Parallels and Divergences: Perspectives on the Early Second Millennium

Abstract

This paper argues that more conceptual clarification and a more equal development of comparative history are needed before we can attempt a synthetic interpretation of the early second millennium CE. In conceptual terms, the debate centres on the idea of formative historical phases, characterized by major and lasting innovations on the levels of cultural patterns and/or power structures; but the dynamics of such phases can only be analyzed in relation to long-term processes of two kinds: those that precede the episodes of accelerated change and those through which their consequences unfold. This problematic is briefly explored with reference to classical as well as contemporary sources. As for historical analyses and controversies, there are good reasons to regard the period in question as a phase of formative changes in various fields and in different parts of the Eurasian macroregion, but there is also a broad spectrum of conflicting interpretations, more structured in some cases than others. The two most thoroughly analyzed cases—and the clearest examples of transformative dynamics—are Western Christendom and Song China. Preliminary Reflections: Long-term Processes and Formative Phases Let us start with some reflections on the categories and perspectives of historical sociology. The latter (whether understood as a new branch or a comprehensive reorientation of sociological inquiry) is frequently defined in terms of a focus on long-term processes—or, in other words, a processual approach to the longue durée. This interpretation, most closely associated with Norbert Elias and his disciples, is one-sided in that it bypasses a problematic which goes back to classical sociology and becomes more explicit in the works of later authors, even if a selective emphasis on separate aspects tends to obscure the connections: the question of the relationship between long-term processes and formative phases. The latter term is, in brief and without touching upon issues to be discussed later, used to refer to relatively short periods of comprehensive, condensed and decisive change. Medieval 10,1-3_f3-11-40 11/4/04 11:51 AM Page 13