Michael Adas

Michael Adas (February 4, 1943) is an American historian and currently the Abraham E. Voorhees Professor of History at Rutgers University. He specializes in the history of technology, the history of anticolonialism and in global history.

Background

Michael Adas was born in 1943 in Detroit,MI to Harold A., and Elizabeth (Rivard) Adas. He attended [Western Michigan University] (Kalamazoo, MI) and later the [University of Wisconsin -Madison] for his graduate schooling where he earned two M.A. degrees, History (1967) and Indian Studies (1968), as well as his Ph.D in 1971. In the same year that he earned his M.A. degree in Indian studies he married Jane Hampton on June 18, 1967. In 1971 Adas joined Rutgers University as an Assistant Professor and steadily rose through the ranks, becoming a full Professor in 1978 .^[1] In 1996, Michael Adas received dual honors and was promoted to Rutgers University Board of Governor's Pofessor and received the Abraham E. Voorhees Chair in History. In addition, Michael Adas is a member of the Association for Asian Studies and the American Association of History Professors.

Career Timeline

• Western Michigan University, B.A. (summa cum laude), 1965.
• University of Wisconsin M.A. (history), 1968; M.A. (Indian studies), 1967; Ph.D., 1971.
• Rutgers University Assistant Professor, 1971-74.
• Rutgers University Associate Professor of history, 1974.
• The Burma Delta: Economic Development and Social Change on an Asian Rice Frontier, 1852–1941, University of Wisconsin Press, 1974.
• Rutgers University Professor, 1978.
• Prophets of Rebellion: Millenarian Protest Movements against the European Colonial Order, University of North Carolina Press (Chapel Hill, NC), 1979.
• Rutgers University, John Simon Guggenheim Fellow Award, 1984-1985.
• Rutgers University, Warren Susman Teaching Award, 1987-1988.
• Machines as the Measure of Men: Science, Technology and Ideologies of Western Dominance, Cornell University Press (Ithaca, NY), 1989.
• NJ-NEH Book Award, 1990.
• Dexter Prize, 1991 for Machines as the Measure of Men.
• Rutgers University, Teacher of the Year Award, 1992.
• (Editor) Islamic and European Expansion: The Forging of a Global Order, Temple University Press (Philadelphia, PA), 1993.
• (Coauthor with Peter N. Stearns and Stuart B. Schwartz) Turbulent Passage: A Global History of the Twentieth Century, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1994.
• Rutgers University Board of Governor's Professor, 1996.
• Rutgers University Abraham E. Voorhees Professor Chair in history, 1996.
• (Editor) Technology and European Overseas Enterprise: Diffusion, Adaption, and Adoption, Variorum (Brookfield, VT), 1996.
• State, Market, and Peasant in Colonial South and Southeast Asia, Ashgate (Brookfield, VT), 1998.
• (Coeditor with Steven Adams and Kevin Reilly) World History: Selected Course Outlines and Reading Lists from American Colleges and Universities, Markus Wiener (Princeton, NJ), 1998.
• (Coauthor with Peter N. Stearns and Stuart B. Schwartz) World Civilizations: The Global Experience, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1992, 3rd edition, Longman (New York, NY), 2000.
• (Editor) Agricultural and Pastoral Societies in Ancient and Classical History, Temple University Press (Philadelphia, PA), 2001.
• Adas, Michael, "The Paradox of Exceptionalism: Contested Visions of the American Experience and its Place in the Global History of Humankind" .Comparing Nationalism and Citizenship of the United States and Japan. Edited by Chieko Kitagawa Otsuru. Japan Center for Area Studies: National Museum of Ethnology, 2001.
• Adas, Michael, "From Avoidance to Confrontation: Peasant Protest in Pre-colonial and Colonial Southeast Asia". Colonialism and Culture. Edited by Nicholas B. Dirks. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 2001:89-126.
• Adas, Michael, "Contested Hegemony: The Great War and the Afro-Asian Assault on the Civilizing Mission Ideology". Journal of World History, 2004: 31-64.
• Dominance by Design: Technological Imperatives and America's Civilizing Mission, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2006.
• Contributor of articles and reviews to Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, Journal of Asian Studies, Journal of Asian History, Journal of Economic History, and Journal of Social History.^[2]
• Currently teaches at Rutgers University, 2010.

