On the Colonizer's Model of the World

This book is best read as a criticism of scholarship as it existed in the early 1990s. Essentially, Blaut argues that the idea of an “inner” global group (invariably Europe) and an “outer” global group (everywhere else) has done a disservice to the study of history. In the diffusionist view, the “inner” group innovates, producing new cultural, social, and political forms, while the “outer” group imitates, accepting whatever advances the “inner” group puts forth.

Generally, diffusionist scholarship has been used to advance the view that Europe and the “West” has been superior to the rest of the world. In response, Blaut argues that diffusionists are outright wrong. In doing so, his goal is to pierce the super-ideology that supports Eurocentric history, allowing more nuanced approaches. This is something that he does admirably, although his writing can be a bit grating at times. Nonetheless, this work was an important advance in the historiography of world history and, for that reason, is invaluable.

(In other news, this is the 500th work that I’ve “read”—more often skimmed or gutted—since I’ve started grad school!)