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Whe am ae ave l i g
a ig own o ug emy
u ie eemi ae me
a p ace, h ey weve ever
o l e om h e cou re,
ju o mu c h ha you wou
ca i a c a g o ec io
I f t wee no fo i weve,
everyt i g wou l a l ow
wa toug h t he a by of
pace . No co i io wou l ake
lace a o i mp act o atom
on atom wou l be ceate
hu natu re wou l eve have
ceate anythig
ucet u
Sv E
Edited by Jnathan Cay Sanfd Kwinte and Buce Mau
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C
Introduction
I : LAVAS AND MAGAS
2 eological History A.D
57 andstone and ranite eoogcal History 2 AD
II FES AND ENES
Boogcal istory: A.D
pecies and cosystems
4 Biologcal istory 2 AD
III MEE AND OR
8 Lngustic story AD.
2 rgu ments nd petos
22 Lngustic stoy 2 AD.
2 Concuson nd pecultions
2 otes
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nd un
Despite ts ttle, ths s not
a book of istory bu a boo
o phlosophy. It is, however,a deepy histoica philoso
phy, whch hods as its cn
ta thesis that ll strcurs
tht srround us and orm
ou aty (montns, ani
as an pants, hman n
gages, social institutons)are th prodcts o spcic
hstorc procsses To b
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A OUSAND YEARS OF NON NEAR SORY
consstent, th s type of p osopy must of
necessty take rea story as ts startng
po nt e p rob e m s , of cou rse tat tosewo wrte story, owever scoary do so
from a g ven p osoph ca po nt of v ew,
and th s w o u d s eem to trap us n a v c o us
crc e . But ust as story and p osopy
may nteract n suc a way as to make anobect ve assessment of rea ty mposs ib e
wen entrenced wor dv ews and rout ne"
procedures for gater ng stor ca ev dence
constra n eac oter negatve ytey can
a s o nteract p o s t ve y and t rn t s m utua dependence nto a v rtuous c rc e . oreover
t may be argued tat th s post ve nterac
t on as a ready begun any stor ans
ave ab and o ned te r uro centr s m and
now queston te very r se of te West (Wynot Chna or s an? s now a comnon ques
t on) and some ave even eft beh nd te r
antropocentr sm and nc ude a ost of
no num an s to r es n te r acco unts A num
ber of p osopers for ter part , ave benef ted from te new tor ca ev dence tat
s co ars s uc as ernand B raud e and W am
ce ave unearted and ave us ed t as
a po nt of d e pa rtu re f o r a new revved form
2
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NRODUCON
of mater a sm, berated from te dogmas of
te past
Posopy s not, owever, te ony dscp n e tat as bee n n f ue nced by a n ew
awareness of te roe of stor ca processes
Sc ece too , as acqu red a stor ca con
sc ousness t s not an exaggerat on to say
tat n te ast two or tree decades storyas nf trated psics cemstry and b o l
ogy t is tr ue tat n neteen t-ce nt u ry ter mo
dynamcs ad a ready ntroduced t me's
arrow nto pyscs and ence te dea of
rrevers ib e stor ca processes. And teteory of evouton ad aready sown tat
an m a s and p ants w ere no t em b o d m ents
of eterna l essences bt p ecemea stor ca
co ns truct o ns , s o w accum u at o ns o f ad ap
t ve tra its cemented togeter v a reproduct ve so at on However te c ass ca l vers ons
o f tes e two te or es i nco rp orated a rate r
weak not on of story nto ter conceptua
macnery bot c ass ca termodynamcs
and Darw n s m ad m tted o n y o ne p o s s b e
stor ca outcome, te reacng of terma
eq u b r u m o r o f te f ttest d es gn n bot
cases once ts po nt was reaced stor ca
processes ceased t o cou nt n a sense , opt
3
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A HSAND YEAS NNNEA HSY
ma l desgn p ma l di s ibun ene gy ep esen ed an en d s
y ese e ies
I s ul d cme as n su p ise then a e cu en penetai n
scie nce by his cal cn ce ns has been e esul advances in ese
w discp i nes l Iya P igg ne evlu in ized emdynam ics in e
10s by swng ha e classcal esults wee val d nly f clsed sys-
ems w e e e veal l q u an is ene gy ae a lways cnse ved I ne
al lws an nense lw enegy n and u a system (a is ne
puses i t qb te n u m be and ype pssib le is ca l
ucmes gea ly nceases Insead a unque and s imple m
stab l iy we n w ave mu lt ple cexis ing ms vaying cm plexy
(satic peidc and caic ttt Meve wh en a system swice sm ne sable stae anhe (at a c ical pin caled a bt
m n luca ins may play a cuca l le in decid ng e ucme T us
w en we su dy a gven p hyscal system w e need nw he s pecf ic
n a ue e l ucu ain s a ave been pesen a eac s biuca-
t ns n t e wds we n ee nw s isy u nde san d s
cu en yna mcal sae
And w a is u e pysical sysems is al l e me ue b gical
nes Aacs and biu catin s ae eau es any sysem in w c edynamcs ae n nly a m equ l ib ium bu als ta is in
w ic ee a e stng m uua l ineacin s ( eed bac) beween cm p-
ne nts e te e sysem in qu esti n is cmpsed mlecu les
l v ng ceatues wi l l e xhi bi endgenu sy geneated sabl e sas as
wel l as s ap an si in s between saes a s lng as ee s eedbac an d
a n i nen se w en egy cu s ng h ugh e sysem As blgy begi ns
t in cl ude ese n n l nea dynamica l p enme na i n is mdels
examp le e muua l simu la in nv lved n e case ev lu na y "ams
aces between pedas and peye nin f a tes design wil
se is m ean ing I n an a ms ace ee is n p ma l slu i n xed ne
and al l s ince e c ie n "ness se canges wi e dynam-
cs2 As e bel ie in a f xed cite in pmal y d isap peas m b l-
gy eal h i scal pcesses cme easse th em selves nce m e
Th us e mve away m e negec eq ui l b iu m a nd l nea causal y
as eneced e natual scences wi iscal cncens Ts b is
an exp la i n he pss b i l i es a mg be pene ph i lsph ica l
e lec in by a s im la m ve n e scia l sc ie nces i n geneal an d isty
n p a icu la These pages expl e e pssb i l i ies a n nl nea and n n
eq u l i b i u m sy by acing te evepmen f e es i n hee h s-
ical naaives each sa ing ugly in he yea 1000 and culmnaing
n u wn me a hus and yeas late Bu desn h i s app ac cna
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NDUCN
dic my saed gal? Isnt te vey idea l lwing vt
cenuy by cenu y in eenly l i nea ? My a nswe is a a n n l i ne a cn
cepi n isy as a bsl uey n i ng d wi a syle pesena-
in as i ne cu ld u ly capue e nneq u i l ib iu m dynamics u man
s ica l pcesses by u mp ing bac an d am ng e cenu ies On
e cnay w a is ne eded e e is n a exu al bu a p ysical pea
in muc as isy as in i laed pysics we mus nw a lw pysics
in i lae uman isy
Ea ie ae mps i n is d ieci n ms na bly in e p i nee i ng w
e p ysic is Au I beal l e a useu i l l usatin e cn cepua l
s its a is i n lat in wu ld n vlve I beal l was pe ap s te i s
visua l ize e ma ansiin s i n ea ly uma n isy (e ansi i ns unegaee agicul ua l is a nd m agicultu al is ciy dwel l e)
t as a l i nea advance u p e lad de pgess bu a s e cssi ng
nnl inea c i ical eslds (biucains) Me speci ical ly muc as a
given c em ical cm pu nd (wae exam pl e) may exis in seveal d is
i nc saes (sl i d l iq u id gas) and may swic m sa ble sae
sabl e sae at c iical pins in e in en siy empe atue (cal led
tt s a um an sciey may be seen as a m ae ial capab le
undeging ese canges sae as i eaces ci ical mass in ems de nsiy se le me n am u n en egy cns u med even inensi
ineac in
I bea l l i nv ites u s v iew ea ly u nega ee b ands a s gas pa ic les in
e s ense a ey l ived apa t m eac e an d e ee i neaced
aely and u nsysem atical ly ( Based n e e ngap i c evid en ce a
bands ypical y l i ved a bu seveny mi les apa and assum ing a um ans
can wal ab u wenyive mi les a d ay e calcu laes a any w b and s
wee sepaaed by me an a days disance m ne ane3) en
u man s is began cu lt ivae ceeals an d e i neac in beween
uma n bei ngs an d pl ans ceaed seden ay cmm un i ies u ma niy l iqu e-
ied c nde nsed i nt gu ps w se ineacin s wee n w me equ en
alug s i l l lsely egulaed Final ly wen a ew ese cmmuni ies
inensi ied ag icu ltu a l pduci n e pin wee su plu ses cu ld be
avesed sed and edist ibu ed ( e is t ime a l l wing a d ivis i n
la b beween pduces and cn sum es d) u ma niy acqu i ed
a cysal sae in t e se nse a cen al gve nm en s nw i m psed a sy
me ica l g id l aws and egula in s n e u ban pp u la ins4
Hweve vesipl i ied is pi cu e m ay be i cn ain s a sign i ican cl ue
as e nau e nn l i ne a isy i e d ieen sages u man
isy wee i ndeed bug abu by p ase tans iins en tey ae
n sages a al l a is pgessive develp menal seps eac bee
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HSAND YES NNNEA HSY
tan te pev us ne an d ndeed leav ng e pev us ne be nd On
t e cntay, mu c as wates sld, l qu d, an d gas p ases may cexst,
s eac new uman p ase s m ply added sel t te e n es, cexs-
ng and nteac ng wt em wtu leavng tem n e past Me
ve , mu c as a gven mate al m ay sl d y n al en ave ways (as ce
sn wlae, as cystal g lass), s uma nty l qu e ed an d lae sl d ed
n d een rm s Te n ma ds te Steppes (H u ns, M ngl s),
example, dmescaed anmals nt plans, and te cnsequent pastal
l esyle m psed n tem t e n eed mve wt t e lcs, al ms as
ey ad cndensed nt nt a pl l qud but n a mvng, at t mes
tub u lent , u d e n tese nmads dd acqu e a sl d state (d ur ng te
eg n Ge ngs Ka n, nsance), te esu l ng strucu e was me eglass an cystal , m e am p us and less cen tal zed I n e wds ,
uman st dd nt l lw a strag l ne, as eveyng pnted
twad cv l zed scees as umanys ult mate gal On te cnary, a
eac bu can a ltern atve sabe states were p ss bl e, a nd nce acu al -
zed, t ey cexsted a nd neaced w t n e a nt e r
I am awae tat al l we ave ee ae suggestve metap s I s e
tas te varu s c a pes t s b attem pt t remve at mea-
p cal cnen M ever, even as metap s, I be al 's m ages suem ante dawbac nganc mateenegy as a wder range
aten aves te gene atn suctu re t an ust t ese smp le p ase
rans ns, and wat s ue r smple su must be al l e me
s te cm pl ex mae a ls tat m um an c ul tu es I n e wrds,
even te u m bl es ms mate and e ne gy ave e ptental
gt beynd t e el a vey s m ple type n v lved n e ce-
atn cysals Tee ae, nsance, tse ceent waves cal led
t w c rm n ma ny deent ypes maeals, angng mcean wates (w ee ey ae cal led sun am s) lases T en ee a e
e aeme nn ed stab e states ( atacts), w c can s ustan c
e ent cycl c ac v y d een ypes (ped c ca c)5 Fn al ly, a nd
u n l e te p evus exam ple s n nl nea selgan zat n we re ue
nnvan cannt ccu, ee s wa we may cal l "nnl near cbna
cs, wc exples e d een cmb n a n s nt wc ent t es
