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Europe and the People Without History
Offering insight and equal consideration into the societies of the "civilized" and "uncivilized" world, Europe and the People Without History deftly explores the historical trajectory of so-called modern globalization. In this foundational text about the development of the global political economy, Eric R. Wolf challenges the long-held anthropological notion that non-European cultures and peoples were isolated and static entities before the advent of European colonialism and imperialism. Ironically referred to as "the People Without History" by Wolf, these societies before active colonization possessed perpetually changing, reactionary cultures and were indeed just as intertwined into the processes of the pre-Columbian global economic system as their European counterparts. Utilizing Marxian concepts and a vivid consideration for the importance of history, Wolf judiciously traces the effects and conditions in Europe and the rest of the "known" world, beginning in 1400 AD, that allowed capitalism to emerge as the dominant ideology of the modern era.
536 pages, Paperback
First published December 3, 1982
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About the author
Eric R. Wolf
24 books78 followersAnthropologist, best known for his studies of peasants, Latin America, and his advocacy of Marxian perspectives within anthropology.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews
May 16, 2010
This book certainly deserves the label "classic," for two major reasons. First, Wolf effectively threw into question the idea within anthropology and elsewhere that cultures, especially non-Western cultures, are fragmented and static or were fragmented and static before contact with Western "civilization." Secondly, his work represents one of the best anthropological contributions to structural Marxism (Althusser, for example). However, to do so he simply reduces global cultural relations and processes into "modes of production" rather than enhancing both anthropology and political economy by melding cultural aspects more effectively with political economy. For example, Gramsci, Raymond Williams and others are only given brief mention in order for Wolf to argue (p. 425) that "thought [and therefore culture:] is mediated by the prevailing mode of production." I do not find this economic determinism persuasive: ideology and culture cannot simply be reduced to veneers covering particular modes of production. Rather, in addition to Gramscian literature one would do well to look at literature on Foucauldian governmentality such as Apter's The Pan-African Nation: Oil and the Spectacle of Culture in Nigeria (see below), which brings a much more dynamic and yet realistic view of exploitation through the last 400 years, from mercantile through capitalist "modes of production," of Nigerian history.
March 14, 2015
Being a former Anthropology student I have seen this book referred to in slightly reverent tones. It is perceived to be THE work of Marxism within Anthropology, something to which nobody interested in the subject or the theory can go without reading. Now after quite a while away I have finally got around to reading this opus. As a work it is now over 30 years old – several epochs ago in the history of social science (or at least, should be) – the question is does it hold up?
The answer, I’m afraid, is no. In its theory and conceptions the book is all kinds of flawed, a window into a different intellectual age when materialism could still be held by serious commentators as unifying paradigm for the social and political sciences. No doubt there are still materialists floating around, eagerly jotting down their thoughts for submission to the New Left Review, but as time and events go onwards its explanatory power becomes less and less. For like the materialists in general, this book’s problem is also its virtue – its globe scope, its lack of intellectual parochialism, its ambition and its attempt to explain the long sweep of history in a genuinely systematic way. It may be flawed but it remains a book to read and talk about and some of its insights – while now mainstream in academia – are still important and vital.
Wolf’s book was written in the context of debates on the nature of modernization and the naïve modernization theory that was widespread in American social science of the era. This involved a progressive schema which rated societies from most primitive to most advanced with the implication that all societies go through these phases before reaching the end point. Inspired by world systems theory, Wolf knocks this down perfectly by focusing on the relationship between societies as they have developed since the fifteenth century. Rather, he argues not totally unpersuasively, than developed and undeveloped being states that describe particular societies they should be seen as a creation of historical process of dominance and exploitation and the creation of one led to the creation of the other. Societies, in Wolf’s view, are historical processes in action with overlapping boundaries and not static entities. We can’t say where ‘The Cherokee’ begin and ‘The Seminole’ end for all were interlapping due to trade, commerce, and the process of imperialism. He expands this historical model not only to explain relative ‘development’ but also cultural changes within society. While it is true that no society is an island and this is important for analysis, it is here where Wolf’s theories totally fall down.
The book is divided into three sections. The first lays out the main theoretical framework and discusses the world before Colombus. The second, the most empirical, gives four examples of the influence of the European World on the rest of the world in the Early Modern period – where ‘the people without history’ lived - via exchange and conquest. The four examples are the Iberians in America, the North American Fur trade, the African slave trade and European traders in East Asia before 1800. In all four cases he shows well that the native peoples of these parts of the world were not passive participants in processes dominated by Europeans but active participants in events and helped shape the eventual outcomes while they themselves were being shaped by the Europeans. When Wolf is empirical, as he is the second section, he is at his strongest. Unfortunately the 3rd section goes into the 19th and 20th Century and tells the story of ‘the rise of Capitalism’. Like so many in this debate he is determined to find when Capitalism began – he belonged to the 19th Century camp (when, oh when will you people learn?) and seeing as the agent in the division of the world economy into core and peripheral sections, but here there are many gaps and would need a book in itself to be more convincing.
