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Political Economy of World-Systems 2002 Conference Riverside, California |
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Abstract C-Wave Crises and Early Classical Era Trade Reorientations Bill Thompson C-wave crises (named for Chernykh) are periodic Eurasian periods of turmoil involving, among other phenomena, the movement of steppe people toward urbanized areas. In many respects, they appear to be earlier analogues of K-waves. However, Chernykh's discussion is sketchy and we do not know much about some of the turmoil periods, or whether they are appropriately identified. A case in point is the early Classical period (roughly first millennium BC) that is preceded by explosive turmoil in the Mediterranean around 1200 BC and that leads to the ascendancy of Rome. While it was found that at least 3 of Chernykh's 4 crisis periods prior to the Classical era were manifested in Near Eastern center-hinterland conflict, regime transitions, and trade reorientations, it remains to be explored whether these processes continue to take the same form after 1000 BC. In this paper the focus will be placed on two questions: Is Chernykh's sole first millennium, 500-300 BC, crisis period appropriately identified for the Eurasian system. In other words, does it make sense to link Celtic movements in the West, Alexander the Great from the West to the East, to the Warring States period in the East as Chernykh does. An alternative crisis period is sometimes linked to Scythian movements into Iran around 800-700 BC. Which one, if either, is most appropriate? The second question pertains to trade reorientation. Does this process continue past 1200 BC in conjunction with the intermittent systemic crises? It is clear that a stronger Mediterranean focus emerges after 1200. How does the Hellenization of southwestern Asia fit in? Is there a linkage to the stronger east-west trade links created around 200 BC? |
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27th Annual Conference of the Political Economy of World-Systems Spring Hosted by the Institute for Research on World-Systems at the University of California, Riverside |