de ved m te pevu s prcesses (cysal s, c een p ul ses, cycl c
pattens) may ene It s m ese unl mted cmbnatns ta uly
nvel sucu es ae gene aed6 en pu t gee , al l t ese m s
spntaneus stuctural geneatn sugges a nrganc mae s muc
m e va abl e a nd c rea ve t an we eve mag ned And s ns gt nt
maes n eent ceavy need s t be u l ly ncpraed n u new
mae a l s p lspes
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NDCN
le te concept o seloganzaton as appl ed to puely mateal
an d en eget c systems as bee n s a pened consdeably ove t e last
t ee decades t st l l nee ds to be ened beoe we can ap ply t to the
case o u m a n socet es Spe c cal ly we need to take nto accou nt ta tany explan at on o u man be avo must n volve ee ence to ed uc b le
ntent onal ent t es suc as "bel es and "de ses s nce expectat ons
and peeences ae wat gu de hu man dec s on ma k n g n a wde ange
o soca l actv t es su c as pol t cs and e con omcs I n som e cases t e
dec s ons mad e by nd v du a l um an be ngs ae h g ly consta ned by
te post on and ole n a eac cal oganzaton and ae to that ex-
tent geaed towa d meetng t e goals o t at oganzaton I n ote cases
oweve wh at mattes s not te pla n ned esults o decs on ma k ngbut te v q o uma n decs on s Te best
l lu stat on o a soca l n st tut on tat eme ges spontaneousl y om te
nteact on o many u man d ecs o n m akes s that o a pecapta l st
maket a col lectve entty asng om the decental zed nteacton o
m any buyes and s el l es wt no centa l "decde coodn at ng te
wo le pocess In som e mod el s the dynam cs o makets ae govened
by peod c attactos w h ch oce ma kets to u nde go booma ndb ust
cycles o vayng du ato n om t eeyea bu s ness cycles to tyyea-long waves
et e a pp led to selogan zed oms o m atteene gy o to t e u n-
pl an ned esu lts o u ma n agency tese new concepts de ma nd a n ew
methodology and t s ts metodoogcal cange tat may pove to be o
p losop ca l s gn cance Pat o w at th s c ange nvolves s a ly obv-
ous te equatons scentsts use to model nonl nea pocesses cannot be
solved by and but de mand t e use o comp utes Moe tec n cal ly u n
l ke l n ea equ at ons (t e type most pevalent n scence) no nl n ea ones
ae vey dcu lt to solve and demand te use o deta led
n ume ca l s m u lat ons ca ed out wt te e l p o d g tal ma c n es T h s
l m tat on o ana lytca tools o t e study o no n ne a dy na m cs becomes
even moe con sta n ng n te case o non l nea com bnato cs I n t s
case ceta n comb n at ons w l l d sp lay g tat s pop-
et es o te comb n ato n as a wol e w c ae mo e ta n te su m o
ts n d vd ua l p ats T ese em egen t (o " synegst c) popetes beo ngto te bw so t ol l ows t at a topdown an alytcal
appoac ta t begn s wt t e wole a nd d ssects t nto ts con sttu e nt
pa ts (an ecosystem nto s peces a socety nto n sttut o n s) s bou nd to
m ss pecsely those pope tes I n ot e wo ds an alyz ng a wole nto
pats an d t en attem pt ng to mo del t by g the components w l l
a l to captu e a ny p opety t at emeged om com pl ex nteactons
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A OUSAND YEAS OF NONNEA SOY
snce the effect of the latter may be multplcave (e.g. mutual enhance
ment) and not just addtve
Of course, analytcal tools cannot smply be dsmssed due to ths
nherent mtaton. Rather a topdown approach to the study of complex
enttes needs to be od wth a bottomup approach analyss
needs to go hand n hand wth synthess. And here just as n the case of
nonlnear dynamcs computers offer an ndspensable ad. or example
nstead of stdyng a ran forest top down startng from the forest as a
whoe and dvdng t nto speces we uneash wthn the computer a pop-
ulaton of neractng vrtual "anmals and "plants and attempt to gen
erate from her nteractons whatever systematc propertes we ascrbe to
the ecosystem as a whole. Only f the reslence stablty and other prop-ertes of the whole (such as the formaton of complex food webs) emerge
spontaneousy n the course of the smulaton can we assert that we have
captured the nonlnear dynamcs and combnatorcs of ran forest forma-
ton (Ths s bascally the approach taken by the new dscplne of Artf
ca feJ)
I n ths book I attempt a phlosophca approach to hstory whch s asbottomup as possble. Ths does not mean of course tha every one of
my statements has emerged after careful synthetc smulatons of socalrealty. I do take nto account the results of many bottomup smulatons
(n urban and economc dynamcs) but research n ths drecton s
stll n ts nfancy My account s bottomup n that I make an effort no
to postuate systematcty when I cannot show that a partcular system
generatn process has actually occurred. I n partcular I refran fromspeakng of socety as a whole formng a system and focus nstead on sub-
sets of socety) Also approach enttes at any gven level (the level of
naonstates ctes nsttutons or ndvdual decson makers) n terms
of oos of enttes at the level mmedatey below.
Methodologcally ths mples a rejecon of the phlosophca founda
ons of orthodox economcs as well as orthodox socology. Although the
former (neoclasscal mcroeconomcs) begns ts analyss at the bottom
of socety at the level of the ndvdual decson maker t does so n a
way that atomzes these components each one of whch s modeled as
maxmzng hs or her ndvdua satsfacton ("margnal utlty) n sola
ton from the others. Each decson maker s further atomzed by the
assumpton that the decsons n ueston are made on a casebycase
bass constraned only by budgetary mtatons gnorng socal norms
and values that constran ndvdual acton n a varety of ways Orthodox
socology (whether functonast or Marxststructuralst) on the other
hand takes socety as a whole as ts pont of departure and only rarely
8
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NODUCON
attempts to explain in detal the exact historical processes through whch
collective social institutions have emerged out of he interactions among
individuals.
Fortunatey the last few decades have witnessed the birth and growthof a synthesis of economic and sociological deas (under the banner of
"neoinstitutional economics) as exemplified by the work of such authors
as Douglas North Vktor Vanberg and Oliver Wlliamson This new school
(or set of schools) rejects the atomism of neoclassical economists as we
as the holism of structuralistfunctionalist socioogists. I t preserves "meth-
odologica indvidualism (appropriate to any bottomup perspective) but
rejects the idea that individuals make decisions solely according to self-
interested (maximizing) calculations and instead models individuals asrle followers subjected to dfferent types of normatve and institutiona
constraints that apply colectively Neoinstitutionalism rejecs the "metho
dological holism of sociology but preserves wha we may call its "onto-
logical holism, that is the idea that even though collective instiutions
emerge out of the interactions among individuas once they have formed
they take on "a life of their own (ie. they are not jus reified entities)
and affect individua acton in many different ways.8
Neoinstitutionalist economists have also inroduced socioogical concepts into economics by replacing the notion of "exchange of goods with
the more complex one of "transacton which brings into play different
kinds of collective entities such as institutional norms contracts and
enforcement procedures I ndeed the notion of "transaction may be said
to add to linear economics some of the "friction that ts traditional mod
els usuay leave out: imperfections in markets due to limited rationality
imperfect information deays and bottlenecks opportunism highcost
enforceability of contracts and so on Addng "transaction costs to the
classical model is a way of acknowledging the continuous presence of non
linearities in the operation of real markets. One of the aims of the present
book is to attempt a synhesis between these new ideas and methodolo
gies in economics and the corresponding concepts in the sciences of self
organization.9
n Chapter One I approach this synthesis through an exploration of
the history of urban economics since the Middle Ages. I take as my poinof departure a view shared by severa materialist historians (principally
Braudel and McNeill) the specific dynamics of European owns were one
important reason why China and Isam despite heir early economic and
technological ead were eventualy subjected to Western domination
Given that an important aim of this book is to approach history in a non-
teleological way the eventual conquest of the millennium by the West
9
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A OUSAND YARS OF NONNAR SRY
w ot e vewed as te rest of "progress occrrg tere wle fag
to take pace otsde of Erope t as te rest of certa dyacs
(sc as te tay stlatg dyacs voved ars races) tat
tesfy te accato of kowledge ad tecooges ad of certastttoa ors ad orgazatos. Severa dfferet fors of ta
stUato (or of postve feedack to se te tecca ter) w e
aayzed eac vovg a dfferet set of dvdas ad nsttutos ad
evovg a dfferent area of te Eropea ra ladscape. Frterore
t wll e arged tat te I dstral Revoto ca e vewed ters of
recproca stato etwee tecologes ad stttons werey
te eleets voved aaged to for a cosed loop so tat te etre
asselage ecae sefsstg. refer to ts storca arratveas "geoogca ecase t cocers tsef exclsvey wt dynaca ee
ets (eergy ow oear casaty) tat we ave coo wt
rocks ad outas ad oter ovg storca strctres
Capter wo addresses aoter spere of reaty te world of gers
pats ad aas ad ece vews ctes as ecosystes aet
extreey spfed oes. s capter goes eyod qestos of a
ate eergy fow to cosder te fows of orgac ateras tat ave
fored ra fe sce te Mdde partcar t cosders te
fow of food wc keeps ctes ae ad ost cases coes fro
otsde te town tself. Ctes appear as parastc ettes dervg ter
ssteance fro eary rra regos or va coloas ad coqest
fro oter lands. s capter also cosders te flow of genet ater-
as trog geeratosot so c te fow of a gees as
tose elogg to te aa ad pat speces tat we ave aaged
to doestcate as well as tose tat ave costaty eded or cotro
sc as weeds ad croorgass. Coloal eterprses appear ts
capter ot oy as a eas to redrect food toward te oterad
t aso as te eas y wc te gees of ay oa speces
ave vaded ad coqered ae ecosystes.
