Before European Hegemony

In the first section of Before European Hegemony, Abu-Lughod begins by asserting that Europe, while dominant in today’s world, had not always been the superpower that it was. She argues that before Europe had developed, Asia and the Middle East had been the advanced societies. Abu-Lughod then goes on to explain that technology and trade had an extremely significant impact on the furthering of development of the European nations. Technology had led to the increase of production of goods. And trade began to open up around the world so goods could be exchanged and this also led to the advancement of Europe. She focuses on the idea that goods were not always meant to be made for profit. For many many years in their “capitalist” trade, goods were made not to make profit, but rather to support the growing populations of Europe. It is not until technology and trade take us a step further into overproduction that the western capitalism we think of today came to exist. Another key aspect that Abu-Lughod says helped advance society for Europe were the Champagne Fairs. These were places that merchants came from all around to meet in a central location and trade goods with each other as they were needed. They were offered protection from the counts so that people could not steal their stuff. It was kind of like a modern day super Wal-mart, with different people producing and bringing their products to the market. Another key aspect she speaks of in this section is the currency. Like China and the Middle East, during this time Europe began to have a form of currency that only led to more increases in trade.

I thought the Champagne Fairs were very interesting. It reminded me of a flea market kind of where people gather and sell goods. However the Fair flea markets would have all the goods that people would need to get through their daily lives, rather than to sell petty goods like we see at flea markets today. I also think it is interesting that international trade seems to develop from these fairs over stocking. One people began to produce more than was needed for the Champagne Fairs, people began to look to sell their goods on international markets, further advancing society for Europe.

One question I had was while the Middle East seemed to be so powerful before Europe came to be known as a superpower today, it seems to have lost momentum in development. While I understand that they have advanced cities, many of their citizens are living in terrible conditions. I was wondering why parts of their culture have continued to advance, while the others seem to crumble. Could it be their government rules? Their beliefs? Market pressures? I just don’t know.