The Industrious Revolution by Jan De Vries

The Industrious Revolution by Jan De Vries

In the long eighteenth century, new consumer aspirations combined with a new industrious behavior to fundamentally alter the material cultures of northwest Europe and North America. This 'industrious revolution' is the context in which the economic acceleration associated with the Industrial Revolution took shape. This study explores the intellectual understanding of the new importance of consumer goods as well as the actual consumer behavior of households of all income levels. De Vries examines how the activation and evolution of consumer demand shaped the course of economic development, situating consumer behavior in the context of the household economy. He considers the changing consumption goals of households from the seventeenth century to the present and analyzes how household decisions have mediated between macro-level economic growth and actual human betterment. Ultimately, de Vries' research reveals the strengths and weaknesses of existing consumer theory, suggesting revisions that add historical realism to economic abstractions.

'… this book will interest all concerned with human behaviour in its many forms … it contains interesting insights into the ways behaviour has changed over the past couple of centuries …' The Financial Times
'Buy, buy buy' The Times Literary Supplement
'This is an apposite book in these days of 'credit crunch' and has an important contemporary as well as historical significance.' The Historical Association

Markus A. Denzel, geb. 1967, seit 2002 Ordinarius fur Sozial- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte an der Universitat Leipzig. Forschungsschwerpunkte: Internationale Handels- und Finanzgeschichte der vorindustriellen Zeit, Messen-, Banken- und Borsengeschichte vor 1914 Philipp R. Rossner, geb. 1977, Studium der Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte, Mittleren und Neueren Geschichte, Soziologie in Gottingen und Edinburgh (Schottland). 1996-2002: Promotion zum Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Economic History, University of Edinburgh 2007. Ab 2007: Wissenschaftlicher Assistent am Historischen Seminar der Universitat Leipzig. 2011: Habilitation fur Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte. Derzeit tatig an der Universitat Leipzig und als Lecturer in Early Modern History an der University of Manchester (UK). Forschungsschwerpunkte: Fruhneuzeitliche Wirtschafts- und Handelsgeschichte Grossbritanniens und Preussens im 18. Jahrhundert sowie Wahrungsgeschichte des Reiches um 1500.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780521719254
ISBN 10	0521719259
Title	The Industrious Revolution
Author	Jan De Vries
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
Year published	2008-05-26
Number of pages	340
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable