The West and the Rest by Niall Ferguson - Book Report/Review Example

?Ferguson, Niall. Civilization: The West and the Rest. London: Allen Lane, Print. of 30 November 2013 Book Review - Civilization: The West and the Rest by Niall Ferguson Western world is deemed as a symbol of progress, achievement and dominance in the contemporary world of today. Over the years, historians have toiled to explain the reason for this supremacy and have struggled to elaborate how the Western world became eminent in the economic and political global scenario and also, why so many people, all over the globe, want to adopt Western lifestyle and are fascinated by the Western culture. Historian Niall Ferguson claims to have an absolute answer to this issue in his book named ‘Civilization: The West and the Rest’. In his book he has credited the advancement of the Western world to six social developments, which he refers to as “killer apps”. Ferguson explains in his book how westerners adopted new ways of conducting themselves and established a new set of institutions which were based upon the fundamental principles of law, modern sciences and ethics. This contributed to a flourishing consumer society. The rest of the world lagged behind and lacked these killer apps, which became the prime reason for enabling the Western world to outdo the rest of the world. The subject matter of this book is of utmost importance in intellectual history because over the past five hundred year, the emergence of Western civilization to global predominance is the most essential historical phenomenon. The surfacing of the Western world led to the termination of earlier super powers such as Ottoman and Chinese civilizations, which once possessed the most well-trained armies and weaponry, developed infra-structure, most productive lands and communication channels, high standards of living and superior understanding of natural phenomenon. The rise of West altered political and economic landscape of the world and a shift in power and dominance took place. Not only this, but the rise also influenced people all over the world. A significant chunk of the population is swayed by Western culture to such an extent that they wear western clothes, eat western style food, adopt western system of government, and consume western made products. Six hundred years ago, accomplishments like these seemed impossible for Western civilization, yet it happened. In his book, Ferguson’s thesis suggests that the success of Western world cannot be categorized merely as a natural occurrence. Rather, it should be attributed to the right combination of the economic, political, social and technological aspects which contributed towards the establishment of efficient institutions. The development and adoption of this right mix enabled the West to withstand difficult times and gave it a competitive advantage. Ferguson has presented six themes with which the West was equipped and which became the primary reason for the growth of this region. The six killer apps are as follow; Competition: This facilitated the environment needed for the functioning of a capitalist market and decentralized the power within and among different nations. Science: West advanced academically and eminent discoveries were made which triggered Industrial Revolution. Also, the scientific progress contributed towards military advantage. Property Rights: This provided a legal framework for rule of law and due to this West was able to achieve stable footing. Extensive land possession and its links to the democratic process led to shared economic and political power. Modern Medicine: This doubled the life-expectancy. New procedures, vaccinations and medicines were produced due to which people were able to live longer and healthier. Consumerism: The economy became consumption – oriented where demand for industrial and consumer goods increased at an exponential rate. Consumerism shaped the society and a change in perception and preference of the general masses was observed. Work Ethics: This provided a moral framework for the promotion of hard-work, saving, literacy and investment in the society. For Ferguson, the primary target audience for this book is the younger generation. It contains vivid details explained in a simple manner. The writer has two main agendas for writing this book. Firstly, he wants to keep the cultural identity intact by putting forward his thoughts on world history. If the population is not aware about its own identity, then such a civilization would be driven to the brink of extinction. Cultural identity has to be defended against foreign threats. The second agenda is to rectify the inadequate way in which history is being taught in schools. Such deficiencies are a major threat towards the preservation of identity and can put it in immense crisis in future. Ferguson speculates in his book that this supremacy of the Western world is not an ever-lasting phenomenon. Chances are that the rest of the world might overtake West by adopting these six killer application and by bringing innovation and improvement in them. Niall Ferguson’s book has gathered a lot of accolade, but it has also been severely critiqued by scholars all over the world. He has showed his skills as an economic historian in his book and the ability to translate history into easy concepts and substantial examples. The novelty of his analytical skills is commendable, but the book in itself is a bit of a disappointment. The concepts presented in the book are somewhat contradictory and connected through flawed logic. Defeat of Ottoman armies after they had laid siege on Hapsburg Empire is the introductory topic in the chapter of ‘Science’. The writer wants the reader to contemplate on how science led to the advancement in military for the West. He discusses Frederick the Great, Prussian army and gives a terse account on Turkey’s secularization. This overload of information leads to confusion in the minds of readers, who have to struggle to recollect what the point was. The chapter on ‘Medicine’ is the most disappointing, in which Ferguson has totally ignored the actual subject matter and focused more upon narrating historical events such as France’s revolution and administration of its colonies, experimentation on eugenics of Africa by the Germans and the Nazi genocide which took place in Eastern Europe. The actual topic ‘Medicine’ is not discussed the way it should have been. Another such anomaly can be found in the chapter of ‘Work Ethics’. In this chapter Ferguson asserts that the most significant reason for the declining work ethic in Europe is due to the lack in religious faith. On the other hand, he applies the same logic to Chinese economy and says that Protestants inculcated the values of labor, saving and literacy among the Chinese which led to their economic advancement. This is pure contradiction of ideas and shows inconsistencies which can boggle a reader. Apart from having these anomalies, certain other ideas presented in his book do not make sense. In his book, Ferguson has bolstered the idea that the West has no pre-modern past. Individuals who lack historical knowledge will assume that the Western world emerged around 500 years ago when it adopted those six applications. He says that individuals in West are those people who have successfully downloaded those six applications and cannot be categorized in term of religion, locality, ethnicity (Ferguson, 15). By putting forward such an idea, he is overlooking the great achievements secured by the Western world in ancient time such as philosophy, historical and prose writing, works of Archimedes, Euclid, St Augustine and Chaucer to name a few. Ferguson admires the contributions made by Anglo-American towards ‘the rule of law, the sanctity of the individuals, and the security of the property rights, ensured by representative constitutional government’ (Ferguson p.97). He claims this to be one of the killer applications that West had secured. This raises question as to how Chinese and other Asian countries were able to achieve higher standards of competitiveness in the global scenario without implementing this killer application. The rise of China can no longer be attributed to the production of cheap consumer goods. China’s success has substantiated the fact that the two driving forces which triggered the progress were; carefully devised set of policies and the establishment of efficient institutions which were fit for their economy. Ferguson concludes his book by putting forward the fundamental thought that the sources of the major threats that Western world has to encounter today, which can end its continued dominance in the global landscape, do not lie in Islam or China but within the western world. The reason is deficiency in knowledge and faith which is attributed with our civilization. He predicts that if the similar situation prevails then the ‘Rest’ would ultimately take-over. The book has a strong theme and a powerful ending. The author accomplished his agendas to the extent that the book enabled him to convince the readers the significance of preserving cultural identity and in highlighting the major flaws in teaching history at schools and colleges. On the other hand, the book has some serious discrepancies. For the younger generation, this book in an intriguing introduction to the historical aspect of the West and also provides insight as to how the future might be if the Western supremacy comes to an end, as it is prophesized by the author. Works Cited Ferguson, Niall. Civilization: The West and the Rest. London: Allen Lane, 2011. Print. Read More