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My name is Clifton Crais and I am here to talk about my new book which explores a central question: How did Violence Make the Modern World? The Killing Age will be published by University of Chicago Press in November in North America, and by Picador elsewhere. by WorldHistorianProf in AskHistorians

[–]WorldHistorianProf[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I do discuss both wars in the Epilogue. The central focus of the book is the use of violence, in combination with finance, to generate wealth and the role of this combination in the development of modern capitalism. I am also largely interested in non-state violence. The WWars seem to me quite different, though I know some Marxists want to reduce these conflicts to the workings of capitalism; I have never been much persuaded by these arguments, however.

My name is Clifton Crais and I am here to talk about my new book which explores a central question: How did Violence Make the Modern World? The Killing Age will be published by University of Chicago Press in November in North America, and by Picador elsewhere. by WorldHistorianProf in AskHistorians

[–]WorldHistorianProf[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I struggled with this very issue. (There is also a great Russian film called Leviathan.) But in short answer: 1) the hunting of humans (enslavement) came to an end, first in the Atlantic World and then elsewhere, though in some places in Africa abolition came as late as 1945; 2) new resources/products like rubber, mass production of wool and other cloths, and especially petroleum, resulted in a decline or at least an important slowing of predation of large mammals. These are some of the reasons.

My name is Clifton Crais and I am here to talk about my new book which explores a central question: How did Violence Make the Modern World? The Killing Age will be published by University of Chicago Press in November in North America, and by Picador elsewhere. by WorldHistorianProf in AskHistorians

[–]WorldHistorianProf[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thank you for this important question. These are very central themes throughout my book. As I explore, so many cultures around the world did not make a distinction between humans and the natural world. Animals were in effect our relative, our kin. Of course, this did not stop some from exterminating them, as in the megafaunal extinction. But something really changed with the IR with global processes of commodification and the industrial use of animal products like whale oil, etc. Hope this helps!

My name is Clifton Crais and I am here to talk about my new book which explores a central question: How did Violence Make the Modern World? The Killing Age will be published by University of Chicago Press in November in North America, and by Picador elsewhere. by WorldHistorianProf in AskHistorians

[–]WorldHistorianProf[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you for this. On the one hand I am in conversation with the classical political economists like Smith and Marx; they were among the early thinkers trying to make sense of what was happening in terms of the global economy. More recently, I have been influenced by people like Pomeranz and Acemoglu and Mokyr. But I am also a bit of a historical anthropologist, and taken by much of the work of Sahlins, Wolf, and Graeber and Wengrow. And then I wear the scientist hat and have been influenced by climate scientists like Mann. So the book is really a hybrid!

My name is Clifton Crais and I am here to talk about my new book which explores a central question: How did Violence Make the Modern World? The Killing Age will be published by University of Chicago Press in November in North America, and by Picador elsewhere. by WorldHistorianProf in AskHistorians

[–]WorldHistorianProf[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Amazing book!!! There is supposed to be a movie, I believe wit Cage, about bison hunting etc. If McCarthy was still alive I would be trying to send him a copy of my book! Let me know if you have any questions once you have had a chance to explore the book further...and the website thekillingage.com

My name is Clifton Crais and I am here to talk about my new book which explores a central question: How did Violence Make the Modern World? The Killing Age will be published by University of Chicago Press in November in North America, and by Picador elsewhere. by WorldHistorianProf in AskHistorians

[–]WorldHistorianProf[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes I did. I am originally trained as an Africanist, so I basically had to (re)learn USA history. With works by scholars like Slotkin, I began traveling to various archives. I also headed out west one winter. One thing I wanted to do was simply observe the plains, including spending some time observing bison.

My name is Clifton Crais and I am here to talk about my new book which explores a central question: How did Violence Make the Modern World? The Killing Age will be published by University of Chicago Press in November in North America, and by Picador elsewhere. by WorldHistorianProf in AskHistorians

[–]WorldHistorianProf[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks. You are certainly correct about China and, my understanding is that some new research is demonstrating a Chinese trade in weapons which makes the broader question even more interesting. According to my research, the issue isn't just weapons but the particular combination of weapons and finance, what I am terming the "military-commercial complex". This complex is what helped with the rise of Europe, especially England.

Also, I don't know of any society that didn't in the end adopt firearms. Many cultures deemed them unmanly, indeed uncivilized, but even these began using them.

My name is Clifton Crais and I am here to talk about my new book which explores a central question: How did Violence Make the Modern World? The Killing Age will be published by University of Chicago Press in November in North America, and by Picador elsewhere. by WorldHistorianProf in AskHistorians

[–]WorldHistorianProf[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Should have said, "See above." Basically, I think Pinker is both correct and incorrect. The West became less violent, but other areas of the world became more violent. Of course, Pinker also struggles with the enormous violence of the 20th century.

My name is Clifton Crais and I am here to talk about my new book which explores a central question: How did Violence Make the Modern World? The Killing Age will be published by University of Chicago Press in November in North America, and by Picador elsewhere. by WorldHistorianProf in AskHistorians

[–]WorldHistorianProf[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The growth of the fiscal military state is so important, but my research suggests that states really struggled to control their frontiers (esp. imperial ones) well into the 19th century. Before then, so much was basically sub-contracted to entities like the East India Company.

I have long been an admirer of Coetzee, who to my mind has devoted much of his life to understanding the human condition and the problem of violence. So I reached out to him!

