The golden ages of European dominance were experienced from the 16th to the 10th century
The golden ages of European dominance were experienced from the 16th to the 10th century. During the given period, Europe oversaw the tremendous growth in their industries and trade as its nations explored other continents for valuable resources. From the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus to exploring the African continent, the continent experienced its golden era period. Many scholars have tried to explain the domination of European nations during the period by exploring basic human values as the motivation behind Europe’s success during the period. An example of such scholars is Shalom Schwartz. Through the theory of human values, Schwartz seeks to explain the role that human values play in influencing actions taken by people and why they have played a significant role in many historical events. Among some of the values that Schwartz’s theory seeks to explain include conformity, benevolence, power, and security. For this topic, I will discuss why such values are incapable of explaining world power’s reconfiguration during this period, and unduly celebrates European processes and institutions.
One of the values that Schwartz theory gives is power. During the 16th century, there existed powerful European empires. The empires were led by mighty leaders and used their existing resources to explore new lands, searching for resources or trade. During the early 16th century, many conflicts and wars were already being experienced in Europe as nations tried to take over new lands and spread their religion to others. The more powerful a nation was, the more likely it could survive during the period. According to Schwartz, power is defined as the ability to exercise control over people and resources. The European continent, during the different eras, exercised the most power in the world. Power gets viewed by Schwartz as a self-enhancement tool, which, when rightly exercised, can significantly change the course of individuals and how they manage available resources and people.
How Europe exercised the value goes against the theory of human values, as explained by Schwartz. It cannot thus explain the reconfiguration of world power during the 16th to 19th centuries. European nations were required to exercise their power during their militaries to maintain control over foreign lands. The continent’s land size is small, and as such, there was a need to look for resources elsewhere as it could not sustain its industries through those available on the continent. The shift in world power was not based primarily on the shift in power values only but a combination of many other factors.
Christianity was at the forefront of the factors contributing to the shift in power during the discussed period. Europe consists of many Christian denominations such as Catholics and Protestants, and each system has its own set of values. Each nation sought to spread Christianity to lands that they conquered to be able to control its inhabitants. Among the main pillars of Christianity is respect for authority. During the time, the church was an authoritative figure and thus was used as a pillar of power to help European nations maintain control over foreign lands. They sought to destabilize native religions by using force to spread Christianity. When we look at the African continent, Christians make up the largest majority of citizens, and many can trace their roots from Africa’s European exploration. The church was used to create fear and shape the path European nations used to exercise their power worldwide.
Schwartz’s value on universalism is also incapable of explaining the reconfiguration of world power. According to the scholar, universalism means that individuals know how their actions affect those around them and why we must strive to regulate our actions to maintain sanity in the universe. European domination ignored the value as a whole. Many European nations’ actions contributed to some of the worst wars, violations of human rights, and environmental degradation in human history. European nations began the Slave trade, and they sought to look for cheap labor for their home industries. European nations were only concerned about their own welfare and not that of the people it moved from continent to continent to work under deplorable conditions and fight in wars; they had no idea of the cause or even their objective. Many Africans, especially from the western part of the continent, were transported and sold to the highest bidders across Europe and America to work in plantations that provided raw materials for many European industries. The nations did not exercise the basic human value of universalism. Hence, the theory cannot explain world power’s reconfiguration across Europe from the 16th to the 19th centuries.
Schwartz, through his theories, promotes European institutions and processes unknowingly. The conflict of religion was a major factor that shaped European politics during the 16th to 19th centuries. The pursuit of personal interests has always been the main priority of many European institutions. The Catholic Church was mentioned to have been involved in the deaths of millions of Muslims across Europe because of religious intolerance. During the time, many wars were ideological wars where empires felt that others did not conform to their value systems and thus had the right to impose their ideologies through military support.
On the other hand, Schwartz values push for the realization of self-interests to avoid negative outcomes for self, commonly referred to as benevolence. During the late 19th century, European nations met in Germany to partition independent states in Africa while the rest of the world watched. Their ability to control the narrative made it easier to colonize African nations. Under the guise of helping their native land, they plundered resources in their African colonies, leaving the land worse than they found it. They set up institutions that were weak and which they could exploit for their self-gain. During the colonization period, their actions were a show of internalized motivation, which is a criticism of benevolence.