Great Divergence
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
|
Related e |
|
Featured: |
The Great Divergence is a term made popular by Kenneth Pomeranz's book by that title, (also known as the European miracle, a term coined by Eric Jones in 1981)Template:Sfn referring to the process by which the Western world (i.e. Western Europe and the parts of the New World where its people became the dominant populations) overcame pre-modern growth constraints and emerged during the 19th century as the most powerful and wealthy world civilization, eclipsing Medieval India, Qing China, the Islamic World, Joseon Korea, and Tokugawa Japan.
Scholars have proposed a wide variety of theories to explain why the Great Divergence happened, including geography, culture, institutions, colonialism, resources, and "accidents of history".<ref name=":10">{{
- if: {{#if: http://www.oupcanada.com/catalog/9780199596652.html | {{#if: Global Economic History: A Very Short Introduction Template:! Robert C. Allen Template:! 9780199596652 Template:! Oxford University Press Canada |1}}}}
||Error on call to Template:cite web: Parameters url and title must be specified
}}{{
- if:
| {{#if: {{#if: | {{#if: |1}}}}
||Error on call to template:cite web: Parameters archiveurl and archivedate must be both specified or both omitted
}} }}{{#if:
| {{#if:
| [[{{{authorlink}}}|{{#if:
| {{#if: | , }}
| {{{author}}}
}}]]
| {{#if:
| {{#if: | , }}
| {{{author}}}
}}
}}
}}{{#if:
| {{#if: | ; {{{coauthors}}} }}
}}{{#if: |
{{#if: 2011
| (2011)
| {{#if:
| {{#if:
| ({{{month}}} {{{year}}})
| ({{{year}}})
}}
}}
|}}
}}{{#if:
| . }}{{
#if:
| {{{editor}}}:
}}{{#if:
| {{#if: | {{#if: Global Economic History: A Very Short Introduction Template:! Robert C. Allen Template:! 9780199596652 Template:! Oxford University Press Canada | [{{{archiveurl}}} Global Economic History: A Very Short Introduction Template:! Robert C. Allen Template:! 9780199596652 Template:! Oxford University Press Canada] }}}}
| {{#if: http://www.oupcanada.com/catalog/9780199596652.html | {{#if: Global Economic History: A Very Short Introduction Template:! Robert C. Allen Template:! 9780199596652 Template:! Oxford University Press Canada | Global Economic History: A Very Short Introduction Template:! Robert C. Allen Template:! 9780199596652 Template:! Oxford University Press Canada }}}}
}}{{#if: | ({{{language}}}) }}{{#if:
| ()
}}{{#if:
| . {{{work}}}
}}{{#if:
| {{{pages}}}
}}{{#if:
| . {{{publisher}}}{{#if:
|
| {{#if: 2011 || }}
}}
}}{{#if:
||{{#if: 2011
| (2011)
| {{#if:
| {{#if:
| ({{{month}}} {{{year}}})
| ({{{year}}})
}}
}}
}}
}}.{{#if:
| Archived from the original on [[{{{archivedate}}}]].
}}{{#if:
| Retrieved on {{#time:Y F j|{{{accessdate}}}{{#if: | , {{{accessyear}}}}}}}.
}}{{#if:
| Retrieved on {{{accessmonthday}}}, {{{accessyear}}}.
}}{{#if:
| Retrieved on {{{accessdaymonth}}} {{{accessyear}}}.
}}{{#if: Why has the world become increasingly unequal? Both ‘fundamentals’ like geography, institutions, or culture and ‘accidents of history’ played a role.
| “Why has the world become increasingly unequal? Both ‘fundamentals’ like geography, institutions, or culture and ‘accidents of history’ played a role.”
}}</ref> Scholars also trace back the beginning of the Great Divergence to different periods, with many tracing it back to the Industrial Revolution in 18th-century Britain, while others trace it back to earlier periods of Western history, such as the commercial revolution and the origins of mercantilism and capitalism during the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery, the rise of the European colonial empires, proto-globalization, the Scientific Revolution, or the Age of Enlightenment. The "traditional view", sometimes described as a near-consensus view,<ref>{{
- if: {{#if: https://pseudoerasmus.com/2014/06/12/the-little-divergence/ | {{#if: The Little Divergence |1}}}}
||Error on call to Template:cite web: Parameters url and title must be specified
}}{{
- if:
| {{#if: {{#if: | {{#if: |1}}}}
||Error on call to template:cite web: Parameters archiveurl and archivedate must be both specified or both omitted
}} }}{{#if: pseudoerasmus
| {{#if:
| [[{{{authorlink}}}|{{#if: pseudoerasmus
| pseudoerasmus{{#if: | , {{{first}}} }}
| {{{author}}}
}}]]
| {{#if: pseudoerasmus
| pseudoerasmus{{#if: | , {{{first}}} }}
| {{{author}}}
}}
}}
}}{{#if: pseudoerasmus
| {{#if: | ; {{{coauthors}}} }}
}}{{#if: pseudoerasmus|
{{#if: 2014-06-12
| (2014-06-12)
| {{#if:
| {{#if:
| ({{{month}}} {{{year}}})
| ({{{year}}})
}}
}}
|}}
}}{{#if: pseudoerasmus
| . }}{{
#if:
| {{{editor}}}:
}}{{#if:
| {{#if: | {{#if: The Little Divergence | [{{{archiveurl}}} The Little Divergence] }}}}
| {{#if: https://pseudoerasmus.com/2014/06/12/the-little-divergence/ | {{#if: The Little Divergence | The Little Divergence }}}}
}}{{#if: | ({{{language}}}) }}{{#if:
| ()
}}{{#if:
| . {{{work}}}
}}{{#if:
| {{{pages}}}
}}{{#if:
| . {{{publisher}}}{{#if: pseudoerasmus
|
| {{#if: 2014-06-12 || }}
}}
}}{{#if: pseudoerasmus
||{{#if: 2014-06-12
| (2014-06-12)
| {{#if:
| {{#if:
| ({{{month}}} {{{year}}})
| ({{{year}}})
}}
}}
}}
}}.{{#if:
| Archived from the original on [[{{{archivedate}}}]].