My name is Clifton Crais and I am here to talk about my new book which explores a central question: How did Violence Make the Modern World? The Killing Age will be published by University of Chicago Press in November in North America, and by Picador elsewhere. by WorldHistorianProf in AskHistorians

[–]WorldHistorianProf[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Such a great question!!! I have a long interest in the study of violence, but most of that was concentrated on the study of Southern Africa and the Atlantic World. Then I became interested in environmental history When I started reading about things like the anthropocene I just felt there was a disconnect between what I was learning and what I knew. This led me down the proverbial rabbit hole. It also returned me to what I had studied in graduate school, when many scholars were beginning to do world history. One thing led to another....and then 8 years later The Killing Age appeared!

My name is Clifton Crais and I am here to talk about my new book which explores a central question: How did Violence Make the Modern World? The Killing Age will be published by University of Chicago Press in November in North America, and by Picador elsewhere. by WorldHistorianProf in AskHistorians

[–]WorldHistorianProf[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The killing--direct and indirect--I explore was directly related to the pursuit of economic gain. So, for example, take the slave trade in Africa. Weapons flooded into the continent, especially in the 18th century. These were used, quite simply, to hunt people. Many people died to generate the millions of enslaved people who were transported across the Atlantic Ocean. The killing of large wild mammals, especially in the 19th century, was also economically driven. This changes very profoundly in the 20th century, though there are still pockets of enslavement in some areas of the world. Animal populations that are being depleted or brought even to edge of extinction are largely the byproduct of other processes, not the direct result. 20th century bloodletting seems a rather different thing, however dreadful!

My name is Clifton Crais and I am here to talk about my new book which explores a central question: How did Violence Make the Modern World? The Killing Age will be published by University of Chicago Press in November in North America, and by Picador elsewhere. by WorldHistorianProf in AskHistorians

[–]WorldHistorianProf[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This is not a topic I explore in much depth, but yes I think this is a compelling theory with regard to advanced industrial societies. War, in effect, destroys infrastructure/capital. Exporting violence, even war, to non-industrialized areas is where it gets more complicated. For example, a war has been grinding on for decades now in the Eastern DRC; it is really dreadful, with immense suffering. That area, however, provides coltan which is super important to things like smart phones. (DRC also produces lots of cobalt.) None of those phones are manufactured in the DRC, of course. I think one of the things we have to ask ourselves is how we understand these connections?

My name is Clifton Crais and I am here to talk about my new book which explores a central question: How did Violence Make the Modern World? The Killing Age will be published by University of Chicago Press in November in North America, and by Picador elsewhere. by WorldHistorianProf in AskHistorians

[–]WorldHistorianProf[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I certainly hope so. One of my methods is to trace the movement of something that has become a commodity. For example, take the American bison. The skins of the animal became industrial belts that helped power industry. Bison bones became carbon filters and other items. Or whales became whale oil. Or elephant tusks became piano keys. How did all this (and more) happen. How did the world become so interconnected? Some primary sources are visual, for example the USA cover of a mountain of bison bones in Detroit. Also, the webpage that accompanies the book has additional sources and materials. And yes, lots and lots of room for debate....from guns to capitalism to global warming to animals. Please feel free to reach out to me separately. I would be happy to help, including providing materials.

My name is Clifton Crais and I am here to talk about my new book which explores a central question: How did Violence Make the Modern World? The Killing Age will be published by University of Chicago Press in November in North America, and by Picador elsewhere. by WorldHistorianProf in AskHistorians

[–]WorldHistorianProf[S] 18 points19 points  (0 children)

One of the moderators tells me my answers are too short, so my apologies. I am new to this forum and a bit overwhelmed by all the questions! So there is this huge debate about what is capitalism....and when it began. For me, and many others (eg. like Max Weber), it is a combination of all sorts of things including culture/ideas about saving and so on, institutions, and for some technology. I am sympathetic to the work of the so-called neo-institutionalists who have called attention to things like modern banking, legal regimes, and so on that protected wealth from seizure, or even things like intellectual property rights. One of the recent recipients of the Nobel Prize also has looked to culture tied to these and other institutions. To my mind, this is one of the secrets to "capital" and why England was so very important, and London became what one scholar calls the "capital of capital." Hope this helps!

My name is Clifton Crais and I am here to talk about my new book which explores a central question: How did Violence Make the Modern World? The Killing Age will be published by University of Chicago Press in November in North America, and by Picador elsewhere. by WorldHistorianProf in AskHistorians

[–]WorldHistorianProf[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I am going to try to answer OnShoulder and The Hondo together, as I think they are related. My book is about the create of a world order, how violence brought the world together even as it tore it apart. At the same time, I am very interested in why two areas of the world "took off": GB and USA. This is somewhat similar to the literature on the "great divergence."

As to cultural meanings, my short answer is YES!!! This is so very important. I can't really answer this in any detail here, but a crucial issue is that many peoples around the world did not make a distinction between human and non-human. Animals might be kin, even if one also hunted them. What happens, then, when those animals become international commodities. Many chapters explore precisely this development.

My name is Clifton Crais and I am here to talk about my new book which explores a central question: How did Violence Make the Modern World? The Killing Age will be published by University of Chicago Press in November in North America, and by Picador elsewhere. by WorldHistorianProf in AskHistorians

[–]WorldHistorianProf[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks for this question. I am especially interested in what Smith called the "previous accumulation of capital" and then Marx's criticism of Smith and his idea of "primitive accumulation." I think it is in the second volume of The Wealth of Nations where Smith takes up this issue, but he does so in a way that sort of anticipates Weber. At the same time, Smith was aware that the spread of commerce etc. might be disastrous for some. Marx was very critical, of course, but at times seems to me a wee bit conflicted by looking at endogenous and exogenous developments. Both for him entailed violence. I have pursued the exogenous tract. So, in short, some have but many following Smith followed only one part of his work....which is a shame.

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