Fay Capter ree deas wt te oter type of "ateras tat
eter to te a xtre gstc ateras. Lke eras
aate energy food ad gees te sods words ad sytactca
costrctos tat ake p agage accuated wt te was ofedeva (ad oder) tows ad were transfored y ra dyacs.
Soe of tese lgstc ateras (leared wrtte Lat for exape)
were so rgd ad cagg tat tey sply acclated as a dead
strctre. Bt oter fors of agage (vlgar spoke Lat) were dy
ac ettes capale of gvg rt to ew strctres sc as Frec
Spas I taa ad Portgese s capter traces te story of
2
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NRODUCON
ese emergeces, mos of hem i urba eviromes, as well as of he
eveual rigiificaio (roug saarizaio) of e ialecs belogig
o regioal a aioal capials a of e effecs a several geera
ios of meia (e priig press, mass meia, compuer eworks) avea o heir evolio
ac caper begis is arraive i e year 000 a coies
(more or less liearly) o e year 000 Ye, as sai above, espie eir
syle of preseaio, hese hree arraives o o cosie a "real
hisory of eir suecs bu raher a susaie pilosopical meiaio
o some of e isorical processes ha have affece ese ree ypes
of "maerials (eergeic, geeic, a iguisic) he very fac a eac
chaper coceraes o a sigle "maerial (viewig 1uma isory, asi were from e poi of view of ha paricular maerial) will make ese
arraives arly recogizable as hisorical accous. Ye mos of he
geeralizaios o be fou here have bee mae by isorias a are
o e proc of pure pilosophical speclaio.
he oliear spiri of is book, ese ree worls (geological, bio
logical, a ligisic) wll o be viewe as e progressively more sopis
icae of a evolio a clmiaes i maiy as is crowig
achieveme. is re ha a small sbse of geological maerials (car
bo, yroge, oxyge, a ie oer elemes) forme e sbsraum
eee for ivig creaures o emerge a a a small subse of orgaic
maerials (cerai euros in he brai) provie e bsraum for la
guage. Bu far rom avacig i sages of icrease perfecio, ese
sccessive emergeces werea will be reae ere asmere accumu
laios of iffere ypes of maerials, accmulaios i whic each suc
cessive layer oes o form a ew worl close i o isef bu, o he
corary, resuls i coexiseces a ieracios of iffere kis. Be
sies, each accmlae layer is aimae from whi by selforgaizig
processes, a e forces a cosrais bei is spoaeous
geeraio of orer are commo o all ree.
a very real sese, realiy is a sg ag uergoig phase
rasios of various kis, wi eac ew layer of accumlae "suff
siply ericig e reservoir of oliear yamics a oliear com
biaorics available for e geeraio of ovel srcures a processesRocks a wis, germs a wors, are all iffere maifesaios of
is yamic maerial realiy, or, i oher wors, hey all represe he if
fere ways i wic is sigle maereergy sss s us, wa
follows will o be a chroice of "ma a "is hisorical acievemes,
bu a pilosophical meiaio o e isory of maereergy i is if
fere forms a of e muliple coexiseces a ieracios of hese
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A OUSAND YEARS OF NONNEAR SORY
fors. Geological, organic and linguistic aterials wil all be allowed to
have their say in the for that this book takes and the resulting cho-
rus of aterial voices wil I hope give us a fresh perspective on the
events and processes that have saped te history of this ileu.
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Geological History1000-1700 A.D.
We live n a world populated
by structures-a complex
mxture of geologcal, bologcal, soca, and lngustc con
structons that are nothng b
accumulations of materials
shaped and hardened by hs
tory. mmersed as we are in
this mxture, we cannot help
but interact n a variety ofways wth the other hstorcal
constuctons that suround
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I L AA S AND MAGMAS
us , and n tese nteract ons we generatenove combnat ons some of wc possess
emergent propert es n turn tese synerg st c combnat ons weter of uman or ig n
or not, become te raw mater a for furter
mxtures Ts s ow te popuat on of struc
tures nab t ng our p anet as acqu red ts
r c var ety as te entry of nove matera snto te mx r ggers w d pro ferat ons of new
fo rm s
n te organ c wor d for nstance soft t s
sue (ge s and aeroso s musc e and nerve)
re gned s up rene unt 5 m o n y e a r s a g o
At tat pont some of te congoneratons of
f esy matter -energy tat nade up fe under
w ent a s ud d en mineralization a n d a new nate
r a for construct ng v n g creatu res em erged
bone t s a most as f te mnera wor d tat
ad served as a substratum for te emergence
of b o ogca creatures was reassert ng tse f
conf rmng tat geoogy far from avng been
eft bend as a pr mt ve stage of te earts
evout on, u y coexsted wt te soft geat
nous newcomers Pr m t ve bone , a st f f ca
c f ed centra rod tat woud ater become te
vertebra co umn, nade ew forms of ove
m e nt co ntro p os s b e a0ng an m a s f ree ng
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GEOLOGICAL HISTORY 000-700 A.D
tem from many constra nts and tera y set
t ng tem nto mot on to conquer every ava
ab e n ce n te a r , n water and on and .And yet , w e bone a owed te compex f
cat on of te an ma pyum to wc we, as
vertebrates be ong t never forgot ts mnera
or g ns t s te v ng mater a tat nost eas
y petr f es tat most read y crosses tetresod back nto te word of rocks For
tat reason muc of te geoogca record s
wr tten wt foss bone
Te uman endoskeeton was one of te
many products of tat anc ent mnera at on
Yet tat s not te on y geoogca nf trat on
tat te uman spec es as undergone
About e gt tousand years ago uman pop
u at o ns b egan m nera ng aga n w en tey
d e v e o p e d a n u r b a n exoskeleton: brcks of
s u nd r ed c ay beca m e te b u d ng nater a s
fo r te r o m es wc n tu rn s u rro u n d ed
and w ere s urro und ed b y s to ne m o nunents
and defens ve wa s Ts exoskeeton served
a p u rp os e s m a r to ts nterna cou nterp art
to contro te movement of uman f es n
and out of a towns wa s Te urban exoskee
ton a so reguated te moton of many oter
tngs: uxury objects, ews, and food, for
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I A VAS AND MAGMAS
example. I n particular, the weekly markets that have always existed at
the heart of most cit ies an d towns constituted veri tabl e motors, peri
odica l ly conce ntrati ng peope and goods fro m n ear an d faraway regio ns
and the n sett in g th em i nto motion aga n a lon g a var iety of trade
circuits
Th us , the ur ban i nfrastructu re m ay be said to pe rfor m, for t ightly
packed populat ions of humans the same funct ion of moton control
that our bones do in relat ion to our f leshy parts. And in both cases
add ing m in eral s to th e mix reslted n a fantast ic comb nator ia l explo
s i on , great ly i ncreasing the var iety of an i ma and cu ltu ra l designs e
m u st be carefu l whe n d rawi ng th ese an al ogies, however I n p articu la r we
mu st avoi d the error of com pa rig cit ies to organ is ms , especi a ly whe nt h e metap ho r is me an t to im py (as it has i n the past) th at both exist n
a state of internal equi l ibr ium or homeostasis Rather, urban centers
and l iving creatures must be seen as nt dynamical systems operat
i ng far from eq ui br i u m , that is, traversed by mo re or less i ntense f ows
of matterenergy that provoke their unique metamorphoses.2
I ndeed u rba n mo rph oge nesis has depend ed, from its ancient begi n
nngs in the Fert i le Crescent on i ntensif ication of the co ns um ption of
non hu ma n ene rgy. Th e anthropoogist R ic hard N ewbod Adams, whosees social evou t io n as ust a noth er form that the selfo rgan ization of
en ergy may take, has po i nted out th at th e fi rst suc h i ntens ificato n was
the cu lt ivation of cereal s.3 Si nce pants v ia photosynthesis s im ply co n
vert solar energy into sugars, cult ivation increased the amount of solar
en ergy th at traversed h u ma n soceties hen food prod uctio n was
further intensif ied humanity crossed the bifurcation that gave r ise to
urban structures The e ites that ruled those eary cit ies in turn made
other intensif ications possibleby developing large rr igation systemsfor exampeand urban centers mutated into their imper ia l form. t
is i mportant to em p hasi ze however that cereal cu lt ivatio n was o n ly on e
of severa possi bl e ways of int en ifyin g energy flow As several an th ro
pologists have pointed out, the emergence of ct ies may have foowed
tntv t t ntntn as wh en the em ergence of u rban l ife
in Peru fed off a reservor of fish4 hat matters is not agricuture per
se bu t th e great i n crease in th e fow of matteren e rgy t h rough society,
as wel l as the tran sfo rmations in u rban fo rm that th is i ntense flow
makes possb le .
