Europe, the Middle East and the Shift in Power: Reflections on a Theme by Marshall Hodgson

1980/10/01 by Charles Issawi · 30 citations
Mathematics · Social Sciences · #Archaeology #Combinatorics #Computer science #Epistemology #Geography #Graph #History #Islam #Islamic Studies and History #Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies #Mathematics #Middle East #Philosophy #Physics #Power (physics) #Simple (philosophy) #Theme (computing)

paper · doi:10.1017/s001041750000949x

published in Comparative Studies in Society and History 22(4), 487-504 (Cambridge University Press)

openalex publication_date 1980/10/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21

Abstract

Suppose there are two lines on a graph, close together and moving in thesame general direction and that at one point one of them begins to divergefrom the other. After some time the gap between them will have widenedvery considerably. This simple image would command general agreementas an illustration of the different paths taken by Western and MiddleEastern or Islamic civilizations in the course of the last thousand years.

Citations

• The Arab Agricultural Revolution and Its Diffusion, 700–1100
• Ibn Khaldûn: A Fourteenth-Century Economist
• The Administrative, Economic and Social Functions of Turkish Guilds

Cited by

• The Black Death and the origins of the 'Great Divergence' across Europe, 1300-1600
• Printing press [wikipedia]