He is also too attached to the Marxian concept of the Mode of Production, dividing all his societies under study into three types – ‘Capitalist’, ‘Tributary’, and ‘Kin-based’. This describes how societies are organized to produce goods for human consumption with the first of those eventually subsuming the rest. While he lays out the difference between the three in great detail it is hard to credit, as someone who has read a fair bit of Early Modern economic history, that capitalism merely emerged from tributary relations and industrialism. As if the idea of money making money via capital is a recent phenomenon. He also fails to discuss any ‘capitalist’ type developments from the point of view of the ‘people without history’ of which there were more than seems to be supposed.
Finally, Wolf’s holds his econo-centric model to explain the cultural changes seen by all the societies he studies. Yet he maintains a very materialist and functionalist view of culture seeing it as nearly an epiphenomenon of social structure. Religion is only discussed in the context of power relations and exchange as if those things explain ritual. Intellectual history or the cultural functions of trade goods are mostly ignored. Everything is analysed in a way trying to explain what a ritual or practice was for within a cultural system, there is little room for agency, psychology or a cognitive idea of culture here. Furthermore, in his conclusion, Wolf explicitly states that ideas – hinting strongly at nationalism and political ideologies – are the creation of vast systemic forces especially those created by the rise of capitalism. He provides little evidence for this and is historically dubious – although still widely thought in many parts of the world. Lastly and in the best traditions of Marxist social science c.1980 he decides to make a few predictions – he sees the rise of a new global proletariat in Asia but not the Tiger economies, nor does he identify any of the major economic trends since 1980 perhaps because he was too attached to the Marxist notion of equating development and wealth with production.
Yet despite my criticisms here I did enjoy reading the book and does give a lot for the reader to chew on. His important insights are still worth remembering when we still speak of ‘undeveloped’ and ‘developed’ societies (although Wolf’s vision here is very pessimistic) and some of the notions about ‘primitive’ societies that still bound around the ether. The middle chapters are also excellent for their historical synthesis and his ability to quickly move between different parts of the world while retaining the same explanatory framework. For a social science book, it is not terribly written (talk about faint praise!) and is quite clear and straightforward despite the occasional outbreaks into terminology. Yet still it is an aged work, representative of an era now hopefully long past.
The answer, I’m afraid, is no. In its theory and conceptions the book is all kinds of flawed, a window into a different intellectual age when materialism could still be held by serious commentators as unifying paradigm for the social and political sciences. No doubt there are still materialists floating around, eagerly jotting down their thoughts for submission to the New Left Review, but as time and events go onwards its explanatory power becomes less and less. For like the materialists in general, this book’s problem is also its virtue – its globe scope, its lack of intellectual parochialism, its ambition and its attempt to explain the long sweep of history in a genuinely systematic way. It may be flawed but it remains a book to read and talk about and some of its insights – while now mainstream in academia – are still important and vital.
Wolf’s book was written in the context of debates on the nature of modernization and the naïve modernization theory that was widespread in American social science of the era. This involved a progressive schema which rated societies from most primitive to most advanced with the implication that all societies go through these phases before reaching the end point. Inspired by world systems theory, Wolf knocks this down perfectly by focusing on the relationship between societies as they have developed since the fifteenth century. Rather, he argues not totally unpersuasively, than developed and undeveloped being states that describe particular societies they should be seen as a creation of historical process of dominance and exploitation and the creation of one led to the creation of the other. Societies, in Wolf’s view, are historical processes in action with overlapping boundaries and not static entities. We can’t say where ‘The Cherokee’ begin and ‘The Seminole’ end for all were interlapping due to trade, commerce, and the process of imperialism. He expands this historical model not only to explain relative ‘development’ but also cultural changes within society. While it is true that no society is an island and this is important for analysis, it is here where Wolf’s theories totally fall down.
The book is divided into three sections. The first lays out the main theoretical framework and discusses the world before Colombus. The second, the most empirical, gives four examples of the influence of the European World on the rest of the world in the Early Modern period – where ‘the people without history’ lived - via exchange and conquest. The four examples are the Iberians in America, the North American Fur trade, the African slave trade and European traders in East Asia before 1800. In all four cases he shows well that the native peoples of these parts of the world were not passive participants in processes dominated by Europeans but active participants in events and helped shape the eventual outcomes while they themselves were being shaped by the Europeans. When Wolf is empirical, as he is the second section, he is at his strongest. Unfortunately the 3rd section goes into the 19th and 20th Century and tells the story of ‘the rise of Capitalism’. Like so many in this debate he is determined to find when Capitalism began – he belonged to the 19th Century camp (when, oh when will you people learn?) and seeing as the agent in the division of the world economy into core and peripheral sections, but here there are many gaps and would need a book in itself to be more convincing.
