Revista Humanidades (May 2015)
From Columbus to globalism: The construction of western hegemony
Abstract
The process of Globalization we live in today has put us in front of the necessity of studying History in terms of global processes -namely those that verify themselves in the world level-, not only as a description of events, but from an analytical and scientific approach. This process –so far unique in human history- has been characterized by an integration of international markets, an unprecedented development of technology –particularly the computer science-, a geopolitics governed by the interaction of economic blocks, and the emergence of a global culture. Other processes of cultural contact and economical exchange between civilizations on an extended geographical span have happened in history, ever since civilization exists, in Eurasia, Africa and the Americas. However, we do not find the existence of a real integrated world market until 1492, when the discovery of the Americas will reunite all the continents on earth for the first time in history. This process carried on the unification of the world in terms of markets, but also in technology, biological species (including germs), and through the appearance of the first attempt of constructing a hegemonic global culture: the baroque.
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