China and the writing of world history in the west pdf. Karl august wittfogel oriental despotism internet archive. Wittfogel does not mention that these two themes are connected. Karl august wittfogel wikipedia, a enciclopedia livre.
Karl august wittfogel wittfogel, karl august 18961988. Among the factors that created this void, one should not underrate the lure of karl august wittfogel s concept of oriental despotism. Linton the focus of this paper is to analyze sinologist karl august wittfogels transformation. In this case the articles that marx and engels wrote on china during the 1850s have been rescued from obscurity and presented as major canonical texts in the evolution of the. Since the war, however, a critical tendency has rather prevailed in regard to wittfogels theory, and while his oriental despotism, published in. Today it is hard to find any treatise on ancient hydraulic society that does invoke wittfogels ideas. A comparative study of total power karl august wittfogel download bok. Starting from a marxist analysis of the ideas of max weber on china and indias hydraulicbureaucratic officialstate and building on marxs sceptical view of the asiatic mode of production, wittfogel came up with an analysis of oriental despotism which emphasized the role of irrigation works, the bureaucratic structures needed to maintain them and the impact that these. A comparative study of total power, new haven, conn.
Hydraulic civilization, according to the theories of the germanamerican historian karl a. He believed that such civilizationsalthough neither. Inflecting the older notion of oriental despotism in this way, wittfogel deployed his model of an exploitative but historically fettered state, which he referred to as the hydraulic sponge, to explain the fate of a wide range of social formations including ancient egypt and mesopotamia, hellenistic greece and imperial rome, the abbassid. Oriental despotism article about oriental despotism by.
And the agromanagerial despot does indeed possess such means. Wittfogel, an expert on chinese civilization, was a controversial. Wittfogel gives ancient egypt, mesopotamia, india, china, and the andean and mexican civilizations as examples. View karl august wittfogel research papers on academia. From oriental despotism to the asiatic mode of production. A comparative study of total power, first published in 1957. Karl august wittfogels american acculturation and the cold war, 19341963 a thesis presented to the department of history graduate school of arts and sciences brandeis university waltham, massachusetts by matthew d. Civilizations whose agriculture was dependent upon largescale waterworks for irrigation and flood control were called hydraulic civilizations by the germanamerican historian karl a. Correspondence 19071988 register of the karl august wittfogel papers 66033 6 folder 3 adair, john 1959 folder 4 adams, inez 19491950 folder 5 adelphi edizioni 1963 folder 6 aerospace industry purchasing seminar 1962 folder 7 ahlenstiel, heinz, includes letter from tina wommelsdorf 19461967 folder 8 ahlenstiel, rolf 19591965 folder 9 aid refugee chinese intellectuals 1956.
A fine introduction to oriental despotism in german. Oriental despotism article about oriental despotism by the. As the outline of oriental despotism provided above indicates, wittfogel asserts that geographical conditions are of fundamental importance. Wittfogel is best known for his monumental work oriental despotism. Starting from a marxist analysis of the ideas of max weber on china and indias hydraulicbureaucratic officialstate and building on marxs sceptical view of the asiatic mode of production, wittfogel came up with an analysis of oriental despotism which emphasized. Asiatic society was a form of society which, following adam smith, marx and j. Register of the karl august wittfogel papers, 17281992 66033 6 tape cabinet videotape cassette, 1982.
In a recent article in this journal professor wittfogel has once again examined the canons of marxism in order to find support for the theory of oriental despotism. The idea of oriental despotism has an old and diversified history in european culture. Wittfogels theory of oriental society or hydraulic society and the. Wittfogel has discussed how sources and supply of water for irrigation were the basis of asiatic mode of production, which eventually led to despotic empires and bureaucracy. A comparative study of total power is a book of political theory and. A comparative study of total power, first published in starting from. He developed the idea of the economic necessity of supporting irrigation systems as the foundation of. The first general theory advanced to explain the development of ancient civilizations with systematic organization of work on a large scale, the emergence of social classes, and widespread specialization was elaborated in the united states by the historian and political scientist karl wittfogel in his seminal book oriental despotism 1957. In his seminal book oriental despotism 1957, historian and political scientist karl wittfogel presented a general theory of the development of ancient civilizations. A comparative study of total power karl wittfogel on. Sell on amazon see all 2 images oriental despotism. Regarding wittfogel s classic work with the politically correct lens of today, it is unfortunate that he titled his book oriental despotism because that too often leads to readers hasty and erroneous conclusion that a wittfogel believed that only the orient or governments east of west europe were dictatorial. Mill and much 19thcentury european thought, wittfogel saw as characterized by despotic.
