Undergraduate Course: Continuities and Revolutions: the road to industrialisation, c.1600-1914 (ECSH10097)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course examines and questions the processes of economic development and transformation in the Early Modern period. The course emphasis is as much on questioning as on presenting the conventional industrialisation account, and on debating whether the whole concept of a 'road to industrialisation' is valid. The course is thematic in nature and structured chronologically in a rough back-to-front manner, in that it begins with the Industrial Revolution thesis itself and proceeds to its possible causes. |
| Course description |
This course examines and questions the processes of economic development and transformation in the Early Modern period. The course emphasis is as much on questioning as on presenting the conventional industrialisation account, and on debating whether the whole concept of a 'road to industrialisation' is valid. The course is thematic in nature and structured chronologically in a rough back-to-front manner, in that it begins with the Industrial Revolution thesis itself and proceeds to its possible causes. In this way the functionalist narrative of industrialisation arising through a junction of dramatic demographic, technological, political, and infrastructural developments is challenged and evaluated.
There is an equal emphasis on familiarizing students with ongoing academic debates, and on encouraging them to take a position in it by framing their arguments with primary evidence. For this reason, reading lists will incorporate as much as possible. The seminars that will host these debates will inform the essays students must produce to achieve partial credit.
This is primarily a European Economic History course, but global themes will be necessary to better approach certain topics in this course, for instance the divergence in economic development between various parts of the world over this period.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | A pass or passes in 40 credits of first level historical courses or equivalent and a pass or passes in 40 credits of second level historical courses or equivalent.
Before enrolling students on this course, Personal Tutors are asked to contact the History Honours Admission Administrator to ensure that a place is available (Tel: 503780). |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should have at least 3 History courses at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this). We will only consider University/College level courses. Applicants should note that, as with other popular courses, meeting the minimum does NOT guarantee admission. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, command of the body of knowledge considered in the course;
- demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, an ability to read, analyse and reflect critically upon relevant scholarship;
- demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, an ability to understand, evaluate and utilise a variety of primary source material;
- demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, the ability to develop and sustain scholarly arguments in oral and written form, by formulating appropriate questions and utilising relevant evidence;
- demonstrate independence of mind and initiative; intellectual integrity and maturity; an ability to evaluate the work of others, including peers.
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Reading List
J. Vries, The Industrious Revolution: Consumer Behaviour and the Household Economy, 1650 to the Present (2008)
C. Muldrew, The Economy of Obligation: The Culture of Credit and Social Relations in Early Modern England (1998)
K. Pomeranz, The Great Divergence: China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World (Princeton University Press, 2000)
L. Prados de la Escosura, Exceptionalism and Industrialisation. Britain and its European Rivals, 1688-1815 (2004)
D. Acemoglu and J. Robinson, Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty (2013)
E. A. Wrigley, Continuity, Chance and Change (Cambridge, 1988)
R. C. Allen, The British Industrial Revolution in Global Perspective (2009)
M. Overton, Agricultural Revolution in England 1500-1850 (1996)
R. Harris, Industrializing English law: entrepreneurship and business organization, 1720-1844 (Cambridge, 2000)
A.L. Murphy, The Origins of English Financial Markets: Investment and Speculation before the South Sea Bubble (Cambridge University Press, 2009)
M. Berg, Luxury and Pleasure in 18th-Century Britain (2005)
J. Mokyr, A Culture of Growth: The Origins of the Modern Economy (2016) |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
The course will help students to develop the following core graduate attributes:
- Skills and abilities in research and enquiry;
- Skills and abilities in personal and intellectual autonomy;
- Skills and abilities in communication;
- Skills and abilities in personal effectiveness. |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | |
Course secretary | |
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