A&H 177 Socio-economic History

Content

This course aims to give students an overview of long term development in the world economy, using the theoretical insights of social scientists. The main emphasis lies not so much on the chronology of events, but on analyzing the genesis of society as we know it. Developments like the rise of capitalism, the emergence of the welfare state and (post-) industrial society are therefore among the main themes of this course. In the process of the genesis of contemporary society economic changes have been an important force, but these economic changes can only be understood in the context of their interaction with social and political developments. Since Europe, and in particular Western Europe, has long played a leading role in the world economy, most time is spent on developments in this part of the world. Of course, wherever necessary a wider geographical perspective is chosen, for example with regard to the interaction between Western and so-called Third World economies. The inequalities in the world economy – i.e. the differences between rich and poor countries – is one of the major themes in the selected textbook.

Instructor

Dr. Willem van den Broeke

Period

Fall / 2008

Course Material

• Cameron, R. and L. Neal, A Concise Economic History of the World From Paleolithic Times to the Present (Oxford 2003)
• Sutcliffe, A., An Economic and Social History of Western Europe since 1945 (London 2003)

Required for

This course is required in order to take the following course:

• A&H 274 From Rome to the Renaissance: Byzantium and its Neighbours, 300-1453 AD
• A&H 275 Emotions. A Social and Cultural History