Webers thought and, in the 20th century, in wittfogels. He developed the idea of the economic necessity of supporting irrigation systems as the foundation of a. Power, he has given a comprehensible account of social, political, and economic history of asian. The book examines the origins of complex societies and states.
Wittfogel in his book oriental despotism 1957 wittfogel believed that such hydraulic civilizations although neither all in the orient nor characteristic of all oriental societies were quite. The concept of oriental despotism has shaped the european interpretation and representation of asiatic governments and societies for many centuries. The concept of oriental despotism from aristotle to marx. In the 20th century, karl august wittfogel 18961988 recovered the term oriental despotism in his provocative work oriental despotism in 1957. However, its meaning since then has evolved, not only due to the theoretical approach of different thinkers, but also to europeans experiences in confrontation with the. Full text of karl august wittfogel oriental despotism. Etude comparative du pouvoir total karl a wittfogel on free shipping on qualifying offers. A comparative study of total power is a book of political theory and comparative history by karl august wittfogel 18961988 published by yale university press in 1957. Full text of karl august wittfogel oriental despotism see other formats. Wittfogel advanced the term in his book oriental despotism 1957. Edition temmen, bremen, he found examples of largescale systematic organization of work, the emergence of social classes, and widespread specialization. Nov 04, 2019 karl wittfogel oriental despotism pdf oriental despotism. Wittfogel, a german historian and prominent sinologist, is most noted for his theory of the hydraulic civilization.
It was a conceptual model in different interacting cultural contexts, it assumed various functions and meanings, and it waned with the decline of the eurocentric preconception on which it was deeply grounded ever since its origins in greek thought. Starting from a marxist analysis of the ideas of max weber on china and indias hydraulicbureaucratic officialstate and building on marxs sceptical view of the asiatic mode of production, wittfogel came up with. Nov 12, 2014 oriental despotism, i would submit, is a politically incorrect phrase that captures one aspect of our world, but an aspect that may be receding. Scope and content note placards announcing speeches, research materials for the chinese history project, and.
Starting from a marxist analysis of the ideas of max weber on china and indias hydraulicbureaucratic officialstate and building on marxs sceptical view of the asiatic mode of production, wittfogel came up with an analysis of oriental despotism which. Karl august wittfogel wittfogel was born in 1896 in the hanoverian village of woltersdorg, germany. Some nice wittfogel pages can be found at the luneburg school site, the high school attended by wittfogel in his youth. The book offers an explanation for the despotic governments in oriental societies, where control of water was necessary for irrigation and floodcontrol. Applied by wittfogel primarily to ancient egypt, mesopotamia, china, the indus valley, and regions in precolumbian latin america, he contended that the strong central political control was necessary to control the source and disposition of water. It is a pleasure to add a last word to this rich collection of papers engaging in lively dialogue with wittfogels ghost.
Some nice wittfogel pages can be found at the luneburg school site, the. Scope and content note recording of lecture by wittfogel on oriental despotism given in germany map case oversize materials, 19191954. Oriental despotism, i would submit, is a politically incorrect phrase that captures one aspect of our world, but an aspect that may be receding. In a world of postmodern electronic communications, dictators simply cannot rule in the totalizing manner of ancient and modern tyrants. Wittfogels oriental despotism is not only a scholarly exposition of the hydraulic hypothesis but also a political polemic about soviet totalitarianism. Oriental despotism, to some extent, is a successful effort by the author. Oriental despotism begins with an account of the natural setting. He found examples of largescale systematic organization of work, the emergence of social classes, and widespread specialization. Its origins can be found in aristotelian political philosophy. Referring to the oriental society as a hydraulic society, he has tried to introduce his. Le despotisme oriental wittfogel pdf search for happiness.
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