From Savages and Barbarians to Primitives: Africa,Social Typologies,and History in Eighteenth–Century French Philosophy

This article describes the conceptual framework (what I call a “style of reasoning”) within which knowledge about Africa was legitimized in eighteenth–century French philosophy. The article traces a shift or rupture in this conceptual framework which, at the end of the eighteenth century, led to the emergence of new conditions for knowledge legitimation that altered Europe’s perception of Africa. The article examines these two conceptual frameworks within the context of a discussion of the social theory of the time, which categorized Africans first as savages, and then, with the advent of our modern “style of reasoning,” as primitives. The argument used to demonstrate this change in categorizations is historical. (In the terminology of Michel Foucault, the paper is an “archaeological” investigation of knowledge about Africa.) The greater part of the article analyzes in detail the principal social theory of Enlightenment philosophy, the stadial theory of society, with the aim of demonstrating how it determined what could be affirmed about Africa. The shift in the perception of Africans from savages to primitives involved an epistemological change in how societies were grasped. The article provides a greater understanding of the constitution of Africa as a cognitive construct, which is not only of theoretical concern; this construct shaped Europe’s intervention in Africa, and continues to influence what we believe Africa is and should become.     

A pottery workshop with flint tools on blades knapped with copper at Nausharo (Indus civilisation, ca. 2500 BC)

Twenty years after its discovery, the pottery workshop of Nausharo (province of Baluchistan, Pakistan), which yielded a series of knapped stone tools in association with unbaked sherds and clay waste, is still of unique importance in Asian protohistorical studies. The types of pottery production (sandy marl fabrics) identified in this workshop, which is dated to ca. 2500 BC, correspond to the majority of the domestic pottery discovered at the site during the first two phases of the Indus Civilisation. The flint blades discovered in the workshop were made from exotic flint, coming from zones close to the great Indus sites such as Mohenjo-Daro and Chanhu-Daro. This is also the origin of a small amount of the pottery (micaceous fabrics) found at Nausharo in domestic contexts, e.g. Black-Slipped-Jars. The butts of the blades display features characteristic of pressure detachment with a copper pressure point. Gloss and microwear traces (polish) testify to the blades' having been used for finishing the clay vessels: for actual finishing (trimming) while they were being turned on a wheel, and possibly also for scraping by hand. Both of these operations are distinctly attested to by the presence in the workshop of two different types of clay shavings.     

La position de la France dans l'industrie européenne des machines à vapeur durant la seconde moitié du XIXe siècle∗

At least from the standpoint of the steam‐engine industry, the nature of industrial relations between France and other countries underwent a significant change during the half century which elapsed between 1860 and 1910. Towards 1860, the major characteristics are dispersion and nationalism; on the other hand, at the beginning of the twentieth century, while there is a new concentration on the national level, it confronts a distinct cosmopolitanism on the international level. To give an idea of this evolution, we will refer to two French works on steam‐engines, dated 1861–62 and 1913 respectively. They are of an essential practical nature and describe a large number of engines which were actually available on the market. Below, we will successively examine the early manufacturers existing through 1861–62, then those dating from 1913 only, and finally the establishments which have endured throughout the whole period under consideration. This study aims at pointing out the clear decadence of the French industry which became increasingly dependent upon foreign sources in the areas of technical creativeness as well as production.     

TOWARD A UNIFIED THEORY OF ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY AND URBAN ECONOMICS*

ABSTRACT In this paper, I pursue two objectives. First, I propose a primer in economic geography relying on a simple model that can be solved analytically by undergraduate students. Second, I briefly discuss two topics that, in my opinion, should rank high on the research agenda.