He is also too attached to the Marxian concept of the Mode of Production, dividing all his societies under study into three types – ‘Capitalist’, ‘Tributary’, and ‘Kin-based’. This describes how societies are organized to produce goods for human consumption with the first of those eventually subsuming the rest. While he lays out the difference between the three in great detail it is hard to credit, as someone who has read a fair bit of Early Modern economic history, that capitalism merely emerged from tributary relations and industrialism. As if the idea of money making money via capital is a recent phenomenon. He also fails to discuss any ‘capitalist’ type developments from the point of view of the ‘people without history’ of which there were more than seems to be supposed.
Finally, Wolf’s holds his econo-centric model to explain the cultural changes seen by all the societies he studies. Yet he maintains a very materialist and functionalist view of culture seeing it as nearly an epiphenomenon of social structure. Religion is only discussed in the context of power relations and exchange as if those things explain ritual. Intellectual history or the cultural functions of trade goods are mostly ignored. Everything is analysed in a way trying to explain what a ritual or practice was for within a cultural system, there is little room for agency, psychology or a cognitive idea of culture here. Furthermore, in his conclusion, Wolf explicitly states that ideas – hinting strongly at nationalism and political ideologies – are the creation of vast systemic forces especially those created by the rise of capitalism. He provides little evidence for this and is historically dubious – although still widely thought in many parts of the world. Lastly and in the best traditions of Marxist social science c.1980 he decides to make a few predictions – he sees the rise of a new global proletariat in Asia but not the Tiger economies, nor does he identify any of the major economic trends since 1980 perhaps because he was too attached to the Marxist notion of equating development and wealth with production.
Yet despite my criticisms here I did enjoy reading the book and does give a lot for the reader to chew on. His important insights are still worth remembering when we still speak of ‘undeveloped’ and ‘developed’ societies (although Wolf’s vision here is very pessimistic) and some of the notions about ‘primitive’ societies that still bound around the ether. The middle chapters are also excellent for their historical synthesis and his ability to quickly move between different parts of the world while retaining the same explanatory framework. For a social science book, it is not terribly written (talk about faint praise!) and is quite clear and straightforward despite the occasional outbreaks into terminology. Yet still it is an aged work, representative of an era now hopefully long past.
May 10, 2017
أوروبا ومن لا تاريخ لهم
يحدد إريك وولف هدفه من تأليف هذا الكتاب بأنه "تحدي أولئك الذين يتوهمون أن الأوربيين هم الوحيدون الذين صنعوا التاريخ"، وحتى يحقق هذا الهدف يقوم وعلى مدى الـ 546 صفحة التي تكون هذا الكتاب، إظهار الترابط المادي والثقافي الذي بني عليه عالم اليوم، متناول وبالتفصيل، حال العالم ما قبل سنة 1400 م، ومن ثم النمو والاندفاع الأوروبي خارج القارة الأوروبية، شرقا ً إلى العالم القديم، وغربا ً إلى العالم الجديد، الكتاب يركز على الاقتصاد ويزخر بالدراسات الاقتصادية، بل خمسه الأول توضيح لهذه النظريات الاقتصادية حول أنواع المجتمعات واقتصاداتها، قبل أن يركز على نمو الثروة الأوروبية من خلال تجارتي الفراء والعبيد، ثم الثورة الصناعية والرأسمالية، الكتاب قيم ولكن يحتاج إلى نفس طويل وبال رائق.
يحدد إريك وولف هدفه من تأليف هذا الكتاب بأنه "تحدي أولئك الذين يتوهمون أن الأوربيين هم الوحيدون الذين صنعوا التاريخ"، وحتى يحقق هذا الهدف يقوم وعلى مدى الـ 546 صفحة التي تكون هذا الكتاب، إظهار الترابط المادي والثقافي الذي بني عليه عالم اليوم، متناول وبالتفصيل، حال العالم ما قبل سنة 1400 م، ومن ثم النمو والاندفاع الأوروبي خارج القارة الأوروبية، شرقا ً إلى العالم القديم، وغربا ً إلى العالم الجديد، الكتاب يركز على الاقتصاد ويزخر بالدراسات الاقتصادية، بل خمسه الأول توضيح لهذه النظريات الاقتصادية حول أنواع المجتمعات واقتصاداتها، قبل أن يركز على نمو الثروة الأوروبية من خلال تجارتي الفراء والعبيد، ثم الثورة الصناعية والرأسمالية، الكتاب قيم ولكن يحتاج إلى نفس طويل وبال رائق.
April 30, 2019
مذهل في في شرحه عبر التاريخ والانثروبولوجيا التعالق والارتباط بين تطور الدول والثقافات المختلفة منذ القرن الخامس العشر أي حين بدأت أوروبا الخروج الكثيف من محيطها بحثا عن الثروة في القارات الأخرى ضمن تنافس محموم بين كياناتها القومية الناشئة. هل بالغ في مساحة تأثير نمط الإنتاج مقارنة بمساحة غيره من العوامل؟ سؤال معلق لدي
قراءته ضرورية لكل مهتم بهذه المجالات
قراءته ضرورية لكل مهتم بهذه المجالات
February 22, 2015
a good and surprisingly little-referenced world history that takes a decidedly non-eurocentric, quasi-world-systems approach. Wolf is more traditionally marxist, tho, and comes out to bat for Mandel's theory of capitalism against Wallerstein. he could be accused of working with a light touch here and Michael Taussig has (quite sardonically and funnily) pointed out that Wolf's language is oddly Hegelian, suggesting teleologies of history and independent movements of commodities. that's like the classic marxist-on-marxist burn, i guess--"no, YOU fetishize commodities". but the merits:
- good, if a bit scattered and partial world history, written by an anthropologist (which brings a pleasantly humanist character to it, and also brings some fresh insights to some of the far-flung precapitalist societies that other Marxists just substitute Rousseau for).
- useful rethinking of modes of production--his use of the anthropologist-buzzword "kin" is confusing at first but ultimately becomes a more satisfactory term for "primitive communism". similarly, his concept of the "tributary mode of production" does a nice job of creating a sufficiently general category for all the non-capitalist, state-oriented, surplus-generating, surplus-stealing modes of production. one could easily jump in here with the Hegelian sledgehammer to determine this as a one-sided abstraction but it at least does the work of decentering the shaky concept of "feudalism" and of disavowing anachronistic, Eurocentric comparisons of, say, ancient China or India with feudalism that postdates it by thousands of years. this conception, which exists in Marx but which was popularized as an alternative to the "slave mode of production" or [ick] "Oriental mode of production" by Samir Amin. John Haldon, Jairus Banaji and Chris Wickham, all serious and non-dogmatic Marxist historians, have come to engage with it seriously, which makes Wolf's book more lasting.
- an important insistence on the centrality of slavery to early capitalist production (missing from Eurocentric conceptions of slavery, as well as dogmatically Marxist ones which see it as either being "non-capitalist" or as simply being articulted within capitalism while remaining somehow separate or only formally subsumed).
- due diligence to the wealth of pre-capitalist societies, especially non-European ones.
- great endnotes that also include some smart deconstructions of Althusser and also help the reader get a better handle on the arguments behind the occasionally sweeping-narrative/Gibbons-y tone. well worth a read alongside Wallerstein.
- good, if a bit scattered and partial world history, written by an anthropologist (which brings a pleasantly humanist character to it, and also brings some fresh insights to some of the far-flung precapitalist societies that other Marxists just substitute Rousseau for).
- useful rethinking of modes of production--his use of the anthropologist-buzzword "kin" is confusing at first but ultimately becomes a more satisfactory term for "primitive communism". similarly, his concept of the "tributary mode of production" does a nice job of creating a sufficiently general category for all the non-capitalist, state-oriented, surplus-generating, surplus-stealing modes of production. one could easily jump in here with the Hegelian sledgehammer to determine this as a one-sided abstraction but it at least does the work of decentering the shaky concept of "feudalism" and of disavowing anachronistic, Eurocentric comparisons of, say, ancient China or India with feudalism that postdates it by thousands of years. this conception, which exists in Marx but which was popularized as an alternative to the "slave mode of production" or [ick] "Oriental mode of production" by Samir Amin. John Haldon, Jairus Banaji and Chris Wickham, all serious and non-dogmatic Marxist historians, have come to engage with it seriously, which makes Wolf's book more lasting.
- an important insistence on the centrality of slavery to early capitalist production (missing from Eurocentric conceptions of slavery, as well as dogmatically Marxist ones which see it as either being "non-capitalist" or as simply being articulted within capitalism while remaining somehow separate or only formally subsumed).
- due diligence to the wealth of pre-capitalist societies, especially non-European ones.
- great endnotes that also include some smart deconstructions of Althusser and also help the reader get a better handle on the arguments behind the occasionally sweeping-narrative/Gibbons-y tone. well worth a read alongside Wallerstein.
February 19, 2018
This is an amazing book that offers a incredibly in-depth, detailed global history since 1400 that take seriously how colonialism and capitalism transformed societies worldwide. Instead of offering histories that begin with "European arrival," Wolf examines how previously-existing societies negotiated these invasions and were transformed as a result, long before Europeans even began stepping on land and attempting to control these societies directly. He then follows how these relationships play out in the centuries that followed.
It was extremely interesting to be able to go step by step, continent by continent, and watch these dynamics unfolding worldwide over 600 years, and it helped me connect the dots between a lot of phenomena I'm familiar with and to recognize why similar things seemed to be happening in a lot of places around the same times. His attentiveness to the emergence of capitalism draws all the pieces together, highlighting just how fundamental the search for wealth and capital was to European colonialism (and how it doesn't really make sense without it).
It was extremely interesting to be able to go step by step, continent by continent, and watch these dynamics unfolding worldwide over 600 years, and it helped me connect the dots between a lot of phenomena I'm familiar with and to recognize why similar things seemed to be happening in a lot of places around the same times. His attentiveness to the emergence of capitalism draws all the pieces together, highlighting just how fundamental the search for wealth and capital was to European colonialism (and how it doesn't really make sense without it).
