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Comparative Economic History  比較経済史

 

Fernand Braudel, the revolutionary Historian, introduced a new method of viewing History. He argued that History is not a simple Time Line of monotonous events; rather, it should be seen as a multi-structured entity in which the main three levels are: (1) Geographic Time (The study of how geography and geological composition Effect the region of which the history is being studied—Changes to the geography of a region is unlikely to change in the short or medium term)  (2) Social Time: The study of Society and its identity (This also includes Military History)—changes to society may occur over the medium term (i.e., a number of generations) (3) Individual Time: The study of events that occur over time. As events tend to be ‘immediate’, social time is seen have a short time span.

            

  For me, this particular way of studying history caught my attention, and I found it to be a very effective and interesting way of studying History; so much, that I decided to follow this model in my research proposal which I hope to carry out here in Hitotsubashi University.

 

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Alexander North: Stressed that one of the main reasons the West developed itself Economically to its current condition is due to hundreds of years in developing “Property Rights”. In other words, in order for a nation to establish itself, firm laws explaining how an individual/Entity may come to own property and what rights and obligations are attached to it. Throughout History, Western Europe has been the home of developing and inducing evolution on its set Property Rights (Feudal Lords/Serfs to Land/Owner tenant ) .

 

 Based on what I heard about Bahrain when it first gained its independence, there was much trouble faced by many Bahraini citizens in regards to the property they owned and in the proceeding of their livelihoods. Until the Bahraini government was established, there was no entity overlooking　how land is owned and used, as ownership was passed down through generations and without need for a deed to prove it. For hundreds of years, this did not seem to be a problem, but it suddenly did when  the government was established. Many farmers have lost the lands of their fathers because they did not  have any paper to prove that the land belonged to them. This, I believe, did cause some friction  between many locals and the government, and was a terrible hurdle that Bahrain had to overcome  urgently.