Page 35 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol III

854 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

We live by the Golden Rule. Those who have
the gold make the rules. • Buzzie Bavasi

There remains considerable debate on the impor-
tance of globalization as a social phenomenon (and Gold and Silver
even about the analytical coherence of such a concept).
Not surprisingly, there remains considerable debate on old and silver have long been important in trade
the extent to which the current wave of globalization Gbetween regions of the world. Gold and silver,
will continue or be stopped (as were previous ones) by known as “precious metals,” are uncommon, attractive,
the collapse of the connections and the rise of violent easy to work into products, non-reactive, and avidly
conflicts between regions. Some argue that we are mov- sought for decorative purposes. Despite being scarce in
ing toward an ever more globalized world and that quantity, the two metals can be found in many loca-
nothing can push it back. On the one hand, the depend- tions around the world, and this fact has made gold
ence on complex technology and advanced engineering, and silver widely known and admired. The conven-
however, do make the current stage susceptible to ience of transporting small amounts of gold and silver,
crashes of one sort or another. On the other, enough of as compared to other trade goods, led to the metals
the world’s population has enjoyed at least limited ben- becoming a universally accepted medium of exchange
efits from globalization (at least vicariously) to make and standard of value for trade (money).
them strong advocates of the maintenance of some sort Gold and silver, along with copper, were the earli-
of global web of connections. est metals used by people. The working and using of
gold and silver are documented back to 4000 BCE. Both
Miguel A. Centeno
metals can be found in a native (pure) state or in other
See also International Law; International Monetary Systems; minerals that are processed. Gold is often washed away
Interregional Networks; Multinational Corporations from its original location and deposited in streams and
rivers, where it can be easily found. Such sites were the
main source of gold until the 1800s. Miners also mined
gold veins directly when they were discovered at the sur-
Further Reading
face. Silver was initially recovered with gold in natural
Bentley, J. H. (1993). Old world encounters. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press. alloys such as electrum, but metallurgical techniques
Bordo, M. D.,Taylor, A. M., & Williamson, J. G. (Eds.). (2003). Global- allowed the mining of silver directly from silver deposits
ization in historical perspective. Chicago: University of Chicago and increased the availability of silver. The mining of
Press.
Castells, M. (2000). The rise of the network society. Oxford, UK: silver was widespread but tended to be dominated by
Blackwell. regions such as Greece (first millennium BCE), Spain
Chase-Dunn, C. K., & Hall, T. D. (1997). Rise and demise: Comparing
world systems. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. (first millennium CE), and the Americas (1500 CE to
Curtin, P. (2000). The world and the West:The European challenge and the present). Until the 1800s underground miners of gold
overseas response in the age of empire. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge and silver were often slaves and convicts who worked in
University Press.
Guillén, M. (2001). Is globalization civilizing, destructive or feeble? A cri- miserable and dangerous conditions. Even during the
tique of five key debates in the social science literature. Annual 1800s underground mining of gold and silver remained
Review of Sociology, 27, 235–260
Hirst, P., & Thompson, G. (1999). Globalization in question: The inter- a difficult and dangerous job. In 2004 the primary
national economy and the possibilities of governance. Cambridge, UK: sources of gold are mines in South Africa, United
Polity. States, Australia, Russia, and Canada, although gold
McNeill, J. R., & McNeill, W. H. (2003). The human web: A bird’s eye
view of world history. New York: W.W. Norton. is mined in some amount in many countries of the
Mittelman, J. (2000). The globalization syndrome: Transformation and world. The largest silver-mining nations are Mexico,
resistance. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Rodrik, D. (1997). Has globalization gone too far? Washington, DC: Peru, China, Australia, United States, Chile, Canada,
Institute for International Economics. and Poland.