The East in the West

"This book is part of the more recent trend challenging the Eurocentric narratives of the birth of capitalism and modern civilization. Jack Goody is interesting because he introduces the cultural side of history. He is an anthropologist. He engaged extensively in historical research, and left several crucial books — on The Domestication of the Savage Mind , on The Logic of Writing : how different kinds of writing can shape culture . In this book, The East in the West , he addresses several interesting issues concerning organizational culture in the East. Was it backwards? Was it behind Europe? He proved that family structures in India and China could be extremely efficient from an economic point of view. He also proved how rationality in business – for instance bookkeeping, accounting, paper money, the bill of exchange (which was supposed to have been born in Europe) already existed very early on in India and in China. His angle of approach is extremely interesting, because it goes to the core of cultural practices. It’s about economic structures, about enterprises, and how these family structures were extremely efficient at managing all their business with the most advanced techniques. Get the weekly Five Books newsletter So that’s why I introduced Jack Goody. While the book is not directly related to racism he addresses the hierarchies of peoples of the world that was present in the theory of races. He challenges and demolishes this idea of the 18th and 19th centuries, which saw Asia as backward, as static, as immobile. He shows all the vitality of their culture, of their economy and how these family structures played a crucial role in this world. So he has an indirect impact on my book. While Braudel for me is the perfect combination between history and geography, Jack Goody is the perfect combination between history and anthropology."