Article ID: CBB001201199

The Industrious Revolution, the Industriousness Discourse, and the Development of Modern Economies (2014)

unapi

The idea of industriousness has been an ever-recurring issue since Max Weber launched it as a putative explanation of the advent of economic modernity. The notion of `industrious revolution' has provoked a renewed flourishing of publications focusing on this issue. Although most historians agree on the emergence of industriousness in seventeenth-century Europe, there is no consensus regarding the chronology, hence the real causes, of this mental and discursive shift. This article emphasizes the problematic role played by literary evidences in these social and cultural models of diffusion of new consumer values and desires. It then establishes the timing of the emergence of the `industriousness discourse' using an original approach to diffusion based both on the quantitative analysis of very large corpora and a close reading of seventeenth-century economic pamphlets and educational literature. It concludes first that there was not one but several competing discourses on industriousness. It then identifies two crucial hinges which closely match the chronology proposed by Allen and Muldrew, but refutes that championed by de Vries and McCloskey. The industrious revolution as described by these authors would have happened both too late to fit its intellectual roots and too early to signal the beginning of a `consumer revolution'.

...More
Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001201199/

Similar Citations

Article Brassley, Paul; (2014)
Joan Thirsk (1922--2013): An Obituary

Article Robert C. Allen; (2019)
Class structure and inequality during the industrial revolution: Lessons from England's social tables, 1688–1867

Article Ashworth, William J.; (2008)
The Ghost of Rostow: Science, Culture and the British Industrial Revolution

Book Jones, Peter; (2008)
Industrial Enlightenment: Science, Technology and Culture in Birmingham and the West Midlands, 1760--1820

Book Angelo Calemme; (2022)
Dalla Rivoluzione scientifica alla Rivoluzione industriale: Sulle condizioni marxiane dello sviluppo scientifico-tecnico

Book Jacob, Margaret C.; Stewart, Larry; (2004)
Practical Matter: Newton's Science in the Service of Industry and Empire, 1687--1851

Book Giorgio Dell'Oro; (2021)
Mondi di carta. Materie prime, usi e commerci in età moderna (XVI-XIX secc.)

Book Roberto Berveglieri; (2020)
«Ingegnosi artificij»: Serenissima Repubblica di Venezia. Trecento anni di storia della scienza, della tecnica e dell’innovazione (1474-1788)

Book Giorgio Dell'Oro; (2022)
La leggenda dell'oro bianco. Dai sali artigianali al sale industriale (secc. XV-XIX)

Book Marco Venanzi; (2020)
Carbone, lignite e acciaio. La battaglia per l'energia. L'acciaieria di Terni e le miniere di lignite umbre dal 1860 al 1960

Article Ashworth, William J.; (2014)
The British Industrial Revolution and the Ideological Revolution: Science, Neoliberalism and History

Chapter Pursell, Carroll W.; (1972)
Science and Industry

Book Francesco Carnevale; (2020)
L’epopea dell’amianto: Una mortale pandemia di lunga durata

Thesis Medeiros, Aimee; (2012)
Heightened Expectations: The History of the Human Growth Hormone Industry in America

Book Pittenger, Mark; (2012)
Class Unknown: Undercover Investigations of American Work and Poverty from the Progressive Era to the Present

Book Elio Frescani; (2020)
Energia, cultura e comunicazione. Storia e politica dell’Eni fra stampa e televisione (1955-1976)

Book Oldroyd, David; (2007)
Estates, Enterprise and Investment at the Dawn of the Industrial Revolution: Estate Management and Accounting in the North-East of England, c.1700--1780

Article Jonsson, Fredrik Albritton; (2013)
A History of the Species?

Chapter Francesco Caputo; (2014)
L'industria meccanica nel meridione d'Italia

Book Carey, Daniel; Finlay, Christopher J.; (2011)
The Empire of Credit: The Financial Revolution in the British Atlantic World, 1688--1815

Authors & Contributors
Ashworth, William J.
Allen, Robert C.
Berveglieri, Roberto
Brassley, Paul
Carey, Daniel
Finlay, Christopher J.
Journals
History of Science
Agricultural History
Economic History Review
History and Theory
Publishers
Carocci Editore
Ashgate
Edizioni Polistampa
Harvard University Press
Irish Academic Press
Manchester University Press
Concepts
Science and industry
Science and economics
Science and society
Industry
Technology
Industrial revolution
People
Hayek, Friedrich August von
Marx, Karl
Mises, Ludwig von
Time Periods
19th century
18th century
20th century
17th century
Early modern
16th century
Places
Great Britain
Italy
United States
Europe
England
Ireland
Institutions
ENI (Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi)
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment