Page 296 - Encyclopedia Of World History

646 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

In the eyes of empire builders men are not men
but instruments. • Napoleon Bonaparte
(1769–1821)

empires themselves. Lastly, their relentless drive for expan-
sion supplied much of the impetus for those ever-enlarging Energy
systems of interaction and exchange that eventuated in
what we now know as globalization, with all its attrac- hen seen from the most fundamental physical
tions and drawbacks. Wpoint of view, all processes—natural or social,
geological or historical, gradual or sudden—are just con-
Dane K. Kennedy
versions of energy that must conform to the laws of ther-
See also Imperialism modynamics as such conversions increase the overall
entropy (the degree of disorder or uncertainty) of the uni-
verse. This perspective would make the possession and
Further Reading
mastery of energy resources and their ingenious use the
Abernethy, D. B. (2000). The dynamics of global dominance: European
overseas empires 1415–1980. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. critical factor shaping human affairs. Also, given the pro-
Adas, M. (1989). Machines as the measure of men: Science, technology and gressively higher use of energy in major civilizations, this
ideologies of western dominance. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Alcock, S. E., et. al. (2001). Empires: Perspectives from archaeology and perspective would lead logically to a notion of linear
history. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. advances with history reduced to a quest for increased
Armitage, D. (2000). The ideological origins of the British empire. Cam-
bridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. complexity that is made possible by higher energy flows.
Bayly, C. A. (2004). The birth of the modern world, 1780–1914: Global People who could command—and societies and civi-
connections and comparisons. Oxford, UK: Blackwell lizations who could use large or high-quality energy re-
Crosby, A. W. (1972). The Columbian exchange: Biological and cultural
consequences of 1492. Westport, CT: Greenwood. sources with superior intensities or efficiencies—would
Crosby,A.W. (1986). Ecological imperialism:The biological expansion of be obvious thermodynamic winners; those converting
Europe, 900–1900. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Doyle, M.W. (1986). Empires. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. less with lower efficiencies would be fundamentally dis-
Frank, A. G. (1998). ReOrient: Global economy in the Asian age. Berke- advantaged.
ley: University of California Press. Such a deterministic interpretation of energy’s role in
Gibbon, E. (2003). The decline and fall of the Roman Empire (abridged
ed.). New York: Modern Library. world history may be a flawless proposition in terms of
Hobson, J. A. (1938). Imperialism: A study. London: Allen and Unwin. fundamental physics, but it amounts to a historically
Hopkins, A. G. (Ed.). (2002). Globalization in world history. New York:
W.W. Norton. untenable reductionism (explanation of complex life-
Howe, S. (2002). Empire:A very short introduction. Oxford, UK: Oxford science processes and phenomena in terms of the laws of
University Press. physics and chemistry) of vastly more complex realities.
Kennedy, P. (1987). The rise and fall of the great powers: Economic change
and Military conflict from 1500 to 2000. New York: Random House. Energy sources and their conversions do not determine a
Kiernan, V. G. (1982). European empires from conquest to collapse, society’s aspirations, its ethos (distinguishing character,
1815–1960. London: Fontana.
Kroebner, R. (1961). Empire. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University sentiment, moral nature, or guiding beliefs) and cohe-
Press. sion, its fundamental cultural accomplishments, its long-
Lenin,V. (1939). Imperialism, the highest stage of capitalism. New York: term resilience or fragility.
International Publishers.
Lieven, D. (2002). Empire: The Russian empire and its rivals. New Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen, a pioneer of thermo-
Haven, CT: Yale University Press. dynamic studies of economy and the environment, made
Mann, M. (1986). The sources of social power:Vol. 1. A history of power
from the beginning to A.D. 1760. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Uni- a similar point in 1980 by emphasizing that such physical
versity Press. fundamentals are akin to geometric constraints on the size
McNeill,W. H. (1982). The pursuit of power:Technology, armed force, and of the diagonals in a square—but they do not determine
society since A.D. 1000. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Pagden, A. (2003). Peoples and empires: A short history of European its color and tell us nothing whatsoever about how that
migration, exploration, and conquest, from Greece to the present. New color came about.Analogically,all societies have their over-
York: Modern Library.
Wallerstein, I. (1974, 1980, 1989). The modern world system (Vols. 1–3). all scope of action,their technical and economic capacities,
NewYork: Academic Press. and their social achievements constrained by the kinds of