Mirror Of The World Sandra Halperin Summary

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Theories of Development and Social Change in Europe
The 18th and 19th centuries were a period of vast growth and greatest transformation in Europe. Decades of the industrial revolution led to the Continent whose economy was founded largely on trade and agriculture into a new era of heavy industry, mass production, and vast economic growth. Industrialization within the majority of the European nations was producing new social classes.
Through the first chapter, in Mirror of the World Sandra Halperin discusses the development of Industrial capitalism in Europe. Halperin asserts that the struggle amid capital and labor while being carried in different ways and different societies
brought about similar results. The dualistic structures emerged and not through the concerted or common action of the ruling class in Europe but due to the structural relations of connection which comprises of the transnational elite of Europe, the interdependence and similarities which it established amongst nation (7). The strength of the chapter was the way through which the author describes the ruling classes and their quest for ensuring that the social changes never changes their position in the society. The Europen countries ruling classes were similar casts. They were part of a trans-regional elite whose vast interests, characteristics, policies and capabilities were reproduced through interdependence connection and interaction. According to Helprin (24), Industrial development in the Europen nation was depicted by the poor use of resources, monopoly, income misdistribution, and inequitable systems of tax. Hence, the resources and wealth were preserved for the upper classes notwithstanding the emergence of other social classes. To support this point Helprin uses the example of how the Europen nations were able to conquer the third world history arguing that the differences between the Europen nations and the third world nations are mainly due to its colonial history (Helprin 6). Helprin argues that colonialism established interrelated structure disparities amid the Third World communities including the dual economies through which dynamic and contemporary sectors exists with a stagnant and traditional economy and reliance n a narrow range of the export goods and trading partners. Colonial exploitation and domination were as much part of the Europen nation experiences in the 19th century as they are in the contemporary Third world nations.
Further on Helprin adds credibility to her research by connecting the main theories that help explain Europen industrial capitalism. Helprin (6) asserts that the core claim of both the dependency and world systems theories is that the fortunes of the various nations around the world are associated with the internal division of labor within the globes capitals system. In the world system theory focusing on Wallenstein work, his work has availed the most detailed and systematic exposition regarding the way this system developed the outcomes in the majority of the western nation. The major drawback regarding this chapter is that the author has failed to show how Theories of Development of dependency and world systems theories contributed to the social changes. The author briefly explains the theories but fails to mention their contributions towards development. Domination According to Helprin (22) purely rests on power whether economic or military strength or unequal information and ideological authority. The class that owns property dominates dues to its resources monopoly, and this provides it with an ever-continuing economic and political base.
Wars and conflict played a significant change in bringing the social changes in Europe. Helprin shows that conflict, social polarization, and stagnation become evident by 1914 in Europe. The tensions led to the world wars and the total destruction of the structures established by the society. After the subsequent wars such as Napoleonic Wars, 1830 and 1848 revolutions, first word War and Second World War, a thorough reconstruction occurred on the basis of the redistributive policies which prior to the wars had been blocked (Helprin 25). After the year 1945, the economy, society and polity in Europe conformed to the Europen model through which the majority of the contemporary development theory has been found. Europe attained stable and prosperous democratic communities in 19th and early 20th centuries through a massive material and human destruction as a result of the wars.
Sandra Halperin in War and Social Change in Modern Europe notes that class was integral in the development of the Europen nations and maintaining it was integral.
Although war played a significant part, the author through this chapter shows that it was the significance increases in the unity, strength and political power of labor in Europe that made it possible for the attainment of democracy and industrialization in Europe. The author through this chapter notes that in Europe the capitalist class was formed as a result of the fusion of the landowning and industrial classes in Europe. Overall, the class was dominated by the traditional aristocracy and landowning elite. Further on, Industrial Revolution in Britain advantaged the older the conservative sectors of the health structure of the British such as the bankers, merchants and the great landowner’s institution of the industrialists and manufacturers. The major strength of the chapter is a reference to the liberal and Marxist theory. Halperin (24) notes that with regards to the Marxists and Liberal theory, a new class emerged and brought wth it a new capitalist’s production mode. The class is thought to have served a highly evolutional part in economic and social development through demolishing the previously existing institutions and replacing them with a new system of production, and new organizations with the aim of meeting the capital needs. The new class came to power through having nationalist revolutions and gained power through establishing institutions. However, Halperin (25) argues that the regime changes and Industrial revolution never replaced the ruling class; rather it was the means through which the ruling class adapted successfully to the changing state of affairs and co-opted a new
strategy.
The chapter was a good read and had limited weakness since the author was able to highlight important aspects of the 19th century. Conflicts and war were integral towards the abolishment of the class system. Halperin argues that the class system established during the 1848 started to unravel, and intra-class conflicts start to emerge. The dual economies that depicted the economic expansion of Europe led to the conflicts and rivalry amongst the ruling groups in Europe contributed to the interstate war in 1914. The conflicts in Britain, we linked with the Gold standard reinstatement and the tension surrounding the commitment of Britain to the First World War and the increasing competitive threat from America and Germany. Halperin (28) maintains that all of the Europen nations, Britain included enjoyed closed political classes upheld by the agrarian elements throughout the 19th century. There were differing degrees of restriction and closure, although the extent varied. The aristocracy absorbed and dominated the industrial bourgeoisie, safeguarding it structures and lands. Moore through the book Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy from Chapter 7 to 9 explains the emergence of the new class system through revolutions and conflicts. Moore through his book argues that peasants were integral in the revolutions that swept the Europen nations. However, their contribution was uneven. The author does a good job of explaining the various nations whether it was accepted. For instance, it was declined in Russia and China, important in the nation of France, minor in Japan, trivial in England and Germany, and to date significant in India (Moore 433). The author goes on to describe the reasons behind the changes in the various Europen nations focusing on each nation and the impact of the revolutions. Moore (444) maintains that the reactionary upsurge in England was no more than a passing phase. The elite in British wanted to maintain their power and the class system, and as such the revolutionaries were dealt with. The interests of agrarian and manufacturing firm in England competed with each other for popular favor extending the suffrage and jealously knocked down and opposing each other’s selfish measures. In conclusion, the phrase modernization is mainly used in the contemporary society while referring to the process presently experienced by the majority of countries. For some it implies change from simple form of economy, society and politics to more complex one while others holds that it is the process of becoming enmeshed in an Imperialist World system that is under the control of the powerful capitalist nations. Notwithstanding the conflicts and the subsequent world wars, the Europen elites continued with the domination of the nation’s economic systems. The various wars between the 18th and 19th century were integral in abolishing the established class system. As indicated by Moore the Europen elite were also a cause of their own downfall as they competed with each other and, as a result, new classes emerged.

Works Cited:
Halperin, Sandra. In the Mirror of the Third World: Capitalist Development in Modern Europe. Ithaca u.a: Cornell Univ. Press, 1997. Print.
Halperin, Sandra. War and Social Change in Modern Europe: The Great Transformation Revisisted. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Print.
Moore, Barrington. Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Lord and Peasant in the Making of the Modern World. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1966. Print.