1. Culture and Globalization
Origins of the Modern World
February 6, 2013

2. Marks: Origins of the Modern World
How would you summarize the main goals of the
book? In other words, what is the author trying to
show, and why?

3. Marks: Origins of the Modern World
1. The book tries to show how the current world
system got put in place -- the historical, economic,
political, social forces that produced modern
globalization.
2. In doing so, it attempts to challenge Eurocentric
accounts of the world.

4. Westernization
What did we say last week are the debates
about globalization as "Westernization"?
How does this connect to the critique of
Eurocentrism in Marks?

5. Conceptual Tools (pages 10-13)
● historical contingency
● accident
● conjuncture

6. Before the Modern World System
What are some of the interesting cases or
examples Marks uses to demonstrate the role
of the non-European world in this history?

7. Industrial Revolution
What do we mean by the term "industrial
revolution"?
How does Marks complicate the usual story of
industrialization?

8. Industrial Revolution: Why Britain?
Why was Britain the center of industrialization?
● Naval power and war
● An industry suited to industrializing = cotton
● Economic structure that allowed for it to take
advantage of that industry = colonialism

9. Britain: Slavery and Cotton
● Cotton industry - there was money to be
made and it was rapidly expanding, so it
attracted investment
●
● Machinery was cheap, easy to construct,
and promised quick returns
●
● Raw materials - extracted from colonies
through slave labor, thus expanding
supply; accident of coal supply and steam
power

10. French Revolution
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and
Citizens (1789) states, "The source of all
sovereignty resides
essentially in the nation."
What does "nation" mean
here and what is the
significance of this?

11. New Political Formations
The French Revolution helps establish the
modern notion of the nation-state, which
connects three things:
the state (government)
the nation (citizenry)
the land (territory)
And they are connected in a Constitutional
framework.