Writings (selection)

• The Burma Delta. Economic development and social change on an Asian rice frontier, 1852–1941, Madison, Wisconsin: Univ. of Wisconsin Press, 1974
• Prophets of Rebellion: Millenarian Protest Movements Against the European Colonial Order, Univ.N.Carolina Press, 1979
• Machines as the measure of men : science, technology, and ideologies of Western dominance, Ithaca [etc.] : Cornell Univ. Pr., 1989, Paperback edition: ISBN 0801497604, review
• "The paradox of exceptionalism : contested visions of the American experience and its place in the global history of humankind" in: Comparing nationalism and citizenship of the United States and Japan ; 5 (Tokyo) : 2001.01.10, ed. by Chieko Kitagawa Otsuru, Suita : Japan Center for Area Studies, National Museum of Ethnology, 2001
• "From avoidance to confrontation : peasant protest in precolonial and colonial Southeast Asia" in: Colonialism and culture, ed. by Nicholas B. Dirks, Ann Arbor : The Univ. of Michigan Press, 2001, 89-126
• "Contested Hegemony: The Great War and the Afro-Asian Assault on the Civlizing Mission Ideology" in: JOURNAL OF WORLD HISTORY 15/1 (2004): 31-64.
• Dominance by design : technological imperatives and America's civilizing mission, Cambridge, Mass. [u.a.] : Belknap Press of Harvard Univ. Press, 2006
• (with Peter Stearns and Stuart Schwartz) Turbulent Passage: A Global History of the 20th Century, Longman, 4th edition 2008

Literature Review (selection)

• The Burma Delta: Economic Development and Social Change on an Asian Rice Frontier, 1852–1941, University of Wisconsin Press, 1974.

The Burma Delta is a very in-depth and technical look at the Burmese people, their economy and their struggles from 1852-1941. Adas writes of the rise of the Konbaung Dynasty and how it was able to assert itself over the many ethnic groups that comprised the territories around Upper Burma, or also known as the Dry Zone.^[3] This influence was short lived due to invasions by the British and the annexation of Lower Burma by India in 1852. By 1886 the remaining Konbaung regions were annexed and the British set about to develop Burma into an economic center and market outlet. As a result, Burma was introduced to Western culture and did not regain its independence until 1948.^[4]

Adas’s central theme is “the rise of the Delta in the British period to a position of pre-eminence within Burma, with emphasis upon the economic basis and the social ramifications of that process.” Adas continues to say that his first major objective is to present a detailed history of agrarian development in Lower Burma during British rule, to look at this and the nature of colonial economies in the era of “high imperialism.” Adas examines the growth and ensuing crisis of the rice industry on the Delta frontier.^[5] This crisis had many effects politically, socially, economically and religiously. There were sporadic violent uprisings up until 1930 when the rioting got out of hand and mobs of Burmese and Indians clashed in the streets. This led to the pre-meditated Saya San rebellion which is depicted in The Prophets of Rebellion along with other millenarian revolts. This was a revitalistic revolt, a backlash against Western culture, and a grasp for either the old culture Burma once had or the establishment of a new one. Adas points out that despite Burmese and British responses to the contrary, “social and economic grievances clearly played a major causal role.”^[6]

His second objective is to develop an approach to studying history that is “neither politically oriented nor elite-centric.” From interpreting these words and seeing that Michael Adas came from the University of Wisconsin school system, it all seems to partially tie in with the New Left’s ideals. He sounds very much like Howard Zinn as he goes on to say, “My intent is to provide a framework of analysis which makes it possible to fully integrate the much neglected history of the ‘peasant masses’ with the much studied history of the traditional rulers, the colonial overlords, and the nationalist elite which emerged in the British period.”^[5] However, Michael Adas states he does not align himself with any school of historical thought.

The Burma Delta, while very well written, was not put together in such a way as to enamor the reader. It is full of facts, dates and foreign names that tend to lead the reader into confusion at times. This was true up until chapter 8. The book really took off from chapter 8 on and, along with the conclusion, fused all of the facts and events that made the previous chapters difficult to interpret, into a cohesive and very well thought-out reasoning for the period of unrest in Burma from slightly before 1930 until Burma was handed over to its nationalists after World War II.

• Prophets of Rebellion: Millenarian Protest Movements against the European Colonial Order, University of North Carolina Press (Chapel Hill, NC), 1979.

In Prophets of Rebellion, Adas intentionally picked five millenarian rebellions that “differ widely in terms of geographical location, socio-cultural context, the nature and timing of European colonial penetration, and the patterns displayed by the movements themselves.”^[7] Adas also states that he will focus on “revitalization movements which took form of prophet-inspired rebellions among non-Western peoples against European-dominated colonial regimes.”^[8] The colonial forces in question are the Dutch, British and German. Along with the Saya San rebellion in Burma from 1930 to 1932, Adas examines the Birsa uprising in East-Central India from 1899–1900; the Java War of Prince Dipanagara’s forces against the Dutch from 1825 to 1830; the Maori Pai Maire movement in New Zealand, from 1864 to c.1867; and the Maji Maji rebellion in German East Africa from 1905 to 1906. This interest in millenarian movements seems to have evolved from his research into the Burmese Saya San movement in The Burma Delta. These were rebellions that strove, but failed, to throw off the yoke of Western colonialism and to reinstate the “old guard” of pre-colonial times or a new improved government of their own machinations.

These millenarian movements all involved a leader who was prophetical and had a link to divinity. Prince Dipanagara was a seer and the long-awaited savior king of the Javan people;^[9] Saya San was a fortune teller turned universal emperor that was prophesized to appear at the end of Buddhism’s age of decline, which fit right in with the Burmese revitalistic spirit;^[10] Kinjikitile was a Maji oracle who had anti-witchcraft powers to combat the Germans in East Africa;^[11] Birsa was a healer who claimed to be God in East-Central India;^[12] Te Ua Haumene combined Judeo-Christian beliefs with Maori traditions, calling the Maori the chosen people of God, like the Jews, as well as being a seer and prophet.^[13] By calling on supernatural powers and becoming prophets, these men were able to gather the mobs about them that are necessary for a revolt. Adas captures this fanatical mentality in the introduction of the book when Burmese peasants face off against mercenaries and soldiers. It seems Adas believes that for the people to become this desperate all other avenues of peaceful resistance had to have been closed off and correspond with the arrival of a prophetic leader to touch it all off. This mixture brings about violent uprisings and rebellions that participants believe are willed by supernatural forces. These rebellions are especially hard to put down since its participants are filled with a holy righteousness and the willingness to stoically fight on against staggering odds. Another interesting aspect of these rebellions was the use of tattoos, holy symbols and other wards against harm that were placed upon these freedom fighters. This allowed peasants armed with knives, primitive firearms and other inadequate weapons to march on fully armed Burmese mercenaries and Indians that made up the colonial troops with the conviction that they would come out victorious.^[14]

Adas has written a thought provoking inquiry into the millenarian protests that has powers to facilitate an interest into the common people and define the way a New Left history should be written, despite his non-partisan outlook on the New Left school of thought. His biographies into the prophetic leaders show us that of the five only Prince Dipanagara was from royal origins. The rest were from the peasant class themselves but were raised up as leaders and prophets to represent the people.

The only negative aspect that can be asserted is that the topic is very broad and Adas has only one book to pack it all into. Other than that, the book is very coherent and teaches an impressive amount about Millenarian protests that many readers have rarely heard about.

• Machines as the Measure of Men: Science, Technology and Ideologies of Western Dominance, Cornell University Press (Ithaca, NY), 1989.

Adas writes one of his best works in Machines as the Measure of Men. In his acknowledgements Adas tells us that he researched and wrote this book in a span of ten years but the inspiration for this project was planted back during graduate school at the University of Wisconsin -Madison.

Adas focuses a lot of his research on race and how the Europeans viewed non-Western cultures. European scholars did not put as much emphasis on skin color initially, as is traditionally believed today. Rather, it was the technological advances that the African, Indian and Chinese cultures possessed at the time they were “discovered” that influenced the opinions of Western scholars on their superiority. By these standards China was deemed almost the equal of Europe until the Europeans applied the standards put forth by the Enlightenment. Adas cites Cassirer when he explains the collapse of the European's high opinion of the Chinese, “In this view, corrupt and oppressive bureaucrats, acting on behalf of an autocratic emperor, stifled the free expression, the experimentation, and the exchange of ideas of ‘freedom of the pen’ that most Enlightenment thinkers were convinced constituted the sine qua non of a healthy social order.”^[15] This, the enlightened scholars pointed out, led to intellectual stagnation and the over stressing of tradition. The other problem seen was that the Chinese jealously kept their own inventions as the playthings for the rich and royalty. They were not improved on just preserved for the sake of preservation and the ability to show what earlier generations had done.^[16] This is also seen by Europeans in India where they doubted that the inhabitants even knew how to operate the ingenious inventions their forebears had created. Coupled with the rise of the British textile industry that dwarfed the Indians own early advantages in the industry, the Indians began to lose almost all standing in the eyes of the Europeans.^[17] Adas attributes the European’s awareness of their superiority as due to their booming innovations. Unlike India and China, Europe was inventing left and right, “In the last two decades of the eighteenth century more patents were issued in Great Britain than had been granted for new inventions in the preceding years of the century combined.”^[18] Adas’s knowledge of these inventions and their implications into the greater scheme of colonization is staggering and, as in all of his works, all examples are relevant and contribute to the story as a whole. Adas shows that he does not just put in facts and examples just for the sake of it, but with a pre-meditated purpose for each in mind. Another example that comes to mind is the use of an excerpt by George Orwell, “Shooting an Elephant,” that exposes the role of the white man as not that of reigning king and dictator but puppet for the natives. Instead of holding sway over the non-Western colonies, the imperialist has cornered himself into being the enforcer not just the reaper of benefits. This proved troublesome later on when the European’s left their colonies to fend for themselves.^[19]