F rom t h is point of view ci t i es ar ise fr om th e f low of m atterene rgy, bu t
on ce a towns mi ne ral in frastructure h as emerged, it reacts to those
flows, creating a new t ntnt that e ithe r ntensif ies or i n h i b its
t hem eedl ess to say, the wa ls , m on u mental b u ld ings, streets and
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GELGICAL HISTY 1000-1700 AD
houses of a town would make a rather weak set of constrants f they
operated on ther own. Of course they do not Our hstorcal exploraton
of u rban dyna mcs m ust the refore ncl ude an an alyss of the
that nhabt ctes whether the bureaucraces that run them or the mar
kets that anmate them. Athough these nsttutons are the product of
colectve human decson makng once n pace they aso react back on
ther hum an co mpon ents to l mt them and control them or o n the con-
trary to set them n moton or accelerate ther mutaton (Hence nsttu
to ns consttute a set of em erge nt postve a nd negatve co n stran ts but
on a smal ler scale )
The b rth of Europe a roun d th e e leventh century of our era was made
possbl e by a great agrcu ltu ra l nten sfcaton As Lyn n hte r a h sto-ran of medeva techn ology has sh own n the centu res precedng th e
second ml le n nu m "a se res of nn ovatons occurred whch consodated
to form a remarkably effcent new way of explotng the sol5 These
n novato ns (th e heavy plow new ways of har ness ng the horse's m uscu
lar energy the openfeld system and trennal feld rotaton) were mutu-
a l ly en hancng as wel l as nterdepen dent so th at o n ly whe n t hey fu l ly
mes he d were ther nten sfyng effects fet. T he la rge ncrease n th e f ow
of energy created by ths web of technologes allowed for the reconsttu-t on o f t he Eurpean exoskeleton t he u rban framework th at ha d for the
most part col lapsed wth the Roman Empre Begn nng a rou nd 000 ,
la rge po pu aton s of wal l ed towns an d fortfed castle s a pp eared n two
great zones : n the south al on g th e Me dterranea n coast and n the
no rth al ong th e coastlan ds lyng between th e trade waters of th e N o rt h
Se a an d the Ba tc
As cty hstorans often pont out urbanzaton has always been a ds
contnu ou s phe no me no n B ursts of rapd growth are fo l owed by long per-ods of stagnaton . 6 Th e wave of accele rated cty bu ldng th at occu rred
n Europe between th e elevent h an d thrteen th centu res s no excepto n .
Many of th e great towns n t he north su ch a s Brusse ls and Antwerp
were born n ths perod and the far older ctes of Italy and the Rhne-
la nd expereced en orm ous growth. T hs accele raton n u rban devel op-
ment however would not be matched for another fve hundred years
when a new ntensfcaton n the flow of energyths tme arsng from
the expl otaton of foss l fue ls propel l ed an oth er great spu rt of cty
brth and growth n the 00s nterestngly more than the prol feraton
of factory town s m ad e possble by coa l the "tda wave of medeval u rba n-
zaton lad out the most endurng features of the European urban
structu re features that wou ld contn ue to nf l ue nce the cou rse of hstory
wel l nto the twenteth ce ntu ry
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AVAS AND MAGMAS
There are two basc processes by whch ctes can emerge and grow
A town may develop spontaneously acqurng ts rregular shape by fol-
lowng the topographcal features of the landscape, or t may nhert
ts shape from the dstrbuton of vllages that have amalgamated to formt Such was the case of medeval Vence, whch accounts for ts labyrn
thne streets On the other hand, a cty may be the result of conscous
plannng a regular symmetrcal form may be mposed on ts deveop-
ment to facltate ordery settlement urng the deceeraton that fol-
lowed the year 00 the relatvely few new ctes that were born were of
the latter type perhaps reflectng the ncreasng poltcal centralaton
of the tme Veralles wth ts grd of broad avenues convergng at the
center of power s a perfect llustraton However, the dfference betweenselforganed and planned ctes s not prmarly one of form but of the
decsonakng csse bend the geness and subsequent develop
ment of that form That s the crucal dstncton s between centraled
and decentraed decson makng n urban development There are
towns that have been purposefuy desgned to mmc the organc form
of curvlnear streets, and there are towns whoe grdpatterned streets
evolved spontaneosly due to some pecularty of the envronment
Furthermore most ctes are mxtures of the two processes
f w wr t an vral unr t lan at ranm ar the ran
f tr ul vr a r naental rean t tn
t uln ran t ae n tr l fn
tat te t rmar vrn ran arrannt t lann an
t ran ten ext In ur, n atn t t
en meval re tr tn r ala rlar t
tr tn an vrtall al t etrltan ar l f
retat and ntane ent varl ntrlk r xta-
e e an n t kn ran r nt ala
tan n nt rlatn tar rerkn
rr eoetr ver te lav ran alt er a n rular
r lan el nned thn a a a an narrw
nn tret
The mneralaton of humanty took forms that were the combned
result of conscous manpulaton of urban space by some central agency
and of the actvtes of many ndvduals thout any central decder
And yet, the two processes and the forms they typcay gve rse to
reman dstnct despte ther coexstence and mutual transormatons
On the one hand the grd s th best and quckest way to organe a
30
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GEOOGCA HSTORY 000-700 AD
homogeneous populaton with a singe socia purpose9 On the other
hand whenever a hogos group of people comes together spon
taneously they tend to organize themseves in an interlocking urban
pattern that interconnects them without hoogzg them.ven though from a strictly physical viewpoint accelerations in city
bulding are the result of intensifications in the flow of energy the actua
form that a given town takes is determined by human decision making
A similar distinction between centraized and decentralized decision mak
ing must be made with respect to the social institutions that determine
how energy flows through a citythat is with respect to the citys "dstri
buton systems.0 On the one hand there are bureaucracies hierarchi
ca structures with conscious goas and overt contro mechaisms. Onthe other there are peasant and smalltown markets selforganized
structures that arise spontaneously out of the activities of many individu
als whose interests only partially overlap. I have in rnind here a pacein a town where people gather evry week as opposed to markets in
the modern sense dispersed colections of consumers served by many
middemen
Bureaucracies have aways arsen to effect a planned extraction of
energy surpluses (taxes tribute rents forced labor and they expandin proportion to their ablity to contro and process those energy lows.
Makets in contrast are born wherever a regular assembly of indepen
dent decision makers gathers whether at church or at the border between
two regons presenting ndividuals with an opportunity to buy sell and
barter The distnction between these two types of energy dstributon
systems exacty paralels the one above only on a smaer scale. One sys
tem sorts out human beings into the internally homogeneous ranks of a
bureaucracy he other brngs a heterogeneous collection of humans
together in a market where their complementary economic needs enmes.
Markets and bureaucracies are however more than just coective
mehanisms for the allcaton of material and energetic resources When
people exchanged goods in a medieval market not only resources
changed hands but also ghs o osh, that is the rights to use a
given resource and to enjoy the benefts that may be derved from it
Hence market transactions invoved the presence of collective nstitutiona norms (such as codes of conduct and enforceabe contracts Simi
larly medieval bureaucraces were not only organizations that controlled
and redistrbuted resources via centralzed commands they themselves
were sets of mutualy stabilizng institutional norms a nexus of contracts
and routines constitutng an apparatus for collectve action. The rues
behind bureaucracies tended to be more formalized than the informal
3
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AVA AND MAGMA
conventons and codes of conduct behind markets an more mpor-
tanty they tended to become a consttution that s a set of contracts
defining a homogeneous common enterprise not easly disaggregated
nto a set of heterogeneous blateral contracts ke those nvolved mar
ket transactions.3
Markets and bureaucracies as well as unplanned and planned ctes
are concrete nstances of a more general distinction selforganzed
wk of dverse elements versus of uniform eements But
agan meshworks and herarches not only coexst and ntermingle they
constantly gve rse to one another For nstance as mrkets grow n sze
they tend to form commercal herarchies In medieval times ths was
true of the great fairs such as he Champagne fars of the thrteenth cen-tury which came to have as many particpants as most towns hd inhab
tants I a far s ensage as pyramd the base conssts of the many
mnor transactons in local goods usully pershable and cheap then
one moves up to the luxury goods expnsive and transported from far
away. At the ery top of the pyramd came the actve money mrket th
out whch busness could not be done at all or at any rate not at the
same pace.14
hus once markets grew past the sze of oca weekly gatherings theywere ranked and organized from the top gving rise to a hybrd form
a herarchy of meshworks The opposte hybrid a meshwork of herar-
ches may be llustrated by the system of power in the Middle Ages Urban
bureaucraces were but one of a number of centralized insttutions that
coexsted n the Mdde Ages. Roya courts landed arstocracies and
ecclesastcal hierarchies all entered nto complex unesy mixtures here
was never a "superelte capable of globally regulatng the mx so local
constrants (shftng alances truces legal debates) worked alongsdeformal procedures in genertng stablity. If we add to this the fact that
the state and the church n the West arose fro heterogeneous origns
(unlike Chna or slam where all these herarchca structures had emerged
wthn a homogeneous cultual tradtion) the system of power in the erly
part o ths millennum was a true mesh of hierarchcal organzatons1
eshworks and herarches eed to be vewed not only as capable of
gvng rse to these compex hyrds but aso as n constant nteracton th
