Different Experiences: Europe, Africa, and the Middle East: An Introduction

Abstract

Europe, Africa, and the Middle East have long shared a common and intertwined history. Prior to the Muslim conquests of the sixth and seventh century AD, the Mediterranean acted as a source of unity. After the Muslim conquests, however, it increasingly marked a dividing line between the Christian north and the Muslim south. At the same time another distinctive culture emerged in Byzantium, a culture built on loyalty to Greek Orthodoxy that subsequently did much to shape Russian developments. From the sixteenth century, sub-Saharan Africa also found itself increasingly drawn into an emerging global economy. By the twentieth century, the Middle East also experienced a vexed relationship with Western models of capitalism and management. In short, the last millennia and a half have witnessed forces of both convergence and divergence, some emphasizing a common model of capitalism and management and others a contrary course. In this Section of the Handbook, we trace this process of societal and managerial convergence and divergence across three continents.