}}{{#if:
| Retrieved on {{#time:Y F j|{{{accessdate}}}{{#if: | , {{{accessyear}}}}}}}.
}}{{#if:
| Retrieved on {{{accessmonthday}}}, {{{accessyear}}}.
}}{{#if:
| Retrieved on {{{accessdaymonth}}} {{{accessyear}}}.
}}{{#if:
| “{{{quote}}}”
}}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{
- if: {{#if: http://www.oapen.org/download?type=document&docid=626977 | {{#if: Escaping Poverty |1}}}}
||Error on call to Template:cite web: Parameters url and title must be specified
}}{{
- if:
| {{#if: {{#if: | {{#if: |1}}}}
||Error on call to template:cite web: Parameters archiveurl and archivedate must be both specified or both omitted
}} }}{{#if: Vries
| {{#if:
| [[{{{authorlink}}}|{{#if: Vries
| Vries{{#if: Peer | , Peer }}
| {{{author}}}
}}]]
| {{#if: Vries
| Vries{{#if: Peer | , Peer }}
| {{{author}}}
}}
}}
}}{{#if: Vries
| {{#if: | ; {{{coauthors}}} }}
}}{{#if: Vries|
{{#if:
| ()
| {{#if:
| {{#if:
| ({{{month}}} {{{year}}})
| ({{{year}}})
}}
}}
|}}
}}{{#if: Vries
| . }}{{
#if:
| {{{editor}}}:
}}{{#if:
| {{#if: | {{#if: Escaping Poverty | [{{{archiveurl}}} Escaping Poverty] }}}}
| {{#if: http://www.oapen.org/download?type=document&docid=626977 | {{#if: Escaping Poverty | Escaping Poverty }}}}
}}{{#if: | ({{{language}}}) }}{{#if:
| ()
}}{{#if:
| . {{{work}}}
}}{{#if:
| {{{pages}}}
}}{{#if:
| . {{{publisher}}}{{#if: Vries
|
| {{#if: || }}
}}
}}{{#if: Vries
||{{#if:
| ()
| {{#if:
| {{#if:
| ({{{month}}} {{{year}}})
| ({{{year}}})
}}
}}
}}
}}.{{#if:
| Archived from the original on [[{{{archivedate}}}]].
}}{{#if:
| Retrieved on {{#time:Y F j|{{{accessdate}}}{{#if: | , {{{accessyear}}}}}}}.
}}{{#if:
| Retrieved on {{{accessmonthday}}}, {{{accessyear}}}.
}}{{#if:
| Retrieved on {{{accessdaymonth}}} {{{accessyear}}}.
}}{{#if:
| “{{{quote}}}”
}}</ref> is that the Great Divergence occurred before the Industrial Revolution, with Western European states surpassing China, Japan and the Middle East by 1750.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6" /><ref name=":13">Template:Cite journal</ref> However, the "revisionist" view of the "California School" estimates that the divergence started around 1800 during the Industrial Revolution.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn<ref name=":7" /><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In the twentieth century, the Great Divergence peaked before the First World War and continued until the early 1970s, then, after two decades of indeterminate fluctuations, in the late 1980s it was replaced by the Great Convergence as the majority of Third World countries reached economic growth rates significantly higher than those in most First World countries.<ref>Jack Goldstone et al. Phases of global demographic transition correlate with phases of the Great Divergence and Great Convergence. Technological Forecasting and Social Change. Volume 95, June 2015, Page 163.</ref>
Technological advances, in areas such as railroads, steamboats, mining, and agriculture, were embraced to a higher degree in the West than the East during the Great Divergence. Technology led to increased industrialization and economic complexity in the areas of agriculture, trade, fuel and resources, further separating the East and the West. Western Europe's use of coal as an energy substitute for wood in the mid-19th century gave it a major head start in modern energy production.
See also
- Colonial empire
- Western empires
- Modern history
- History of Western civilization
- Textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution
- Economic history of China (pre-1911)
- Joseph Needham
- Eurocentrism
Books
- A Farewell to Alms
- Before and Beyond Divergence
- The Clash of Civilizations
- Civilization: The West and the Rest
- The Civilizing Process
- The European Miracle
- Great Divergence and Great Convergence
- The Great divergence: China, Europe, and the making of the modern world economy
- Guns, Germs, and Steel
- The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers
- The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community
- The Wealth and Poverty of Nations
- Why the West Rules—For Now
- The Eastern Origins of Western Civilisation