September 27, 2013
Just brilliant! A mind-blowing book, that focuses on how the expansion of European societies not only affected those societies that Europeans encountered in their expansion, but also the effect upon those European societies themselves. It asserts that non-European peoples were active participants in the progress of history, rather than static, unchanging cultures. The assumption that these 'others' are from unchanging cultures, and are left out of Eurocentric historical narratives is why they are referred to as 'people without history'. The "People Without History" also refers to those peoples of whom their cultures lack a formally written articulation of their histories hindering their inclusion in 'Western' historical narratives.
November 9, 2007
Certainly one of the greatest academic texts of all time and maybe a candidate for one of the best non-fiction books period.
April 14, 2024
Un livre qui, simplement dit, a considérablement changé ma compréhension de l'histoire de la colonisation et du capitalisme. Eric Wolf choisit des outils théoriques de la pensée marxienne, comme la notion de mode de production et du travail social, pour parler de l'histoire à partir de 1400. Wolf nous explique de manière claire et structurée les manières dont le colonialisme et l'impérialisme ont consolidé les fondements d'une "World history" et d'un système-monde, par l'instauration de rapports de domination entre périphéries colonisées et de centre accumulant les ressources et le capital. Force est de constater que de nombreux réseaux commerciaux et politiques étaient présents bien avant la colonisation européenne. Wolf s'appuie sur ces multitudes d'exemples, en Asie, dans les Amériques et en Afrique, pour décrire comment les colonisateurs ont utilisé ces réseaux préexistants à leur avantage.
J'ai eu le privilège de lire cet ouvrage dans le cadre d'un cercle de lecture, animé par ma professeure du séminaire 'Anthropologie et histoire' et par mon professeur Martin Hébert, qui a co-traduit ce livre de 1982. En plus d'avoir des discussions très enrichissantes sur les propos du livre, j'ai eu l'opportunité d'en apprendre beaucoup sur le processus de traduction d'un ouvrage de cette ampleur.
Je recommande avec enthousiasme cet ouvrage à toutes et tous les passionné.es d'histoire. Ce livre permet aux lecteurs de se forger une pensée critique de l'histoire de la colonisation et du capitalisme telle que nous la connaissons.
J'ai eu le privilège de lire cet ouvrage dans le cadre d'un cercle de lecture, animé par ma professeure du séminaire 'Anthropologie et histoire' et par mon professeur Martin Hébert, qui a co-traduit ce livre de 1982. En plus d'avoir des discussions très enrichissantes sur les propos du livre, j'ai eu l'opportunité d'en apprendre beaucoup sur le processus de traduction d'un ouvrage de cette ampleur.
Je recommande avec enthousiasme cet ouvrage à toutes et tous les passionné.es d'histoire. Ce livre permet aux lecteurs de se forger une pensée critique de l'histoire de la colonisation et du capitalisme telle que nous la connaissons.
September 9, 2009
Probably not worth your time. This titanic tome is very well-researched, and the writing isn't bad, but I don't feel like the author said anything remarkable or interesting.
Read
January 21, 2025Ch 2 - the world in 1400
SNOOZEFEST stfu about geography i struggle to gaf
SNOOZEFEST stfu about geography i struggle to gaf
November 7, 2007
Although there are parts of this book that move more than slow, it is one of my favorite history books of all times. (I'll admit I skimmed a few chapters here and there). It takes the role of telling history in a completely different way- by proposing new ideas as to what history is exactly and what role we as individuals play in it. More than his writing I loved Wolf's ideas and approach. He tries to tell the story of people traditionally forgotten in history- and he makes you feel attached and aware of the history you are a part of as well.
July 27, 2007
This is a prize winning book that opened the doors for all the anti-eurocentric books that came after. A stupendously good book that ends way to early -- in 1870.
May 9, 2020
This book should be titled “Europe and the history without people”. It is a protracted screed of social science theories and a history of the world told from the perspective of an iron pot being traded for a beaver fur. The whole thing is an argument against social science types writing history. Wolf dumps data on you like it’s going out of style and doesn’t contextualize most of it in any way that is meaningful. It is simply not a revelation that human societies are interconnected, that the nation state is a construct, and that material culture matters. It also isn’t useful for Wolf to argue for more complexity while endorsing a concept of capitalism that is practically all encompassing.
March 9, 2022
theoretically hard to understand
January 20, 2020
Kitap sosyoloji,antropoloji,tarih,ekonomi ve siyaset disiplinlerinin hepsini birleştiriyor. Köleliğin,sömürgeciliğin,emperyalizmin zamana, coğrafyaya göre farklı biçimler aldığını (kölelik,feodalizm,emperyalizm) ancak temelinde az sayıdaki zenginin,yoksulları sömürdüğünü ve zenginlerin kendileri ile de çıkar savaşının tarih boyunca olduğunu vurguluyor. Bize dayatılanın batı merkezli tarih olduğunu ancak sömürülen ülkelerin tarihininde en az ötekiler kadar gerçek olduğunu anlatıyor. Tavsiye ederim.
