and Japanese history, as well as continental Europe. This is for the centre to become more powerful, reflected in more absolute and uniform bureaucratic, administrative, legal and political systems. In the west, for example, these only began to collapse again in the late eighteenth century. Yet England had never followed this tendency. It was unified and integrated, but had not moved towards absolute monarchy.
It would be interesting to track its reception and sales in that market. While the Chinese have introduced aspects of economic freedom, personal and political freedom seem to trail badly. I am surprised that they have chosen to allow the publication of what is a very radical text. Interesting times we live in.
Posted by: Richard Heddleson at February 23, 2006 07:28 AMIt's true that they trail badly, and it's still true that they have made huge strides. Just suppressing foot-binding and getting a marriage law in place that outlawed polygamy and made it leagal for widows to remarry was a huge step - on that scale.
The forst step was to knock down some of the social bariers to education, and they did that mostly with affirmative action - not directly an advance for individua l freddoms, but certianly a necessary precursor.
Posted by: Jim at February 23, 2006 05:30 PMLex:
As I keep harping on the subject: what role did the Reconquista play in centralizing the Spains and the Christian regions of the Mediterrean? How did the intraEuropean wars stimulate militarism.
I'll state my thought controversially so the commentators debate but wasn't England fortunate that it was far enough away from the war against Islam as well as being an island that England could evolve at a more lesiurely pace; deepening all of the advantages of medieval constitutionalism with little of the vices? I've often wonder if Europe never faced Islam and the exitential threat of annihalation; the continential Europeans would've developed on similar lines as the English.
I tend to think so.
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