Cities and Economic Development - Annotated Bibliography Example

?Bairoch, Paul. Cities and Economic Development: From the Dawn of History to the Present. of Chicago Press, 1991. Print. This book is interesting. Bairoch argues that one of the main defining features of Western civilization is the economics and the growth of the urban environment. Bairoch highlights many of the differences between Western cities and those found elsewhere, focusing on historical developments. Additionally, there are comparisons between the Western economic style and that found in other geographical areas. This book is highly specific, but does provide an interesting point of comparison which can be useful when evaluating the history and dominance of the West throughout history. Additionally, it is interesting to see cities and their development as the peak of Western civilization. This book provides evidence to support the hypothesis that the West developed more rapidly after the 16th century, but some elements of Western culture were present before this date. Additionally, it supports the notion that Western culture developed alongside Eastern culture, borrowing some elements. Greer, Thomas H., and Gavin Lewis. A Brief History of the Western World. Cengage Learning, 2004. Print. This book covers some of the most important aspects of Western history, covering each era in some detail. Although the earlier sections do focus on prehistory and the times of the Roman Empire, the latter sections of the book do contain information about the “Rise of the West” and the influences that other cultures have had on Western history, philosophy and politics. Some of the most interesting sections explore the rise of Christianity, which had several influences beyond the West and still has a hold on Western ideals today. Additionally, much of the information on medieval culture provides information about how important Eastern philosophies (particularly those in the Middle East and from Iberia) were important in defining the new political era. Overall, the book shows that the West held a growing importance in world history during this time, despite heavy influences from other cultures. Huntington, Samuel P. “The Clash of Civilizations?” Foreign affairs (1993): 22–49. Print. This paper was published in an attempt to use world history to outline the differences between civilizations all over the world. This paper is interesting because it shows the differences between the West and other cultures by showing how they evolved over time. It gives insight into the elements that the West “borrowed” from other cultures by integrating it into their own, including parts of philosophy, language and culture. Although the paper is short, it does give a lot of insight into the topic of world history. It is useful for my research because it supports the hypothesis that the West has developed into being a strong global entity with a multitude of civilizations. It also supports the hypothesis that there are many different cultural elements in the West that have been developed through interactions with other cultures. Levi, Giovanni, and Schmitt, Jean Claude. A History of Young People in the West: Ancient and Medieval Rites of Passage. Harvard University Press, 1997. Print. This book focuses on how young people have been perceived throughout Western history and the rites of passage that they have gone through. This book is very specific to young people and youth, particularly focusing on how these people have been perceived and treated throughout history. Despite this specificity, this book underlines some of the major transformations the West has been through during the Middle Ages. It provides a useful point of comparison between historical youth and modern youth, and conclusions can be drawn about the evolution of this group of people from the book. Additionally, it is interesting to see how one group of people have affected and been affected by history. It allows analysis of how other cultures have affected Western thought and Western history through description of youth rites of passage. It highlights the growth of the West using young people as an example. Rist, Gilbert. The History of Development: From Western Origins to Global Faith. Zed Books, 2002. Google Scholar. Web. 17 June 2013. This book outlines how development has shaped the West up until the present day. It focuses on global faith, which is interesting as Christianity has been one of the driving forces towards enlightenment and growth, as well as having a huge role in the development of culture in the West. The book also outlines how the West and other cultures have interacted throughout history. There is a particular focus on the Enlightenment/Renaissance, which is interesting as this period has been covered in some detail within the other sources. It also looks at some elements of colonialization, which is important when understanding Western history. This suggests that this time period was a major developmental force for the West. The book supports the hypothesis that the West has borrowed from other cultures but has used these to become a dominant global force. Smith, Julia M. H. Europe After Rome: A New Cultural History 500-1000. Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 2007. Print. The theme of this book is the cultural development that Europe went through after the fall of Rome until the end of the first millennium. It is interesting because it details how culture changed for all types of people, slaves and emperors, throughout this historical period. Although the focus is on cultural history, this is useful because culture is perhaps what most importantly defines progress and can give insights into personal histories. It also focuses strongly on the position of women and how this developed throughout the time, which is interesting. The book serves my hypothesis that the West developed slowly but importantly during the centuries following the fall of Rome, and that much of this development has ties with the Eastern world. It is not useful for showing any information about post-1000, which is when the West began rapidly expanding and becoming the cultural juggernaut that it is today. Yerxa, Donald A. Recent Themes in World History and the History of the West: Historians in Conversation. Univ of South Carolina Press, 2009. Print. The focus of this book is the history of the world, although many of the sections focus on the importance of the West and how it developed over time to become a dominant force. Some of the most interesting and useful excerpts of the book center around defining the place that the West has currently using historical events to justify this definition. Much of the focus of this book is on the Renaissance and the effect that this had on Western history, philosophy and art. This is useful because this is arguably one of the most important eras in Western history for defining the place the West has in the world and shaping much of the politics of the era and beyond. This book is useful because it allows a more analytical view of the events of Western history, with historians offering analysis of the events in a historical framework. These sources are all varied in their focus, which means that they have a lot to lend to any paper written about the development of the West between the fall of the Roman Empire and AD 1700. Some of the books and papers, like Levi & Schmitt, focus on one element of history to allow us to trace a path for one group. In this case, Levi & Schmitt focus on the development of youth and young people throughout the West, with a particular focus on rites of passage. Many of the papers also focus on religion (predominantly Christianity) as a driving force for philosophical and cultural historical change in the West. Christianity is still the dominant global religion (Yerxa, 44) which means that the religion has firmly cemented itself in the history of Western culture. Additionally, many of the sources focus on the Renaissance and the events leading up to it. The Renaissance is considered by all these sources to be an important source of cultural history, as well as developing the scientific and political norms of the West. This is useful for exploring how the West and Western ideals became such a driving force on a global scale, as well as being a nice end-point to this study of Western history. The hypothesis here is that the West has grown over the time period mentioned to become a cultural force worldwide, and perhaps something to aspire to. All of these books provide proof of this hypothesis. Most of the sources also emphasize a borrowing of cultural ideals from other areas in the world, particularly the Middle East and Iberia, which the West has absorbed. Read More