An ambitious study of the historical roots, development and role of citizenship during the period from the late Middle Ages to the French Revolution. Citizenship is shown to be not just an exclusively European institution, but one that could be traced to China, the Middle East and the American colonies.
Inhalt: Contents -- Acknowledgments -- 1. Introduction: The Market as a party? -- 2. Eight hundred years of economic growth, 1000-1800 -- 3. Between feudalism and freedom, 1000-1350 -- 4. Capitalism and civil society in late Medieval Holland, 1350-1566 -- 5. A capitalist revolution? The Dutch revolt, 1566-1609 -- 6. New capitalism at home and overseas -- 7. The Republican State and "varieties of capitalism" -- 8. Capitalism and inequality in the eighteenth century -- 9. Conclusion -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.
This 2005 book charts the political, social, economic and cultural history of the Dutch Golden Age.
For a long time guilds have been condemned as a major obstacle to economic progress in the pre-industrial era. This re-examination of the role of guilds in the early modern European economy challenges that view by taking into account fresh research on innovation, technological change and entrepreneurship. Leading economic historians argue that industry before the Industrial Revolution was much more innovative than previous studies have allowed for and explore the different products and production techniques that were launched and developed in this period. Much of this innovation was fostered by the craft guilds that formed the backbone of industrial production before the rise of the steam engine. The book traces the manifold ways in which guilds in a variety of industries in Italy, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Britain helped to create an institutional environment conducive to technological and marketing innovations.