Europe as a World Historical Region: A Global Perspective on the European Formation of Modernity

Abstract

A defining feature of modernity is ideas that make possible the transformation of the present by human agency. There is a huge variability in the forms that modern societies take, but it is possible to specify what is distinctive about Europe in terms of the formation of modernity, which had long-lasting societal consequences. There are essentially two ways of addressing the question of the specificity of Europe. One way is to look at the endogenous formation of Europe out of its constituent parts, and the other way is to locate Europe in a wider global context. However, a fuller account will require an external perspective beyond Europe. The chapter explores what can be said about the nature of European modernity when viewed in a transnational or global perspective as a world region. One approach to this question is simply to examine the range of external influences on Europe, and thus to correct a purely internalist or endogenous account of the rise of Europe. However, placing Europe in a global context offers a more far-reaching perspective than simply accounting for the impact of exogenous influences, important as this is for a full account of the making of Europe. The global perspective on modernity offered here is an attempt to illuminate what is distinctive about a particular formation of modernity, such as the European one. The chapter thus is concerned with Europe viewed in global context. This raises the question of defining the spatial and temporal reference points and establishing congruence between both, such that the term Europe is a sociologically meaningful category. So the concern is with the formation of modernity in Europe. The defining features of Europe are characteristics of modernity, as opposed to other attributes, such as nations or states, continents, civilizations or the notion of the West. The main aim of this chapter has been to make the case for a global perspective on Europe as a world historical region, as opposed to some other conception, and that this is largely shaped by the formation of modernity in Europe. Modernity is not European, but it took a specific form in Europe that defined Europe as a historical region of the world. Having discussed this in relation to other world regions, the next chapter will look more specifically at the historical regions within Europe. As argued throughout this book, any account of the formation of Europe will need to take account of its internal diversity.