Facts do not
cease to exist
because they
are ignored.
Aldous Huxley
What is periodization?

Periodization is the dividing or categorizing of
time into separate sections
Why do historians use periodization?
 To distinguish one cluster of interrelated
historical events from another in order to
discover a pattern for change

To identify significant shifts in those patterns in
terms of discontinuities or turning points, which
serve as the start and end of periods

To highlight trends or events that appear
dominant or important during a particular span
of time
But problems emerge:
All systems of periodization are more or less
arbitrary
 Labels are continually challenged and redefined


How can periodization help explain the J-curve of
explosive population growth on the planet?
Definition of Periodization:
 A conceptual tool that makes change over
time manageable by identifying big changes
Implied Watersheds:
 Developments or events that occurred in
world history affecting the most people
Three Overlapping Shifts:
Three overlapping shifts across societies must
occur for a new period of world history to be
identified
 The world map must change significantly
(Cultural, political, or economic boundaries;
migrations)
 New kinds of contacts must be established
among different areas
(New trade patterns, outreach of religions)
 New parallelisms must arise in patterns
displayed by major civilizations
(Example: “The fall of the great empires meets
the requirements. Cultural and political
boundaries shifted in India and the
Mediterranean world. Buddhism, Christianity,
and Islam spread widely. The Islamic world
replaced India as the most expansive
civilization.”)
Periodization in World History
 8000 BCE-600 CE (Foundations)
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Neolithic Revolution
Urban Revolution
Rise of Civilizations
River Valley Civilizations and expansionist
civilizations
Regional trade/conflict
Periodization in World History

600 BCE-600 CE (Classical Era)
 P- foundations of democracy, Classical empires: Han,
Rome, Gupta, Persian, Greek
 I- increased irrigation, underground irrigation in Persia,
expansion of road systems
 R- development/spread of world religions

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A- Classical art (Greece/Rome), Golden Age (India)

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Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism
Sculptures, frescos, pottery, architecture, theatre
T- Iron tools, weapons
E- Roman trade routes, Silk Roads emerge, currency
S-patriarchal, expansion of slavery

600 CE-1450CE (Post-classical)
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P- Feudalism (Europe, Japan), new empires: Mongols,
Islamic Empires
I- terraced farming, fast-ripening rice, spread of crops
R- spread of world religions, Christianity, Buddhism,
Islam
A- Golden Age for China, Abbasid
T-siege weapons,
E-expansion of Silk Roads, Mongol promotion of trade,
Islamic unification of trade
S-patriarchal, serfdom, military elite, civil service
officials in China

1450-1750 (The Early Modern Period)
P- Conquest & New Empires, absolutism
I- Exploration, plantation economies
R-Reformation, Syncretism
A- Renaissance, Scientific Revolution)
T- Exploration
Commercial Revolution)

1750-1914 (The Modern Era)
The Enlightenment, revolutions in the
Americas, the beginning of the Industrial
Revolution, and a second round of
European imperialism led to a shift in
Europe and the West’s relationship to other
regions

1914-Present (Contemporary)
The beginning of many “modern” changes
in technology and accelerated global
interactions, the World Wars, the collapse of
European imperialism, the Cold War and its
impact on former colonial regions,
American hegemony
Themes of World History
 Interaction between humans and the environment
 Demography and disease
 Migration
 Patterns of settlement
 Technology
 Development
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and interaction of cultures
Religions
Belief systems, philosophies, and ideologies
Science and technology
The arts and architecture

State-building, expansion, and conflict
 Political structures and forms of governance
 Empires
 Nations and nationalism
 Revolts and revolutions
 Regional, transregional, and global structures and
organizations

Creation, expansion, and interaction of economic
systems
 Agricultural and pastoral production
 Trade and commerce
 Labor systems
 Industrialization
 Capitalism and socialism

Development and transformation of social structures
 Gender roles and relations
 Family and kinship
 Racial and ethnic constructions
 Social and economic classes
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Explain the quote: “Strictly speaking, there
are no periods in history, only in historians’
analyses.”
Why is the debate on historical dating (BC
versus BCE…AD versus CE) a source of
concern for world historians?
What criteria can historians use to make
distinctions among sections of time?
List the top ten technological developments
prior to the Industrial Revolution.


Consider the question posed by Joan Kelly:
“Did women have a Renaissance?” Why is
this question significant for world
historians and how does this question
present a challenge to the notion of
periodization?
World historians are very interested in
social class structures. How can social class
structures alter the telling of history?

Consider this: The three Cs of World History:
Change, Connections, and Comparison allow
for a framework for analysis for exploring the
themes of World History.