Finally, Adas talks about the criticisms of using science and technology as measures of European superiority after the Great War. It was evident that machines and science had led to cruelty, dehumanization and whether, “victory over matter and space had been gained at the cost of their souls,” (quote was aimed at American industry by a Chinese representative).^[20]

Adas shows us a look at the industrialization of Europe and the colonization of the non-Western world in a viewpoint that is supported and hard to dispute, even if it does not sit easily with the pride associated with being a “Westerner,” as are the majority of his readers. Adas has no problem with this, however, and dives in wholeheartedly. It is hard to dispute him on anything, since he supports all sides and arguments with equal voices in quantity as well as in quality. Adas has done an impressive and thorough job on Machines as the Measure of Men.

• Dominance by Design: Technological Imperatives and America's Civilizing Mission, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2006.

In Dominance by Design Adas takes us to the US. He starts with a look at Perry’s mission to open Japan in the 1850s. He shows us how eager the US was to use its new technology in production and how desperate they were for Japan to be a new market for these goods. This is a pattern exhibited by the United States over and over. This pattern could have been started when the English founded the colonies. They saw the Native Americans as backwards in areas such as gender work roles, nomadic tendencies ( which Adas links back even as far as the Huns and Turks that harassed the Europeans in the Medieval times and left the Europeans with a distaste for nomadic peoples) and warfare. Since the Native Americans were so backwards it was easy for the Christian Europeans to justify taking their lands since they were horrible farmers – Adas points out they were actually quiet adept - and bringing them to Christianity. Adas believes that, “[t]echnology and disease were the two most important sources of English power vis-avis the Indians in the early decades of settlement.^[21]

As well as being a new land for expansion, the colonies provided a new market for English goods.^[22] As technology grows on the North America continent, so does this need for markets. The United States’s imperialistic tendencies are being driven by technologies enhancement of production and the need to open up new markets overseas that will buy this product.

Adas does an excellent job using supporting evidence and examples to show his viewpoints on these issues.

End Notes

1. ^ Contemporary Authors Online, http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/GLD/hits?r=d&origSearch=true&o=DataType&n=10&l=d&c=1&locID=parkside&secondary=false&u=CA&u=CLC&t=KW&s=1&NA=adas,+michael, Gale, 2002, (accessed 2/04/2010).
2. ^ Contemporary Authors Online, http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/GLD/hits?r=d&origSearch=true&o=DataType&n=10&l=d&c=1&locID=parkside&secondary=false&u=CA&u=CLC&t=KW&s=1&NA=adas,+michael.
3. ^ Adas, Michael, The Burma Delta: Economic Development and Social Change on an Asian Rice Frontier, 1854-1941, (Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 1974), 3.
4. ^ Adas, Burma Delta, 4.
5. ^ ^{a b} Adas, Burma Delta, 5.
6. ^ Adas, Burma Delta, 201.
7. ^ Prophets of Rebellion: Millenarian Protest Movements against the European Colonial Order, (Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press, 1979), xxiii.
8. ^ Adas, Prophets, xix.
9. ^ Adas, Prophets, 95-96.
10. ^ Adas, Prophets, 100-102.
11. ^ Adas, Prophets, 102-105.
12. ^ Adas, Prophets, 106-109.
13. ^ Adas, Prophets 110-111.
14. ^ Adas, Prophets, xvii.
15. ^ Cassirer, Philosophy of the Enlightenment, 251-52. Cited in Michael Adas, Machines as the Measure of Men: Science, Technology, and Ideologies of Western Dominance, (Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1989), 123.
16. ^ Adas, Michael, Machines as the Measure of Men: Science, Technology, and Ideologies of Western Dominance, (Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1989), 124.
17. ^ Adas, Machines, 125.
18. ^ Adas, Machines, 134.
19. ^ Adas, Machines, 387-88.
20. ^ Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson, Letters from a Chinese Official: Being an Eastern View of Western Civilization, (New York, 1904), viii-xiii. Quoted in Adas, Michael, Machines as the Measure of Men: Science, Technology, and Ideologies of Western Dominance, (Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1989), 348-349.
21. ^ Adas, Michael, Dominance by Design: Technological Imperatives and America's Civilizing Mission, (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2006), 39.
22. ^ Adas, Dominance, 43.

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Name	Adas, Michael
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Date of birth	1943
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