Patterns of evolution in rice‐growing societies

Abstract

Our understanding of historical change in non‐European societies is hampered less by shortage of information than by the lack of appropriate models. Eurocentric perceptions of economic and technological development have often led to a dismissal of other societies as static. This paper suggests that light may be thrown on processes of historical change characteristic of non‐European societies by analysing the technological constraints underlying the evolution of the conditions of production. The specific case is taken of wet‐rice economies in East Asia: succeeding levels of technological development are linked to patterns of social and economic change which differ strikingly from the European model.

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