one another rimitve bureaucraces had evolved n the Mddle Ages to
regulate certan aspects of market fe (for nstance to arbitrate dsputes
between markets when ther catchment areas overlapped) or to provide
securty for the bg fairs However we must not imagne that the mere
existence of command herarchy meant that the globl rules of a
bureaucracy coud n practce be enorced. n medieval tmes the norms
3
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GEOGCA HTOY 10001700 AD
ha overned economic lifehe norms ha uaraneed ha conracs
would be honored or ha measures weihs and currencies woud
reman sabe were for he mos par no lobal bu based on self
defense realiation and other oca controls As one historian has pu itthe enforcement of economic norms in the Middle Aes was a combina-
tion of cenralized decision makin and a selfreulatin mechanism
compounded by a balance of error and a lively sense of mutual advan
tae felt by al members of the inernationa ommuniy6
he lare populations of towns and ciies that emered in Europe after
the year may be cassified by their reative proportions of meshwork
and hierarchical components. y far the majorty of setlements were
small towns with more market than command inredients in their mix.ver half of all European urban dwelers lived in those ocal maket centers
even thouh each own had fewer han wo housand residents. Then
came intermediatesized towns fewer than ten thousand nhabitants)
which bean addin local and reional administrative funcions and hence
a hiher proportion of command componens Contro o roads and super-
vison of travelers two centralized functions absent from smal towns
were aready practiced here. A wider variety of instuiona forms inhab
ited hose larer selements courts jals hospitals reliious founda-tions ut as complexiy increased so dd raiy while here were about
small towns in northern Europe there were only of intermediae
sizeY Denser urban concentrations were even rarer but for the same
reason sustained a wider rane of functions
Ctes wth more than 10,000 resdents stood out n Medeal Europe,
ecept n northern Italy and Flanders where the spread of loth producton
and the ncrease n trade pemtted relatiely ntense urbanaton. lse
where, large sie was coelated wth comple admnstrate, relgouseducatona, and economc unctons Many of the bg towns-o exampe,
Barcelona, Coogne or Prague-suppoted unestes as wel as a wde
varety of relgous nsttutons Ther economes were dversed and
ncluded a wde range of artsans and sevce wokers The large ctes
o 1330 owed ther sze to the mutplcty o ther unctons The same
pont can be mae about the ew urban gants o the Mddle Ages Pars,Mlan, Vence and Florence were commercal and manuactung ctes, and
also poltcal captals8
This multplicity of urban centes inernaly differentiated by size and
complexity can be compared to other populations of towns that emered
elsewhere. Urbaization explosions had occurred in Islam and Chna at
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I AVAS AND MAGMAS
last two cturis bfor thos i Europ. But i thos two rgios citis
ad tows had to compt with a largr sociopolitica tity that mrgd
oly latr i th Wst th ctral stat. Whil I slam i th arly part of
th millium had som tows (Crdova Cuta) similar to thos i th
Wst hug tows such as Baghdad or Cairo that housd royal hirarchis
wr th rul thr9 Cha too showd a gratr prctag of tows
subctd to a ctral authority tha autoomous tows dfid by th
movmt of popl ad goods through tir wals. Wilam Iclil is o
of svral istorias who thik that o of th rasos for th Wst's
vtual domiatio of th mllium ls i th diffrt mixturs of
ctralzd ad dctraizd dcisio makg i its tows
h ft th h rid id ltily fr dr ti
vid f th ird wr vr rl wildd i
ri w h id f h rkl d h f vr
wr rl h a l ffi ld r vrridi l wr
whvr h wr l r rvl dfid h d l i h
ix rid r di r hi r h i hr-
r h r rl d idri xi xhiid w
h vh d h ih r vr rd i hi.2
I short McNil's hypothsis is that xposiv slfstimulatig ("auto-
catalytic) urba dyamics caot mrg wh hirarchica compots
ovrwhm mshwork compots. Frad Bradl sms to agr with
this hypothsis wh h assrts th xistc of a "dyamic pattr of
turbut urba volutio i th Wst wi th pattr of lif i citis
th rst of th world rus i a log straight ad ubrok li across
tim. 2 O xampl of th oliar ruaway atur of autocataytic
dyamics i may mdiva Wstr tows is th squc of itsifica-
tios of rgy flow that propld urba growth First cam a agricul-
tura itsificatio causig massiv icrass popuatio ad
thrfor gvig birth to may cits. Th as i acit tims th tr
actio of ths urba ctrs furthr itsifid rgy cosumptio.
O of ths itsificatios was achivd by harssig th rgy of
ruig watr to powr grai ills ad triphammrs i forgs ad to
faciitat th fulig of coth. This was without xaggratio a lvth-
ctury idustrial rvolutio fuld by solar (agricultural) ad gravita
toal (watr) rgy.
I addito to raw rgy t turbult dyamics to which both McNill
ad Braudl rfr wr associtd with th itsificato of aothr flow
th flow of moy. Howard Odum a systms cologist has dvlopd a
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GEOLOGICAL HITORY 000700 A D
thory of moy that though prhaps too simpl offrs a usful imag
hr. Moy Odum says is lik rgy oly it rus i th opposit dirc-
tio: rgy fows from agricultural vilags to th tows thy fd whil
moy fows from tow to coutrysid to pay for th food "Th flow of
rgy maks possib th circulatio of moy [i clud g th rgy sp t
o paprwork bakig closig das] ad th maipuatio of moy
ca cotrol th flow of rgy.23 To apply Odum's schma to mdiva
f w d to brig our mixturs of markt ad commad igrdits
to bar. Cotrary to what may b supposd motary systms ar of
ot commrcial but politica origi. Spcifcally thy wr dvlopd by
ctral hrarchis to faclitat th xtractio of agricutural surplus
ad th raisig of taxs.24 I th ary part of th mil ium fuda Fd-ords xtractd this xcss rgy ad i may cass pasats woucom to a markt tow to sl thir goods ot to buy othr goods b t to
gt cash to pay thir rt to h owrs of thir lad.5 Wit that qualifica
to Odum's da is usful motar flows rgulat (hibit or itsify)
rgy flows particulary wh th flow of moy scaps total coro by
th stat.
Moy is bst dfd as a catalyst or stimat of trad (ad its
absc a ihbitor). Bartr th xchag of goods for goods is rlativly ifficit that popl must wait for thir complmtary ds
to mt. Th occasios wh o prso has xactly th good tha th
othr ds ad vic vrsa ar xcdigly rar. But ay good that is
higly dsirabl ad ca asily b put back to circulatio ca pay th
rol of moy blocks of sat cowry shlls coral ivory v cigartts
odr prisos.26 Ay o of a umbr of widly dsrd goods ca
spotaously bcom moy simply by big abl to flow fastr ad
mor asily. Ad oc such slforgaizd moy coms ito xistc
compmtary dmads ca b mshd togthr at a distac graty
icrasig th itsity of markt xchags Frqutly coxistig with
this spotaous moy ar ot ssts wth thir hirarchy of
homogous mtal cois of diffrt domiatios a systm that is
ot slforgaizd but pla d ad impmtd by a lit. Pla d
moy sc its icptio i acit Egypt has usd mtals as its physi
ca vhicl bcaus thy ca b wighd ad masurd uiformly cut
ad stadardizd.27
W vr ths two typs of moy th pa d ad th spo taous
cam i to co tact sta dardizd moy would i vitaby wi causig
dvaluatio of th othr icrass i ts rsrvs ad catastrophic ifla-
tio. This situato woud ars tim ad agai ovr th cturs particu
lary wh Europ bga cooizig th word. Howvr i th frst fw
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AA AND MAGMA
centuies of the millennium the situation was evesed: ealy Euope
was, in a manne of speaking, a colony of slam, an empie that not ony
had a moe advanced monetay system, but also had invented any
of the instuments of cedit (fom bis of exchange to poissoy notes
and checks) As Baude says, "f Euope finay pefected its oney, it
was because it had to ovethow the doination of the Musim wold 8
Venice, oence, Genoa and othe age medieva cities stated coining
thei own coppe, silve, and gold money, and the volume of Euopean
tade began to se o then on, this new flow, catalyzing and contol
ling the flow of enegy, neve ceased acceleating the pace of Euopean
histoy. he flow of money could itsef be intensified, ethe by inceas-
ing the exploitation of mines, and hence the esevoi of meta, o byspeeding up its ciculation. hese two intensifications, of the voue and
veocity of oney, affected each othe, since "as pecious metas becae
moe pentifu coins passed oe quicky fo hand to hand
hese intense flows of enegy and monetay cataysts fueed the geat
uban acceeation in medieval Euope and kept the towns that ade up
Euopes geat exoskeleton in a tubulent dynaical state Although lage
accumulations of money ceated new commecial hieachies, the net
esult was a decease in the powe of cental states and a concomitantincease in the autonomy of cities. he intensity of the flows themselves,
and not any specia featue of the "Euopean psyche (calculating atio-
nality, say, o a spiit of thift), is what kept the ixtue of aket an
comand components in the ight popotions to foste autocatalytc
dynaics30 ne oe eeent must be added to this explanation, how-
eve, but this wil invove going beyond a conception of makets (and
bueaucaces) as allocation echanisms fo scace esouces.
his point ight be claified by applying cetain ideas ecently devel-
oped by the neoinstitutionalist economist Douglas Noth. As we noted
above, not only esouces change hands in the maketpace but also
popety ights; hence the maket faciitates simpe exchanges as well as
potentialy compex tansactions he latte invoves a host of hidden
costs anging fo the enegy and ski neede to ascetain the quality
of a poduct to the dawing of saes and epoyent contacts, to the
enfoceent of those contacts n sal edieva akets these "tans-
action costs wee inia, and so wee thei enfoceent mechaniss
theats of utua etaliation, ostacism, codes of conduct, and othe
infoal constaints sufficed to allow fo the moe o less smooth func-
toning of a maket But as the volume and scale of tade intensified (o
as its chaacte changed, as in the case of foeign, longdistance tade),
new institutional noms and oganizatons wee needed to egulate the
36
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GEOOGCA HTOR 0000 A
flow of eoce angng fo andadzed weg and eae
o e e of noaal ecod a evdence n ecan aw co o ae
co No an pon a a edeva ae gew and co-
pexfed e anacon co nceaed aodngy; wo a e of
nona no and oganzaon o eep oe co down e
blen nenfcaon of ade n e We wod ave coe o a al.
