The Indian Ocean in Eurasian and African world-systems before the 16th century, Philippe Beaujard

Résumé du document

Philippe Soller used to say that the beauty of conciseness is that it allows us to transmit, guiltlessly, only commonly accepted truths. I am afraid I will have to show, very concisely, how innovating and dissenter is the study of Philippe Beaujard on The Indian Ocean in Eurasian and African World-Systems before the 16th century. Philippe Beaujard is a French research director—mainly in the fields of Anthropology and History of Economical and Political Organization— for the Centre National de Recherches Scientifiques (CNRS). He has profoundly studied the Madagascan so to speak civilization and is a specialist in African matters. This particular text we are to study (published in 2005) concerns not only Africa, but the whole organization of the World in a vast World System originated in the turning of the Christian era, as well as its evolution. It is possible that you think, as Wallerstein does, that the present day "modern World System" (in Wallersteinien terms) was originated in the 16th century and is a fabulous novelty in terms of economic organization? You probably think as well—don't worry, you are not alone— that Capitalism was born in Europe, with the 13th century's Italian City-states? That we will see! And my friends, welcome to the unknown side of our world:

Extraits

[...] Domination may be understood as power by constraint, whereas hegemony is pure influence, "action upon action". Diasporas as a stability factor. Beaujard, I say, underestimates the role of Diasporas. Norel argues that the Indian Ocean trade has only been shallowly affected by the end of imperial dynasties in China because of the relative independence of Diasporas vis-à-vis political powers. Gujaratis, Persians and Arabs have been very active Diasporas in the Indian Ocean World-Systems despite political turbulences. This may explain in part the continuity of trade networks, and even religious networks. [...]

[...] Latin America will just not be so far anymore. [...]

[...] It is therefore impossible to understand the nature of a world-system if only trade is taken into account. For trade itself, it is closely meshed with other elements so diverse A new organization of our thinking: The transdisciplinary approach CORRELATIONS AND CYCLES This is the very essence of the transdisciplinary approach: differing from Frank & Gills, Beaujard argues that it takes more than mere trade to make a system. Religion, ideology and political organizations are central aspects one must take into consideration. [...]

[...] Nevertheless, even if dispersed in time and in space, these same characteristics are found in periods before 16th century. Most notably, an axial division of labour has ever since, seemingly, been a structural characteristic of the Indian Ocean World-Systems. But can we talk about a world system that only concerns part of the world, and not the whole world? Braudel's terminology World Economy would seem more likely to fit Beaujard's description of the Indian Ocean World- Systems. A World Economy deals with "une portion seulement de la planète, dans la mesure ou elle forme un tout économique", in other words, it is an autonomous and self-sufficient part of the world, larger than a juridically defined political unit. [...]

[...] Overall, cities entertain close and intense relations, for they are nodes of networks. The spine of a world-system is then formed by interconnected cities. Nevertheless, if linked by trade, cities are also linked by cultural proximity (some would speak of a fringe culture). Such proximity is the result of trade movements. To quote Braudel, "it is not water that links the shores of the Indian Ocean". In other words, long distance trade between cities is itself the vehicle for values, beliefs, and mostly . innovations. [...]