History, Archaeology and Cultural Comparison

Ian Morris’s Why the West Rules – for Now (2010) is a brilliant book, dealing with Eurasian history from the first civilisations to the present. It takes an intermediate position in the famous debate about Europe and the rest of the world and European dominance during the last few centuries. Morris uses all kinds of sources. However, his general approach is staunchly materialistic: the motors of history are fear, sloth and greed. Cultural differences do exist, but can be explained by the former factors. This is an attitude not confined to archaeologists, nor necessarily shared by all of them, but may nevertheless have something to do with Morris’s background in this field. One objection is that Morris may have underestimated the importance of institutional factors; he does not discuss the division of Europe into separate states, which has often been regarded as a central factor in ‘the Rise of the West’. This in turn raises the question of the ‘two hand-maidens’ and their relationship to the EU. If political division is an essential feature of Europe, what will happen if this division disappears?