October 2, 2016
This is one of my favorite books in my library. I appreciate Eric Wolf's research and insights into this topic. because it provides a new perspective, a new way to look at history, people, and cultures, it gives us a new history.
August 23, 2007
It's been several years since I read this, but every so often I pick it up and re-read a chapter. It's kind of amazing what Wolf did here, an amazing history of the subaltern.
November 26, 2025
Nothing is inevitable and a new path in history is always open. That is the lesson of this bold review of five hundred years of European conquests in the Americas. The greatness of the late anthropologist/historian Eric Wolf lay in his intellectual immodesty. Who else would have dared to recast the revolutions in Russia, China, Mexico, Cuba, Viet Nam and Algeria by the label PEASANT WARS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY? Who but Wolf would dedicate his last work to a comparison between the Nazi and Aztec states (ENVISIONING POWER: IDEOLOGIES OF DOMINANCE AND CRISIS)? EUROPE AND THE PEOPLE WITHOUT HISTORY challenges the reader to develop new and more radical ways of thinking on what counts as history, and who constitutes a people. The myth of European domination is based on the premise that the peoples of Latin America had no civilization nor history before Columbus and Cortez; simply repetition of endless patterns of wars, plunder and primitive economies. Wolf asserts the native peoples from the Yaqui of the northern reaches of Mexico to the "Fire Walkers" of Patagonia had successfully organized themselves in political communities, religious sects and family and clan lineages before 1492. Their histories took the form of common myths illustrating universal themes. The Europeans did not rescue these communities for progress. They came to abort them. Did they succeed? Negotiations, compromises, treaties, oral and written, petitions to the King back in Spain all attest to the survival of native peoples under the Spanish Crown in Mexico and Peru. The Indians of Brazil were either exterminated, enslaved or expelled from their home territory yet survive to this day with languages and religions largely intact. This is a sweeping and moving book on how one people, the conquerors, set history on their course, trying to silence the conquered, and how the vanquished fought back, raising their own voices.
September 15, 2024
Antropoloji alanında ayrıntılı bir inceleme ve uzmanlaşma isteyenler için uygun bir kitap. Açıkçası ben kitabı okurken biraz zorlandım. Çok fazla ayrıntıya girildiğini hissettim. Dikkatimi toplayıp kitaba devam etmekte güçlük çektim fakat aynı zamanda kitabı okuduğum 2 hafta boyunca her gün uyumak için gözlerimi kapadığımda aklıma saatlerce düşünebileceğim konular düştü. İçinde bulunduğumuz dünyanın, çalışma şartlarımızın, yaşam alanlarımızın ve sosyal ilişkilerimizin aslında ne kadar yeni olduğunu hissettim. 19. yüzyılın sonuna kadar yasaklamalara rağmen açık açık sistematik bir şekilde sürmüş köle ticareti var insanlık tarihimizde. kürk, kahve ve çeşitli maden ticaretleri için insanlığın birbirine yaptıklarını ve bu süreçlerin toplumların kültürlerini ve geleceklerini ne kadar derinden etkilediğini hissetmek insana farklı bir bakış açısı sunuyor. Benim için ufuk açıcı olduğu kesin. Bu nedenle 3-4 yıldız arasında kalmama rağmen 3.5 üzerinden 4 yıldız veriyorum.
May 4, 2022
يقع الكتاب في ثلاثة أجزاء، و 12 فصلاً، وقد عالج باهتمام تأثيرات الرأسمالية الاستعمارية على الهند وأفريقيا، وأشكال التبادل والتداخل السياسي والثقافي والتاريخي. وأفرد فصلاً كاملاً عن تجارة العبيد، وأورد فيه تساؤلاً عن سبب تفضيل العبيد الأفارقة على نظرائهم الأمريكيين الأصليين ��النسبة لأوروبا والغرب عموماً؟ وأجاب أن العامل الأساسي في ذلك هو كون الهنود (الأمريكان الأصليون) على مقربة من جماعاتهم الاصلية مما كان يشجعهم على التمرد، بخلاف الأفارقة الذين حرموا من هذه الخصيصة، فبيعهم كان يشكل فراقاً تاماً بينهم وبين أهاليهم، كما يعمد المشترون إلى خلط الأفارقة بغيرهم، للحيلولة دون حصول أية تضامن، مع ترسيخ الفصل العنصري عن البيض، بحيث يكون هروبهم سهل الافتضاح لإمكانية التعرف عليهم بمجرد لون البشرة من قبل أي حارس متلهف للمكافأة.
November 22, 2022
This book's presents the history of the peoples impacted by European colonialism and imperialism and the growing demands of capitalism for raw materials and labor. Wolf makes it clear that these people, all around the globe, had their own history before and after the impact of European contact. They were not the timeless unchanging cultures often portrayed in European history, and their culture isn’t defined by their role in that history. It’s a fascinating approach, sometimes diminished by Wolf’s need to present lists of supporting numerical data, and by the fact that this book is now quite old – predating the fall of the Soviet Union, home computing, and widespread adoption of the internet.
