Business in Europe: Social and Cultural History
Fall 2008
This new colloquium for graduate students and advanced undergraduates will explore the culture of capitalist enterprise in European societies (including those of Russia and Eastern Europe) from the early modern period through the 20th century. As we proceed through various economic systems and historical periods -- mercantilism, Industrial Revolution, liberalism, fascism, socialism -- a key aim will be to examine both the concept and reality of the “bourgeoisie” in economic, social, and cultural terms. Topics will include: religious and cultural theories of modern capitalism (the “Protestant Ethic” and the Weber-Sombart debate); business dynasties; the role of merchants in colonialism and imperialism; “enclave capitalism” and entrepreneurial minorities; East-West patterns in middle-class behavior; capital-labor relations; consumer culture in Western Europe; the role of business communities in fascist regimes, and the re-emergence of free enterprise in post-Communist Europe.
Readings are likely to include several of the following: Hartmut Lehmann and Tuenther Roth, eds., Weber’s Protestant Ethic: Origins, Evidence, Contexts; David Hancock, Citizens of the World: London Merchants and the Integration of the British Atlantic Community, 1735-1785; William Reddy, The Rise of Market Culture: The Textile Trade and French Society, 1750-1900; Niall Ferguson, The House of Rothschild; Geoffrey Crossick and Heinz-Gerhard Haupt, The Petite Bourgeoisie in Europe, 1780-1914; Lisa Tiersten, Marianne in the Market: Envisioning Consumer Culture in Fin-de-Siècle France; Alfred Rieber, Merchants and Entrepreneurs in Imperial Russia; Alan Ball, Russia’s Last Capitalists: The NEPmen, 1921-1929.
The colloquium will be useful to students in history as well as in the social sciences. Students will be expected to make brief presentations on readings in class, and to produce two short papers plus a longer paper on a chosen topic.