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> I think I can answer those questions. Actually, I don't think you can - you're too close to the subject to be objective about it. Maybe in 100 years. Counte
by officialchicken 11y ago
> I think I can answer those questions.
Actually, I don't think you can - you're too close to the subject to be objective about it. Maybe in 100 years.
Counterpoint: 20 years ago Shenzhen was a sleepy fishing village. Nothing about fishing explains my motherboard or phone. It was central planning not organic growth.
Nexus, like the cities represented by them have always existed as a socioeconomic force. This is true as far as we know further than written history can tell us e.g. Hattusa [1]. And no one can explain them or create them from scratch outside the fact that some last longer than others.
A visit to Amsterdam reveals the lasting power of the Tulip as both a symbol and an economic force over centuries [2]. What physical form will SV take in the future is more interesting than any postulating by the author - who as a historian - should know better.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hattusa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hattusa
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania
- agumonkey 11y agoMore and more I'm fascinated by this 'ocean' of forces, waves, pressure points and voids that make something like shenzen pop and become a gravity center. Until it's not. And the pole will shift somewhere else. I don't know if there's a name for this, if it's just plain history. Or system theory.. but I'd love to read more about it.
- jacobolus 11y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World-systems_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World-systems_theory is one subdiscipline studied by a group of (mostly Marxist) historians/political theorists, which might be relevant to your interest here.
- agumonkey 11y agoPretty cool. Reminds me that I was told about a French history scholar that tried to spread a more 'fluid dynamic' view on history. I cannot recall his name for my life which makes me even sadder.
- bobwaycott 11y agoI don't suppose it would have been one of the Annales historians, would it? There are far too many participants to hazard a guess, but the notable leaders of the different generations of Annales historians would be Febvre, Braudel, Ladurie, and Chartier.
- agumonkey 11y agoIt may be one of the latest generations, but no name clicks. All I remember is a term he coined that was close to fluid dynamics or derivative history (fields and waves, flows, you get the idea).
- daodedickinson 11y agoEh, 30 years ago Shenzhen's population was 30,000. I guess that's a sleepy village to some, but not to me.
- officialchicken 11y agoTo others, like myself, that's just a couple of buildings. But I'm just parroting the term "sleepy village" [1] because that's what I've heard Shenzhen described at before it became the the world's manufacturing powerhouse. And it happened all during my lifetime. [1] http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-reforms-shenzhen-idUSTRE4BB1J120081212 http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-reforms-shenzhen-idU...