April 17, 2020
This is a very interesting perspective about the history of colonialism and how the colonizers have left a legacy of how we think about the world's civilized and uncivilized societies of the world. It's an extensive history starting at 1400 AD with trade routes, and explains how the change of production led to the formation of capitalism. He focuses on the societies that have not been given a proper acknowledgement in colonial history and defines three modes of production. This is a very informative anthropological read about the history of the people who were never really mentioned in our current understanding of how our economic systems functions as it does today.
June 19, 2022
The History chapters are dumb and reducctionistic. The economy chapters are repetitive but at least somewhat informative.
Essentially, my problem with this book are the theoretical chapters: "kinship mode of production" give me a break. That is blatant marxist revisionism.
Some reflections on Lenin and Rosa's imperialist theory are what makes this book not a complete loss of time.
Also the conclusion is good but no political proposal whatsoever.
This is the destiny of academics: sterile political compromise.
Essentially, my problem with this book are the theoretical chapters: "kinship mode of production" give me a break. That is blatant marxist revisionism.
Some reflections on Lenin and Rosa's imperialist theory are what makes this book not a complete loss of time.
Also the conclusion is good but no political proposal whatsoever.
This is the destiny of academics: sterile political compromise.
March 20, 2022
Pretty good, but comes up short in actually telling us *what* the problem with capitalism is. I suppose this isn't Wolf's fault, as this never seemed to be his intention - the overall point is that capitalism was overlaid and augmented a world system which already existed... overall, the book is rather encyclopedic about different world regions. Which makes sense given it's a book about people without history..
October 10, 2012
Over the past four weeks I have looked at various theoretical perspectives (neo-evolutionism, cultural ecology, cultural evolutionism, and cultural materialism) that lie within a larger materialist framework; in reading the principal works of White, Steward, Service, Fried, Rappaport and Harris, I have been exposed to a variety of ways in which the materialist paradigm has been operationalized within the realms of American anthropological theory and practice. A common thread in these works is an overarching attempt to understand the dynamic interplay between the infrastructure, structure, and superstructure that keeps people alive, holds society together, and gives life meaning. Continuing in this same vein, Europe and the People without History demonstrates a Marxist materialist theoretical perspective; Wolf takes a dialectical and historical approach to political economy by examining how capitalism developed and how this development effected various populations throughout the world.
In Europe and the People without History, Wolf looks at how protracted historical sequences, originating out of 15th Century European economic expansion, have resulted in the world sharing a single and highly interconnected system of political economy. In the first section of his book, Wolf puts forth three modes of production: kin mode, tributary mode, and capitalist mode; he uses these abstractions as a means to analyze and make comparisons about vast expanses of time and space, which he reviews in later sections of his book. Differentiating himself from other materialist anthropologists, Wolf uses these modes, not as “types into which human societies may be sorted nor stages in cultural evolution,” but merely as constructs that allow for a deeper understanding of the strategic connection of wealth and power. (Wolf 2010: 100)
Part two of Wolf’s book is aptly entitled “In Search of Wealth;” over the course of four chapters he analyzes the mercantile era by presenting the impacts of Iberians in America, the fur trade, the slave trade, and trade and conquest in the Orient. Wolf’s chapter on the fur trade is highly impactful; he is able to show that the Iroquoian kinship state, the emergence of Plains horse-pastoralism, and transfigurations in the potlatch are all linked to the recreation of cultural patterns of alliance and conflict caused by growth and territorial expansion of the fur trade.
In section three Wolf examines the primary motive behind European expansion (capitalism) by providing an in-depth analysis of the industrial era. Drawing from Ernest Mandel, Wolf explains the capitalist system to be “an articulated system of capitalist, semi-capitalism and pre-capitalist relations of production, linked to each other by capitalist relations of exchange and dominated by the capitalist world markets.” (Wolf 2010: 297) Over the course of four chapters Wolf discusses aspects of the Industrial Revolution (mechanization, factories, brokers, Indian removal, railroad construction and shipping), crisis in capitalism (transition from home-based crafts to mechanization), differentiation in capitalism (formation of the state), commercial agriculture (plantations and cash cropping), new commodity production (wheat, rice, meat, bananas, rubber, tea, coffee, cotton, sugar, opium, gold and diamonds), and labor migration (international migrations of masses of people).
In the introduction of his book Wolf put forth the central assertion that “the world of humankind constitutes a manifold, a totality of interconnected processes, and inquiries that disassemble this totality into bits and then fail to reassemble it falsify reality” (Wolf 2010: 3) Wolf references this assertion by stating, in the brief Afterward, that in order for anthropology to work a revised concept of culture needs to be put forth; Wolf explains that anthropologists need to see humans as determinate actors, controlled by determinative circumstances, and that the actions of these actors is to forever assemble, disassemble, and reassemble cultural sets. This highly deterministic view is one of the major criticisms I have with Wolf’s work. This determinism is pervasive throughout his entire book, but stands out particularly in the last chapter, in which Wolf discusses the migration of people, such as the Chinese to mining operations in California, British Columbia and Australia. Wolf’s treatment of the movement of people comes across as if he views them as another type of commodity; little thought is given to the agency of individuals as determiners of their own movements around the globe.
