Re-Mapping Centre and Periphery Asymmetrical Encounters in European and Global Contexts

• Other Authors: Hauswedell, Tessa (Editor), Körner, Axel (Editor), Tiedau, Ulrich (Editor)
• Format: Electronic Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: London UCL Press 2019
• Subjects: General & world history; European history; History: earliest times to present day; Social & cultural history; global history; cultural exchange
• Online Access: OAPEN Library: download the publication; OAPEN Library: description of the publication

Historians often assume a one-directional transmission of knowledge and ideas, leading to the establishment of spatial hierarchies defined as centres and peripheries. In recent decades, transnational and global history have contributed to a more inclusive understanding of intellectual and cultural exchanges that profoundly challenged the ways in which we draw our mental maps. Covering the early modern and modern periods, Re-Mapping Centre and Periphery investigates the asymmetrical and multi-directional structure of such encounters within Europe as well as in a global context. Exploring subjects from the shores of the Russian Empire to nation-making in Latin America, the international team of contributors demonstrates how, as products of human agency, centre and periphery are conditioned by mutual dependencies; rather than representing absolute categories of analysis, they are subjective constructions determined by a constantly changing discursive context.