Learning objectives
Students will acquire the skills required to critically assess the complexity of yesterday’s and today’s international economy, by moving beyond the idea that the West is the only player in processes which are now unfolding on a global scale.
Course unit content
When and where did globalisation begin? What factors explain the unprecedented growth that took place in the world economy starting in the nineteenth century? The course module attempts to answer these fundamental questions within a long-term historical framework (from the sixteenth century to the present day) and from a “global” perspective (Europe, the Americas, Asia and Africa). In order to do so, a number of critical subjects are tackled, including “world economies” before globalisation (Europe, China and India); the integration of commodity and capital markets; the impact of transport and communications; the process of economic convergence; the dialectic between market regulation and deregulation; local/global crises.
Bibliography
Globalization in Historical Perspective, ed. by M.D. Bordo, A.M. Taylor, and J.G. Williamson, National Bureau of Economic Research-The University of Chicago Press, Chicago-London, 2003, Chapters 1 (pp. 13-62), 4 (pp. 191-220), 7 (pp. 323-364), 10 (pp. 473-510) and 11 (pp. 515-544). <br />
J. Lee, “Trade and Economy in Preindustrial East Asia, c. 1500-c. 1800: East Asia in the Age of Global Integration”, Journal of Asian Studies 58-1 (1999), pp. 2-26. <br />
D.H. Perkins, “Government as an Obstacle to Industrialization: The Case of Nineteenth-Century China”, The Journal of Economic History 27-4 (1967), pp. 478-492. <br />
