The «Global Turn» and the Historiography on Asia

The essay analyzes critically the impact of the global turn on the evolution of the studies on Asian history. After a brief introduction, which discusses how the history of Asia has struggled to overcome the periodization focused on European activities, the essay articulates into two parts. The first, by Diego Abenante, analyzes the evolution of the historiography on South Asia, with an emphasis on the more recent historiographic trends that emerged between the late 1990s and the early 2000s. The second part of the essay, by Laura De Giorgi, offers a brief overview of the impact of the global turn in the field of East Asian history. The authors elaborate on the importance of the global turn in weakening the insularity of the discipline, as a consequence of the deeper comprehension of the complex interplay of economic, political and cultural dynamics in the making of modern world.