Wim M. J. van Binsbergen Libros

Focusing on the Sea Peoples' significant impact on the Eastern Mediterranean during the late Bronze Age, this work expands on the authors' earlier collaboration, "Ethnicity in Mediterranean Protohistory." It revisits and revitalizes the theories of linguist Joseph Karst, offering a four-tiered model of Mediterranean linguistic and ethnic identity. The book includes a new introduction, conclusion, and comprehensive bibliographic resources, aiming to provide a critical and original contribution to the understanding of this historical phenomenon.

What prompted Martin Bernal, a specialist in modern Chinese intellectual history, to explore the ancient history of the Eastern Mediterranean? His aim was to rewrite two millennia of European intellectual history, revealing the eighteenth-century rise of Altertumswissenschaft as a pivotal moment in the Eurocentric denial of the "Afroasiatic roots of European civilization." His multi-volume work created significant debate across various fields, including African Studies and classical archaeology. Bernal became an unexpected figure for African American intellectuals identifying as Afrocentrist, which also led to backlash from conservative classicists. Despite some missteps in epistemology and historiography, his arguments hold merit. The publication of "Black Athena Revisited" in 1996 seemed to refute his thesis, but this collection aims to restore balance. It features Bernal’s responses to critics and expands his thesis to sub-Saharan Africa, emphasizing the importance of a non-Eurocentric, multicentric model of global cultural history. This vision challenges negative perceptions of Africa by highlighting its significant contributions and intercontinental interactions. Originally published in 1997, the updated edition includes a chapter addressing developments into the third millennium and reflects on the ongoing debate.

"The empirically rich and analytically provocative contributions to this volume focus on Africa and on the process through which commodities come into being. Commodifcation is shown to be a powerful tool towards understanding the modern world, especially South economies and South-North interactions today. It greatly illuminates the three central concepts things, agency, and identities, and thus is conducive to the much-needed dialogue between anthropology and economics. In the book, some of the original contributors of A. Appadurai's edited collection from 1986 The Social Life of Things: Commodities in Cultural Perspective meet with today's prominent names in the field (Jean & John Comaroff, Paul & Jennifer Alexander, R. Dilley, M. Rowlands, and award-winning N. Rose Hunt) and with scholars of the next generation: B. Weiss, R. van Dijk, J. Roitman, J. Leach, and I. Stengs. Together with W. van Binsbergen and P. Geschiere, this team explores the dynamics of Commodification."-- Provided by publisher