# kaal:claim:3782193-006

**Claim.** Europe, unlike Imperial China, used the printing press to decentralize knowledge rather than to centralize power, and this different application of the same information technology produced a cultural transformation that undermined Europe's centralized powers.

**Type.** mechanism  **Support.** argued

**Holds when.**

- Europe after the introduction of movable type
- comparison with Chinese use of printing

**Source quote.**

> Europe started its own printing presses a few centuries later. Instead of using the press to centralize power like the Chinese Empire did, Europe's use of the printing press greatly decentralized knowledge.

**From.** Craig Calcaterra, Wulf A. Kaal, *Historical Sketches of Centralization vs. Decentralization* (2021), Chapter 9. Historical sketches of centralization vs. decentralization, page 3

**Cite as.** Craig Calcaterra, Wulf A. Kaal, Historical Sketches of Centralization vs. Decentralization (2021). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3782193

**Verify.** sha256 of source PDF `74df9cc9a19a098bdacd0424a4174795f6e184f7a31c8ee7541195186701ebd2` at https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wulfkaal/Academic-Papers/main/papers/pdf/Calcaterra%20and%20Kaal%20-%202021%20-%20Historical%20Sketches%20of%20Centralization%20vs.%20Decentralization.pdf

**Topics.** decentralization

**Keywords.** printing-press, europe, decentralization, information-technology, reformation

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