Abstract

Writing World History contributes to the highly topical debate on world history by addressing the subject comparatively. Building on the current academic as well as public interest in world history in the Western and non-Western world, and especially in the United States, this volume links a critical investigation of the traditions of world history-writing with the most recent theoretical, methodological, and ideological debates on the subject. It is original in two ways: first, it present different modern approaches to contemporary world history and its debates. Secondly, it offers a critical analysis of the historical traditions of world history over the past 200 years by providing a selection of case studies. From a transcultural perspective, these demonstrate different ideas about the world and the relationship between 'periphery' and 'centre' in various geographical areas such as the USA, Britain, Germany, France, and Russia; Africa; and China, India, and Japan. The essays make clear that interpretations of the world reflect perceptions of one's own culture, and that the notion of the world can be used to legitimize political aims. Since this field emerged in the USA and developed into a separate subdiscipline, American concepts of world history have dominated the discourse. The objective is to go beyond the comparison of Western and non-Western concepts by offering a critical evaluation of their theoretical foundations, ideological implications, and moral connotations. The volume offers a critique of a Eurocentric and an ethnocentric world history.