Dear Bruce,
you write:
> Since in agreeing with me, a position is taken in opposition to
> the one I expressed, there seems to be a failure in communication here.
>
> By 'central place', I am referring to the usage in Economic
> Geography, that is, hamlet, village, town, city, etc. Not a 'central'
> position in a WS hierarchy.
it's really a misunderstanding here, i had in mind namely spatial
and commercial centrality
> position -- a step up from where it had been before, true -- and
> development into a transitory center (what I referred to as
> 'leapfrogging') came after.
> Bruce R. McFarling, Newcastle, NSW
> ecbm@cc.newcastle.edu.au
this leapfrogging was in fact grasping of absolute monopoly of Americas-India
trade routes (maybe somebody knows smth about Indian, Turkish or Arabian ships
near American beaches that time?). Accompanied with the effects of silver-
swamping and long-term inflation, so valuably cleared by Terry Boswell in
recent msg, and with potential of long-trade tradition, pointed by G.Modelski,
this monopoly became in fact most efficient utilizing of the
chance of spatial centrality (earlier Arabs and Venetians also efficiently
used centrality between China-India-Indonezia-Africa and Central-Northern
Europe and even as allies tried to stop Portugalian challenge to their
monopoly but failed).
no miracle, no absolute specifics of Europe, but the chance of Europe
has coincidented with globalization of trade scale, and the Will for Expansion
of Europeans fitted the challenge of globalization
dear Gunder and Dr Barense
surely one can observe many parallels in European and Rusian colonization
but in definite point the analogy stopes
alas, Russia failed and still failes to utilize her spatial centrality
between Europe and China-Korea-Japan.
Russia had and realized tradition of
geopolitical and tribute-extracting expansion, but she still is extremely
weak in trade, investment, industry-organizing,etc
one can also compare Australia, Northern America and Siberia which 250
years ago did not differ much in density of population and colonization
status
but Siberia with
all its richness of natural resourses is still a miserable Russian colony, it
can hardly can be compared now with USA, Canada and Australia, Why?
so, friends, i cannot share with you the joy of finding many parallels
between European and Russian processes of colonization.
best from Siberia,
Nikolai
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Nikolai S. Rozov # Address:Dept. of Philosophy
Prof.of Philosophy # Novosibirsk State University
rozov@cnit.nsu.ru # 630090, Novosibirsk
Fax: (3832) 355237 # Pirogova 2, RUSSIA
Moderator of the mailing list PHILOFHI
(PHILosophy OF HIstory and theoretical history)
http://darwin.clas.virginia.edu/~dew7e/anthronet/subscribe
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