TY - GEN digital ID - 131707003 TI - Great Divergence and Great Convergence : A Global Perspective AU - Grinin, Leonid AU - Korotayev, Andrey PY - 2015 SN - 9783319177809 9783319177816 9783319177793 9783319363660 PB - Cham Springer International Publishing DB - UniCat KW - Economic sociology KW - Demography KW - International relations. Foreign policy KW - Politics KW - Foreign trade. International trade KW - International economic relations KW - Economics KW - internationale economische politiek KW - demografie KW - economie KW - politiek KW - sociale economie KW - wereldeconomie KW - internationale economie UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:131707003 AB - This new monograph provides a stimulating new take on hotly contested topics in world modernization and the globalizing economy. It begins by situating what is called the Great Divergence--the social/technological revolution that led European nations to outpace the early dominance of Asia--in historical context over centuries. This is contrasted with an equally powerful Great Convergence, the recent economic and technological expansion taking place in Third World nations and characterized by narrowing inequity among nations. They are seen here as two phases of an inevitable global process, centuries in the making, with the potential for both positive and negative results. This sophisticated presentation examines: Why the developing world is growing more rapidly than the developed world. How this development began occurring under the Western world's radar. How former colonies of major powers grew to drive the world's economy. Why so many Western economists have been slow to recognize the Great Convergence. The increasing risk of geopolitical instability. Why the world is likely to find itself without an absolute leader after the end of the American hegemony A work of rare scope, Great Divergence and Great Convergence gives sociologists, global economists, demographers, and global historians a deeper understanding of the broader movement of social and economic history, combined with a long view of history as it is currently being made; it also offers some thrilling forecasts for global development in the forthcoming decades. ER -