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JANET ABU-LUGHOD RESPONDS TO DONALD NIELSEN'S CRITIQUE OF HER BOOK "BEFORE EUROPEAN HEGEMONY." SHE DECLARES HER BASIC AGREEMENT WITH NIELSEN'S CRITIQUE, BUT HOPES THAT HER WORK WILL STILL FULFILL ITS BASIC PURPOSE: THE STIMULATION OF FURTHER DEBATE ON THE SUBJECT.

New York and Cairo share a small-grain, diverse character which contrasts sharply with Chicago's spatial insulation. Posits that both may have been shaped by similar legal, social and political processes. But the similarity is superficial; the deep structures of the 2 are very different, reflecting different roles in the global economy. Advanced cities may reproduce characteristics of the least developed. (SJK)

THE AUTHOR'S THEORY IS THAT HISTORY HAS A BIAS IN ITS STRESS ON THE WEST WINNING OUT OVER THE EAST IN DEVELOPMENT IN THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY. SHE HYPOTHESIZES THAT REORGANIZATION OF THE WORLD SYSTEM AT THIS TIME FAVORING THE WEST IS AT LEAST AS ATTRIBUTABLE TO SYSTEMIC GEOPOLITICAL AND DEMOGRAPHIC CAUSES AS TO ANY CULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS INHERENT IN THE EAST OR THE WEST. THE EAST WAS IN MANY WAYS MORE ADVANCED IN "CAPITALISTIC" COMMERCE, INVENTIONS AND IN NAVAL POWER (IN CHINA). SHE LISTS OCCURRENCES IN THE VARIOUS SUBSYSTEMS WHICH EXISTED AT THE TIME EVENTUALLY LEADING TO THE "RISE" OF THE WEST. HOW DID THIS SHIFT IN DEVELOPMENT OCCUR? WHAT WEAKNESSES EXISTED IN THE OLD BALANCE? ANSWERING THESE QUESTIONS, SHE SAYS, IS THE ULTIMATE AIM OF HER RESEARCH.