I found Wolf’s choice to use modes of production as a heuristic device truly insightful; it enabled him to formulate a single narrative in which he could discuss the dynamic nature of political and economic structures throughout the world. Overall, I am truly impressed with the vast expanse of time and space that Wolf packs into this work. I can absolutely see operationalizing this dialectical and historical meld of Marxist thought within the field of historical archaeology; this approach allows archaeologists to move past the oppositional frameworks of science and humanism and determinism and relativism, and on to dialectical approaches, which allow for a more dynamic analysis of culture change.
In Europe and the People without History, Wolf looks at how protracted historical sequences, originating out of 15th Century European economic expansion, have resulted in the world sharing a single and highly interconnected system of political economy. In the first section of his book, Wolf puts forth three modes of production: kin mode, tributary mode, and capitalist mode; he uses these abstractions as a means to analyze and make comparisons about vast expanses of time and space, which he reviews in later sections of his book. Differentiating himself from other materialist anthropologists, Wolf uses these modes, not as “types into which human societies may be sorted nor stages in cultural evolution,” but merely as constructs that allow for a deeper understanding of the strategic connection of wealth and power. (Wolf 2010: 100)
Part two of Wolf’s book is aptly entitled “In Search of Wealth;” over the course of four chapters he analyzes the mercantile era by presenting the impacts of Iberians in America, the fur trade, the slave trade, and trade and conquest in the Orient. Wolf’s chapter on the fur trade is highly impactful; he is able to show that the Iroquoian kinship state, the emergence of Plains horse-pastoralism, and transfigurations in the potlatch are all linked to the recreation of cultural patterns of alliance and conflict caused by growth and territorial expansion of the fur trade.
In section three Wolf examines the primary motive behind European expansion (capitalism) by providing an in-depth analysis of the industrial era. Drawing from Ernest Mandel, Wolf explains the capitalist system to be “an articulated system of capitalist, semi-capitalism and pre-capitalist relations of production, linked to each other by capitalist relations of exchange and dominated by the capitalist world markets.” (Wolf 2010: 297) Over the course of four chapters Wolf discusses aspects of the Industrial Revolution (mechanization, factories, brokers, Indian removal, railroad construction and shipping), crisis in capitalism (transition from home-based crafts to mechanization), differentiation in capitalism (formation of the state), commercial agriculture (plantations and cash cropping), new commodity production (wheat, rice, meat, bananas, rubber, tea, coffee, cotton, sugar, opium, gold and diamonds), and labor migration (international migrations of masses of people).
In the introduction of his book Wolf put forth the central assertion that “the world of humankind constitutes a manifold, a totality of interconnected processes, and inquiries that disassemble this totality into bits and then fail to reassemble it falsify reality” (Wolf 2010: 3) Wolf references this assertion by stating, in the brief Afterward, that in order for anthropology to work a revised concept of culture needs to be put forth; Wolf explains that anthropologists need to see humans as determinate actors, controlled by determinative circumstances, and that the actions of these actors is to forever assemble, disassemble, and reassemble cultural sets. This highly deterministic view is one of the major criticisms I have with Wolf’s work. This determinism is pervasive throughout his entire book, but stands out particularly in the last chapter, in which Wolf discusses the migration of people, such as the Chinese to mining operations in California, British Columbia and Australia. Wolf’s treatment of the movement of people comes across as if he views them as another type of commodity; little thought is given to the agency of individuals as determiners of their own movements around the globe.
I found Wolf’s choice to use modes of production as a heuristic device truly insightful; it enabled him to formulate a single narrative in which he could discuss the dynamic nature of political and economic structures throughout the world. Overall, I am truly impressed with the vast expanse of time and space that Wolf packs into this work. I can absolutely see operationalizing this dialectical and historical meld of Marxist thought within the field of historical archaeology; this approach allows archaeologists to move past the oppositional frameworks of science and humanism and determinism and relativism, and on to dialectical approaches, which allow for a more dynamic analysis of culture change.
May 21, 2019
I had to read this for a cultural anthropology class, which means I didn't read it as thoroughly as I should have. What I did read was interesting! Maybe one day I will find the time to read it in its entirety.
December 3, 2019
I don’t think I’m the particular audience Wolf was looking for. But I had to read this book for my Anthropology class so it was required to read. But I really do like the different case studies as well as the overall meaning of this book.
March 1, 2023
Antropología, geografía política, economía y producción, mercantilismo, capitalismo y la nueva realidad del mercado laboral son algunos de los componentes de esta magnífica obra, referencia obligatoria para todos los estudiosos de la historia mundial. Un libro de consulta, de alto nivel académico.
August 10, 2017
Jeezy Petes.
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