Econoe of cale n ade and lowco enfoceably of conac
wee accodng o Noh ally lang.3
any nonal no eeged n an nplanned wayoe elaed
o coon law o o nfoal code of condc fo exapleand owy
"edened wn own n e Mddle Age. e c a pned
of pce o ae nance cee wee delbeaely nodced o edce anacon co by povng e flow of ae nfo
aon o by peadng e of lage nveen Toe ce
engagng n ype of ade wh pacaly gh anacon co ch
a longdance ade ee o have been he ncbao of any n-
onal nnovaon A ee "clal aeal (nfoal conan
foal le enfoceen pocede) acng a ade caay acc
laed ey began o dffe ogh e ban envonen. A No
oeve "ecan caed w he n ongdance ade code ofcondc o a Pan aw paed no e ea code of Maele. eon
and bec gave aw o e no of Eope Baceona o e o of
Eope and fo ay cae e egal pncple of nance and b of
excange.3
ne dffeence beween e neononal appoac and e one
a yng o ec ee : beyond e leve of e ndvdal oga-
nzon e neononal doe no ee o envon ye anoe
eegen lagecale eny b ply efe o "ocey o "he polya a whole Th oweve n e of nodcng oo c oo
geney no o odel and of ggeng a an ocee fo a
"oay a an eny on a ge onoogca pane an ndvdal
non and ndvda an beng. By cona peang of con
cee ce (nead of "ocey n e abac) enable o nclde n
o el ocally eegen wole ha do no fo oale bply lagecae ndvdal ene. alo edce e dange of ang
oo c ocal nfoy fo ganed. ndvdal ce (and naon
ae) ae eae o valze a encopang a vaey of cone
wn he bode and f a a ae of epca fac a gven cy (o
naonae) dplay a g degee of cal oogeney elf
ecoe oehng o e odeed a e e of concee oca
pocee We ave aleady een a dependng on e xe of cen
7
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I LAA AND MAGMA
tra zed and decentra l zed decs on man g beh nd a c tys b rth and
growth we can e xpect d fferent degrees of n form ty an d d versty n ts
nfrastrctral ayot To ths t mst be added that dependng on the
roe that a cty pays n th e la rger rban context n wh ch t f nct on sthe "c lt ra l mater a ls that accm l ate wth n t w l l exh b t d fferent
degrees of homogenety and heterogenety. Specfcally a cty may play
th e role of po t cal captal for a gven rego n and e nco rage a certa n
degree of n formty n ts own c ltre and n that of th e sma ler towns
nde r ts comm an d. On th e contrary a cty may act as a g o or
ig crs promot ng th e entry and dffs on of heterogeneo s mater-
als that ncrease ts dversty and that of the ct es n cose contact wth
t. I n et he r case v ew ng ct es as n dv d a s a l l ows s to stdy th e n teracton s between t hem a nd th e emergent whole s that may reslt from
hse nteraons
Th at gro ps of ct es may fo r h erarch cal strctres s a we l k nown
fact at east snce the 0s, when the term "Central Place system
was ntrodced to refer to pyramds of rban centers. More recentl
rba n h stor ans Pa l o he nbe rg and Lyn n ol le n Lees have sggested
that n addt on to h erarchcal strctres c t es n Eope also formed
a meshwork ke assemblage whch they refer to as the "Network Sys-te m. Lets exam n e s ome of the def n ng trats of these two types of cty
assemb lages begn n ng wth th e Centra l P lace system exem pl f ed n
the M dd e Ages by th e h erarch es of towns that formed nder strong
regonal captals sch as Pars Prage and M lan. As we saw before the
poplat on of towns n medeva Erope was dv ded by the sze and com-
plexty of ts ndv dal nts. Ths dstr bton of s zes was not accdental
bt d rect ly related to the l ks and con necto ns between sett lem ents.
M ch as s mal l towns offered the s rro nd ng contrys de a var ety of
commerca l adm n strat ve and re l g os serv ces the towns them selves
looked to the mo re dversf ed la rger ctes for serv ces th at were nava l -
able local ly Ths created pyramds of towns organzed arond herarchcal
lev e ls of com p exty The d str bt on n space of th ese h erarch ca l sys-
tems was d rectly t ed to geograph cal d sta nce, s nce th e resde nts of a
town wol d o n ly travel so far n s earch of a des red servce A n m ber of
sch pyramda l strct res arose n th e M dd e Ages each o rgan z ng abroad mo re or less clear y de fne d rego n Ge ne ral ly th e f lows of traded
goods th at crcated p an d down these h e ra rche s cons sted of basc
necesst es sch as food and manfactred prodcts.
I n contradst nct on the c rc l at o n of xr is orgnated so
hr s Longdstance trade wh ch has s nce Antq ty dea lt wth pres-
t ge goods s th e p rov nce of ct es otsde the Centr al P l ace system
8
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GEOLOGICAL HITORY 00000 A D
cities that act as gateways to faraway trading circuits, as well as nodes
in a network not drectly constrained by dstance. For example many
uropan gateway cities were maritime ports connected more than sep-
arated) by the Mediterranean and the Batic and North eas.33 Theseurban centers formed accordng to Hohenberg and Lees a Network
system
twr t, wth t ffrt rts t th
tl l st t f hihil nti of t
the l th it f vi ffee, it rst
ei f ftin et iti ur ettleent.
The ke tei t f it i lt the th etlit . etwk iti ei eeie t t ite the iflu f
tw h little t with it evn l with fl
tit h tl fte f th twk te e ll iii
n nta t t ti tw tt.3
nstead of a herarchy of towns, longdistance tradng centers formed a
meshwork an interlocking system of complementary economc functons.
This s not to imply however that all the nodes in the meshwork were ofeual importance Certain economic functions especally those giving
rise to innovations) formed a privileged core within a given network whie
others e.g. routine production tasks) characterized ts peripheral zones.
Yet, the core of the Network system differed from the acme of the Central
Place pyramid I n particular, the influence of a networks main city was
more precarious than that of the Centra Place, whose dominance tended
to be stable Core cties tended to replace one another in ths roe, as the
ntesity of exchange in a given trade route varied over time, or as erst
whle luxury goods pepper, sugar) became everyday necessities "nce
[these cities are links in a network, often neither the source no the uti-
mate destinaton of goods they are n some measure nterchangeabe as
are the routes themselves.35 Roughly the seuence of cores was fom
the fourteenth to the twentieth centures) Venice, Antwerp, Genoa, Ams
terdam, London, !ew York.36 The two systems coexisted, with Centra
Place towns usually belonging to the middle zone or semipeiphery) ofthe Network system37
Oe very important feature of Central Place and Network systems is
the type of cr srcrs they gve rse to As with many other struc
tures, the raw materials n this case cultual habits and norms) need to
accumulate sowly and then consolidate as more or less permanent links
are stablished among them. Herarchical constructons tend to undergo
9
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LAVAS AND MAGMAS
a homogenzaion before heir maerals harden into a pyramid whi le
mes hworks ar icuae h eerogene ous el eme ns nerockng h em wihout
mpos ng u nfo rmty
n ne leve the entral ae ste serves a heneus ele we
settled in its histal lands The natinal aital disti s and fralizes
the mmn fl k ult ue and rei nets the vlized rdut ak int al
i e [Ths ntrasts with the rtless s tan is f the etwrk
ste with its sha ultura disntnuities etween it and untr and
etween re and erher re values and teh ni ues are sueri-
sed n a trad tin al er he with n atte t at in teratin r radua
synthess38
Even before the adv ent of nato nal capitas the d om in ant cit ies of Cen
tral Place hierarchies performed their homogenizations at the regiona
leve transformng loca cultures into great traditons as they engaged
in book pr in tng an d p u bl i shng as wel l as schoolng Gateway cites on
the other hand helped diffuse heterogeneous elemens from aen cu-
tures as when medeval Venice introduced into Europe products technol-
ogy and architecture from the East Later on the cit ies of the Networksystem woud propagate the ideas of humanism en ightenment and radi-
cal thought whe giving refuge to persecuted thinkers and pub ishing
fob id de n b ooks3 Th e circu lat n a nd processng of cutu ral materi als
h roug h these two d i ffe rent systems of cites are as i m portan t n the lo ng
run as the mi ndsets of the i n habtants of the towns them seves T he l at
te a e of cou rse an active el em en t i n the mx to th e exte nt th at psyc ho-
oga structures once they have come nto beng affect the dynamics
of decsi on ma ki ng and hen ce the flows of en ergy a n d mo n ey kn owledgean d idea s Bu t wh at is cruci al to em ph asize here i s that the e ntre p ocess
does not emanate from some essence housed wthin peoples heads
parcuary not any reif ied essence such as rationaity
I n the original version of Central Pace theory created by alter
Ch rsal l er i n th e eary 0s the h um an capacity fo r maki ng maxi ma l ly
efficent decis io ns (wha t is now cal led optmzi ng rati on al ity) was take n
for granted The model of Chrsta ler also assumed a frctonless word
where geography lacked irreguarit ies wealth and power were dstributed
evenly and the leves of demand for city services as wel as the distances
people wou ld be wi l l ng to travel to get them rema ine d fxed In this i ne ar
wor ld particu ar spa ia l d istr ibut ons of c ites of d ifferent ran k resu lted
as the di fferent ce nters ar ranged th emselves to mi n i mze travel tme for
a gven se rvice t hu s optimizi ng the ir col l ective be nefit or ut i l ity I n no n
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GELGICAL ISY 1000100 AD
near dynaica odels of cy developen, such as hose creaed by
Peer Al le n a nd Dirios Den dri nos, u rban paerns do n o resu l fro
