The Colonizer's Model of the World: Geographical Diffusionism and Eurocentric History - Softcover

Blaut, J. M.

  • 3.66 out of 5 stars
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9780898623482: The Colonizer's Model of the World: Geographical Diffusionism and Eurocentric History
Softcover
ISBN 10: 0898623480 ISBN 13: 9780898623482
Publisher: The Guilford Press, 1993

Synopsis

This influential book challenges one of the most pervasive and powerful beliefs of our time--that Europe rose to modernity and world dominance due to unique qualities of race, environment, culture, mind, or spirit, and that progress for the rest of the world resulted from the diffusion of European civilization. J. M. Blaut persuasively argues that this doctrine is not grounded in the facts of history and geography, but in the ideology of colonialism. Blaut traces the colonizer's model of the world from its 16th-century origins to its present form in theories of economic development, modernization, and new world order.

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About the Author

J. M. Blaut, PhD, until his death in 2000, was Professor of Geography at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The author of The Colonizer's Model of the World and Eight Eurocentric Historians, Dr. Blaut was a recipient of the Distinguished Scholarship Award from the Association of American Geographers (AAG). Awards in his name are given annually by the Cultural and Political Ecology Specialty Group and the Socialist and Critical Geography Specialty Group of the AAG.

Reviews

Blaut (Univ. of Illinois) challenges the notion of "Eurocentric diffusionism": the pervasive presumption that superior Western culture has naturally flowed outward, bringing modernization to the rest of the world. In four chapters the author argues in detail that the historical propositions supporting European preeminence are myths. The conquest of the New World was simply the result of greater maritime accessibility to America, and the rise of Europe, after 1492, was due to the immense wealth of subsequent colonial accumulation. This is a highly analytical, provocative, and scholarly work. While not always convincing in certain aspects, it belongs in libraries serving readers interested in a revisionist view of world history.
- William F. Young, SUNY at Albany Lib.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Publisher
The Guilford Press
Publication date
1993
Language
English
ISBN 10 
0898623480
ISBN 13 
9780898623482
Binding
Paperback
Edition number
1
Number of pages
246
Rating
  • 3.66 out of 5 stars
    173 ratings by Goodreads

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780898623499: The Colonizer's Model of the World: Geographical Diffusionism and Eurocentric History

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  0898623499 ISBN 13:  9780898623499
Publisher: The Guilford Press, 1993
Hardcover