Braudel is a fantastic historian in his own right, but especially important in this context in that he started his career as an overt Marxist who wanted to contribute to Marx's theory by supplying the actual history on which it depended. That is to say, a history told not from the perspective of popes and princes, but one based on material data about the world's great systems; macro-economic factors like weather patterns and the price of grain. This was supposed to be the vantage point from which the nefarious dynamic of capital would reveal itself most clearly, with the underlying data providing an empirical basis for Marx's economic theory, thereby grounding the whole enterprise in reality.
As it turned out, materialist history did provide a very revealing perspective, but not the one Braudel anticipated. Quite the opposite. Among its many revelations was the unavoidable fact that Marx's assertions about history simply weren't supported by the facts. Over time, Braudel found his reverence waning. Eventually, his loss of faith turned into outright rejection. That said, were it not for Marx, Braudel's absolutely brilliant history may never have been written. And that would be a shame, since the materialist approach that Braudel pioneered has become more relevant than ever in our own data-driven age.
It warms my heart to no end that there's another Braudel fan here! =)
I didn't intend to come off as wholly dismissive of Marx--it's very fair to say that he's one of the great thinkers of political economy and sociology. But relying on 19th century thinkers when they've been surpassed always strikes me as unfortunate.
As it turned out, materialist history did provide a very revealing perspective, but not the one Braudel anticipated. Quite the opposite. Among its many revelations was the unavoidable fact that Marx's assertions about history simply weren't supported by the facts. Over time, Braudel found his reverence waning. Eventually, his loss of faith turned into outright rejection. That said, were it not for Marx, Braudel's absolutely brilliant history may never have been written. And that would be a shame, since the materialist approach that Braudel pioneered has become more relevant than ever in our own data-driven age.
http://www.amazon.com/Civilization-Capitalism-15th-18th-Cent...