soe gobal optiizer (su ch as su perratio na l h uan decis ion ak ers
i nizng trans po rtation costs) bu t fro a dynacs of cooperatio n a nd
conf ict aong cities, involvng growth and decay of centers I n theseodel s, urba n settleents grow by atracting p opu aton fro s u rrou n d
ng rura areas, with ob avai la bi l ity and ncoe acting as ince ntves to
igration wh le congestion and pol lut ion act as dis incenves Athough
n pr inciple severa ct es could share these huan resources ore or
es s even ly t he od es sh ow a stron g ten de ncy fo r soe u rban centers
to grow at th e expe n se of other s an d for arge centers to n h i bit the
growth o f siil ary scaled towns i n th ei r vic in ty Mo reover the eerge nce
of sta ble pattern s of coexisi ng cen ters sees rel ated to a decrease i n
th e srength an d n uber of d rect in teraction s aong towns too uch
con nectvity (as when eve ry city in the ode l in teracts with eve ry othe r
one) lead s to un stab e patterns , wh i e d ecreased con nectivty with in a
hi erarchy of towns (that s, fewe r interactio ns between ran ks th an wt hi n
a given ran k) lea ds to stab i l i ty4
Con tepora ry stude s i n no nl inea r u rba n dynacs teach u s that, in
any cases, frcton (delays, bottlenecks, confl ict, uneven distrbuton ofresources) pl ays a cruc ial role in gene rati ng selforga ni zatio n He nce
el iin ating it fro our odes (by postu lat ing an optizi ng ration a ity,
for insta nce) autoatical ly el ii nates the possb i l ity of captu ring any real
dynacal effect This nsight is even ore iportant when we consider
the dynaics of the in st itut io ns tha t ch an nel the f low of ene rgy th rou gh
cit ies a rkets and b u rea ucraces Th e classical pictu re of the arket,
Ada Siths invis ible hand ode , s ust l ike Chrstal lers odel of
urban patterns It operates in a world copletely devod of friction whereo nop olie s do n ot exist an d age nts are e nd owed wth pe rfect fore sight
and have access to costless and unl ited inforation Siths odel (or
ore exactly, its ipleentation n neoclassical econornics) also gener
ates patterns that axiize the benefts to socety as a whole, hat s,
pattern s i n w hich su ppy an d dea nd interact so as to reach optia l
eq ul i b riu precl u d i ng wastefu l excesses or deficts Th i s type of arket
dynaics is, of course, a fction And yet ths picture of a rationa free
a rket dynaics eanat ng fro the nt eraction of sefish agents reach
i ng optial con cl usio ns a bout alternatve u ses of scarce resou rces s st i l l
at the core o f odern l near econoics
o n n ea r approaches to arket dynaics, n contrast, ephas ize the
role of unce rta nty in decis ion ak ing and th e i n here nt costs of in fo ra
ton gathering Iperfect knowledge, ncopete assessent of feed
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I AVAS AND MAGMAS
back l iited eo ry a nd reca as we l as poo r problesolving sk l ls
resu lt in a for of ratio na l ity th at attai ns not optal dec isi ons but o re
or less satisfactory coproises between confl icting constraints42 This
"satsfcing or "b ou nde d rato na ity proceeds i n a ny cases by rul es
of thub and other adaptive behaviora patterns This does not preclude
soe co he rence aon g an agents expectatio ns needs an d actio ns but
it does cal l for a dynaic expla nation of the foration o f adequ ate be i efs
as opposed to sipy assung static fors of rationaity Moreover it
ephasizes t hat the respo nses of econoic agents i n the arketpla ce
a re not un fo r th at soe agents wil l act o re co he rently th an oth ers
and that the adequacy o their decisions wi l vary fro tie to tie43
A nonlinear odel of arket dynaics differs greatly fro Adaiths n partcu la r in stead of a si ngle static eq u l i br i u toward whc h
arkets are su pposed to gravitate th e non i nea r ode al lows fo r u lt i-
ple dynaical fors of sta bi lty For exapl e arkets ay get caught in
cycl ical equl ibrus that force the to undergo successive periods of
growth and decay Hence arkets ay be both selfregulating and non
optial4 These issu es are a l l the o re portant when co nsi deri ng
ed ieval a rkets w hi ch had to cope not o n ly wth t he effects of per-
fect foresght but with a ultipl icity of other nonl inearit ies agrarian hier-a rc hies exactin g a port ion of prod uction tak ing it out of ci rculat ion
craftsen se l ing their products speculatively oney suppy affecting
prices an d so o n No netheless by the twelft h centu ry p r ices th rougho ut
urope f luctuated n unison and this is what above al l characterizes a
selfregul at ing a rket econ oy Th is col lective osc l lat ion this assive
rhythical breathing across the cties that ade up the Central Place
and Network systes can now be captured through the use of nonl inear
odel s wh ere the ipedents created by bou nded ration al ity play aco nstructive rol e4
On e ay thi n k that the s u boptia l coproses to w hi ch edeval
a rkets we re cond ened de rived fro the d ecentral ized natu re of the ir
deciso nakng processes But a sii la r co ncl us io n ay be reach ed vs
vis centra ized bu reau cracies eve n though their fora l ized pl ans a nd
wel l defi ned goal s woul d see to be prod ucts of an optizin g ration al ity
But here too decision aking takes pace in a world ful l of uncertaint ies
Any actu a syste of in fo ration processing pl an ni ng and control wi l l
never b e optial b ut erely practical app lying rote esponses to recur-
rent probles and eploying a variety of contingency tactcs to deal wth
u nforese en events oe of the flows of atte r an d en ergy n a nd ou t of
ctiesflows that edieva hierarces were supposed to reguate
received ore attenion whle oters were overlooked and isanaged
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GEGICA HISTY 1000-1700 AD
For instance by the thi rteenth ce ntu ry Lon do n had al ready ge ne rated a
speca ized bureaucracy for handl ing the flow of water into the city but
man ageme nt of the f low of waste out of the c ty dd not come a bout unt i
t h e ni neteenth century even though the ngl is h capita l had ha d recu r-
rent sewage crses since the 10s. It was not u nti l th e rive r Th am es s
capacity to transport waste reached ts imits causing an odor that made
par l iamentary session s i mp ossi b le to co nd uct th at the probl em was co n-
fronted . Befo re that the a pp roach to sewage m an agem ent h ad b een
reactive unp l an ned and p ecemeal hard ly opt ma . 4
T us to un de rstan d the roe of decis ion m aki ng i n the creat ion of socia l
o rde r we ne ed to conce ntrate not so m uch on the mo re o r less rat ional
character of v decis ions but on the dynamics (centra ized ord ecentra l ized) amon g many interact ing decis ion makers. The h ie rarchi es
and meshworks that develop from these nteractions (pa rt icu ar b ureau -
cracies i nd iv idu al markets) n tu rn become eleme nts of other homoge
neo us an d heterogen eou s structu res (capitals or gateways) w hc h in tu rn
go on to fo rm Central Place a nd Networ k systems . At ea ch l eve l d iffere nt
no n near dyn amics take p ace with the i r own mu lt p e eq u i i br um s and
bifurcations between alternative stable states Hence individual decision
mak ng whi le im po rta nt is s imp ly one e lemen t in the mix i nteract ingan d nf luenci ng dynam ics on o n y one of c nu mb er of sca les.48
But eve n at the ind iv idu al level what atters is not any particular psychological structure (rat ional ity) so much as problemsolving ski l ls ru les
of th um b a nd rout ne proced u res that is cu ltu ra l mater ia s that can
t vr t withi n a towns wal ls . I ndeed m any prei nd ustr i al
cit ies may be seen as la rge reservors of sk i l ls a nd rout ines T hose cit ies
recruited from the cou ntrysid e art isans possessing the most varied ab l i
t ies an d trades an d they were co nstantly struggl i ng to steal t hi s val u ab e hu ma n capital away from eac h oth er. To ma intai n an d i ncrease the ir
reservoi rs towns attracted a flow of craftsme n as wel l as a va riety of p ro
fessionals who brought wit h them ski l ls and proedures that cou d n ow
be ta ught to othe rs or mitated a nd he nce add ed to th e exi sting stock . As
these cu ltu ral m aterals accu mu lated they mixed in var ou s ways fo rm
ing novel meshworks and hierarchies
On one hand the ru i ng e l ites of many towns created betwee n the
twelfth and the f ifteenth centuries the gu ld system through which they
organized al craft activity within the city. ach gui ld brought together the
sk i ls that formed a given trade an d homogen ized the mea ns of t hei r
transmission by regulat ing training methods and cert if ication procedures
As ski ls accumulated and began interacting with one another trades
began to d ivers ify and mu l t ip ly I n Nu remberg . . the meta working
3
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I: AVAS A D MAGMAS
gu ha v e, a ea r y a the th rteenth century, nto evera
ozen nepenent profeon an trae The ame proce occurre
n hent, Straour, Frankfurt an Forence, where the wooen nutry,
a eewhere, ecame a co ecton of trae n fact t wou e true to
ay that the oom of the t h rteenth century a roe out of th newy cre-
ate v on of aor a t pro ferate 4 On the other han, a peca-
t e mut p e o the nteract on etween n v a trae, an
th gave r e to me hwork of m a proucer, ym ot c co ect on of
tt e enterpr e, a the urant Jane Jaco ha ca e them
Whe the g ateway cte at the core of the etwork ytem, a we
a thoe at the top of entra P ace pyram, gave r e to e aorate h er
arche of gu an ever more r regat on , town n h at n them e zon e (tha t , not too ma to e conem ne to rem an a ppy
