Global History A View from the South [Paperback]

Responding to the need to take a fresh look at world history, hitherto dominated by Eurocentric ideologues and historians in their attempt to justify the nature and character of modern capitalism, Samir Amin looks in this book at the ancient world system and how it has influenced the development of the modern world. He analyses the origin and nature of modern globalization and the challenges it presents in achieving socialism and examines the role played by Central Asia in determining the course of world history as well as the different roads taken by Europe and China. The book looks closely at a theme that has been primordial to his contribution to political and economic thought: the question of unequal development.

I always learn important things when I read Samir Amin. This book is no exception. It is full of original interpretations and is required reading for all who are seriously interested in global history.   —Immanuel Wallerstein, Yale University

Samir Aminis an economist, the director of Forum du Tiers Monde (Third World Forum) in Dakar, Senegal, and the chair of the World Forum for Alternatives. He is one of the best-known thinkers of his generation, both in development theory and in the relativistic-cultural critique of the social sciences.