reon for the core, engae n what Jaco ca mportuttuton
ynam c ntea of m py excha ngng raw mater a for ma n ufacture
oo fro m the g c t e, the a rt an of thee town eveope th e
k neceary to owy repace thoe mport wth oca proucton
Thee new, e regu ate k , n t rn, egan form ng me hwork, a
t h ey nter ocke wth on e another n fu nct ona compe mentar ty
he m arket yna mc of thee m ezon e town were eft mu atn gecaue the money ave y repacn ome mport cou e pent on
new mport, whch n turn enerate a new roun of uttuton A
Jaco pt t , thee ma meeva town, an ther ma proucer
wer e forever procn g n ew export for on e an othe r e , ye, uck
e, parchment, ace, neee, pante canet work, ceramc, ruhe,
cutery, paper, eve an neee, weetmeat, e x r, f e, p tchfork,
extant re pac n g them wth oca proucton , ecom ng cutom er for
t more nnovat n 2 Jaco ecre the autocataytc ynamcthat prouce thee hme goo a evovng throh frcaton , a a
crt ca ma of potenta y repaceae mport accumuate wthn a
town, gv ng r e to a n ew expove epoe of m port repacem ent T he
n novat on t hat came ot of th p roce not h ave to e gamorou
or h h y v e ; what mattere wa the generat on of new k a n the
con equ ent comp ex f cat on of th e mehwo rk
om puter m aton of econo mc mehwork yna mc have hown
that, at a certa n cr t ca ev e of comp exty, a k n of n utr a tak eoff
occu r n th e nter ocke ytem of fun cton co ntttn g the me h
work Jaco h a gathere evence n cat ng that th n ee the
way n whch the eco nomy of Europe took off at the tu rn of the f rt
m e n n m At th e t m e, ontant no pe wa at the top of the u ran h er
archy, a n Ven ce (whch y th e fourteenth cent ry wa the m etropo at
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GEOLOGCAL HSTORY 1000-1700 A.D
the core of the etwork ytem wa on e of t h um e up py on e. The
Ven et an o t mer an alt to the capta , n excha nge fo r ma nu fac
tu re prou ct n the e leven th cen tu ry however, th e econ omy of Ve n ce
egan to grow expovey, a a mehwork of ma proucer egan uttutng oca y manufacture goo for thoe prevouy mporte from
ontantnope Snce the ocal goo were necear y rough an prmt ve
y the tanar of the capta , Vence cou ony trae t new urpu
prouct wth othe r ackwar ct e (Thu t h type of autocatay
n vo ve n ot nge c t e u t team of c t e n th way th e eco nomy of
Ven ce took off an p rop el le th e cty to a pot on a o m na nt center
ecaue the mal er town that now mporte Venetan prouct were
ao reervor of f lexe k , they eventual y create ther own mport-uttuton mehwork Such wa the cae of Antwerp, whch egan a
a Venet an u pply regon for woo y th e f fteent h centu ry t too ha
ecome a co re of th e etwork onon ha to wa t unt the n n eteenth
century efore ecomng the etwork core, ut nce the Me Age t
ha een uttutng mporte eather goo from rova, to e l to
other ackwar cte4
Th k n of voat e trae among mal l town h ou e ae to our
t of autocataytc p rocee an matn g meeva Eu rope arge town,o n the o the r han , gave r e to a f fe r e nt typ e o f tu r u e nt y nam c ,
ae on ux ury goo ( ntea of everyay tem nvov ng g f rm
(ntea of mal l proucer, an on tratege that not re y on the
extence of heterogeneou k A rauel ay, the pro feraton of
new trae, an the reutant mcropeca aton, away charactere
the ottom ayer of the trae h erarchy g u ne n th e M e Age,
an for centur e afterwar, ha t own ynamc, whch ran n the
exact oppote rect on Even a hopkeeper who mae h fortu ne , a n
ecam e a merchant, m me ate y move out of peca l at on nto n on
pec a at o n oey ng th e ru e of trae at t u pper eve To ecome
an aove a to rema n a whoeaer meant havng not on y the r ght ut
the uty to hanle, f not everythng, at any rate a much a poe
The a vantage th at no n peca aton gave to th ee early capta t
wa freedom o f motion, wh ch a owe th em to h an e a ny f ow of goo
th at ecame h ghy prof tae , an to move n an out of f ow a the rprofta ty change Th freeom of choce ha charactere capta m
th ro ugho ut the m e n n um The me r chant an f na nc e r ( an ate r
n utra t who n hate the u pper eve of the trae h erarchy never
nvae owproft on e. Wth the exc u on of cah crop for the x ury
market, foo proucton an proceng were eft untouche unt the
eventeenth centu ry Th e am e true of tranportat on , u nt l the ra
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I L AA AND MAGMA
roads a nd of th con strct o n nd stry nt l o r cnt ry ( f w xc d
factor s and p bl c b ld n gs. If w add to th s th rta l ng of goods w
ay conc l d th at no n of th f lows of n rgy and attr that ar n d s-
pn sabl for a n rban cntr wr pn tratd by la rg co rca l h r-arch s (an d th r cntra l zd dcs on a ng nt l r at vy rcnt ly.
Evn n t s ag of h g ltn at ona l corporato ns th coand
l nt n t co rca l xtr s far fro 00 prcnt . T h con o-
st o n Kn n th al bra th who sha rply d ffrnt ats btwn s po nta-
no s cono c act v ty (a rts and p la nn d con o c procsss
(bg b s nss c alc lats that today rog hly ha lf of th Wstrn con oy
has bn tan ovr by captal st h rarcs. Th othr half coprss
th lowprof t rgons wh ch ths h rarc s w l l ng ly abando n to tart. Accord ng to al brat h wh at gvs captal s ths frdo of
oto n s con oy o sca w hc h s why s nc th M dd l Ags cor-
ca l captal s has bn assocatd wth wholsal a nd n ot rta . A larg
f r s bttr abl to absorb shocs a nd f lctat on s and c rat th p lan s
a n d ct .t" IC that ay wn t a dgr of ndpndnc fro art
forcs ndd th ab l ty to c onrol an d manipulae thos forcs to a cr-
t a n
Sch cons dratons ld Brad l to t start l n g conc s on that wsh o ld not b too q c to ass that capta l s bracs th whol
of wstr n socty tat t acco nts for vry sttch n h soca l fab rc . . .
th at o r soct s ar organzd fro top to botto n a captal st sys-
t . ' On t h con tra ry . . th r s a d a lct c st l l vry c h al v btwn
capta l s on on ha nd and ts ant ths s th non capta l s ' of th
lowr lvl on t h othr56 And h adds that ndd capta s was car-
r d pward and o nward o n th sho d rs of sa l l s hops and th nor-
o s cratv powrs of th art of th l owr story of xcha ng . . . .
Th s l owst lv l not b ng paralysd by th s z of ts plant o r orga n
zato n s th on radst to adapt t s th sdbd of nsp rat on
provsat on a nd vn nn ovat on a lthogh ts ost br l l a nt d scovr s
soon r or l atr fa l nto t h ands of th h o d rs of cap ta l . t was not th
cap tal sts who broght abot th f rst cotton rvol t o n a l th n w das
ca fro ntrpr s ng sal l bs n sss.5
Thr s a sco ncpt o n wdly sha rd by cono sts and p loso-
p hrs on th r s d of th po t ca l spctr that capta l s dvlopd
n svra stags b ng at f rst coptt v and s bsrvnt to art
forcs an d on ly latr n th twntth cntry bco ng o nopol st c .
H owvr sta rt ng n th t h rtnth cnt ry capta l sts ngagd n varos
n o nco ptt v pract cs n o rd r to crat th l arg acc lat o ns of
o ny tat hav a lways charactr zd th p pr lvls of th trad
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GELOGICAL HITOR 000700 AD
pyramd. As we dscssed the ear ly medeval a rs the m eet ng pons
o r ch m ercha nts rom a l l over E rope were ver table h erarch es o
meshworks n whch the lxry and money markets domnaed the
ppe r ec he lo ns. Ne t he r n the lo ngdstan ce trade o prestge goods no r n he wor lds o precos metals and credt d d sp ply a nd de ma nd re gn
s preme . O n the con rary mos ort nes n he se a reas were made by
he ma n p la on o these m arke orces h ro gh a var ety o no n co m-
pet ve pracces h ere was o co rse nense com pe o n a mo ng r ch
merchans and am es mch as oday la rge corporato ns compete wh
o ne a nohe r b hese r va l r es among o l gopol es are n dam ena l ly
d erent rom he k n d o "ano nymos compet on n wh ch sm al l pro-
dcers and traders engage.5rom the Mdd e Ages to the n neteenth centry not o n ly d d nd v d
al bsnesses engage n monopol st c practces en re c es dd oo
even grops o ct es. By means o noncompett ve practces a town
col d great y ad s merch ants and na nce rs protectn g the m rom or-
e gn r va ls a nd st m lat ng the acc m lat on o mon ey wth n ts wal l s .
he med eva l c t es that conro l led h e M edterranea n a nd the Ba lt c a nd
No r h Seas n anced m ch o he r growh rom ma n p l a on o m arkes
a nd by acq r ng excls ve conro l o cera n lows s ch as sp ces and
s lks rom h e Levan n h e case o Ven ce or sa l n the case o Lbeck .
Wh a mo nopoly on x ry goods won a nd ma nta ne d by m ary orce
o rteenhcentry Ven ce dom n ated he c t es a ro nd no on ly th e
sma l towns con s tt ng s s pp y regons bt other g an owns sch as
Florence and M la n . I n the n orth beween the h rteenth a nd teen h
cent r es c t es l ke Lbec k and Brges or med a meshwork o ct es kn own
as he Ha nseat c Leage wh c h was capab le o co l ect ve act o n wthot a
centra l ed organ a on be h nd . he eage a lso e ngaged n mo nopo l s-
c prac ces o trap h e towns wth n ts on e o econom c n l ence n a
web o sperv s o n and de pen dence. 59
We w l l re rn s hor ly o ohe r orms o marke man p lat o n whc h
accord ng o B ra de l hav e a lways characered certa n comme rca l n st -
ton s s nce the M dd le Ages . hs w l l m ake c lear how wrong s o
ass me (as many econom sts to h e r ght and cener o he pol ca l spec-
trm tend to o hat market power s somethng tha may be dsmssedor that needs to be std ed o n ly n re lato n to some aberrant n st to na l
orms sch as overt mon opol es Bt certa n co ncepto ns rom he e
(partcarly the Marxst let also need to be corrected n partclar a
eleol ogcal conce pto n o econo mc h story n terms o a linear progression
o modes o pro ct on . n th s Brad el expl c tly agrees wth G l les
elee and Fl x G attar capt