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CF 3333 Clash of Cultures

Economic Institutions in 1450

Introduction

Correlation between productive economy and the rise of states/empires.

Food-gathering populations: small groups, nomadic

Food-producing populations: large groups, sedentary

Horticulture, "primitive farming" … led to advanced, irrigation farming.

Modes of Production

a way of understanding how economic institutions connect with social, religious, and political institutions.

*kin-ordered – found in "stateless" societies. Based on reciprocity, face-to-face economic interactions … kinship defines how you will relate to the world. Not much specialization, is about craftsmanship.

*tributary (feudalism, "Asiatic") – dominant in the world of 1500. "steal from the poor and give to the rich." E.g., guilds controlled prices of goods.

*capitalism – market-dominant, supposedly the interaction of buyers and sellers together sets the price for goods (and services).

All of these have different ways of handling people with regard to goods and services.

Non-state and State Societies

*bands – hunter-gatherers, small groups, egalitarian

*tribes – larger than bands, have some subdivisions

*chiefdoms – usually sedentary, non-egalitarian

*states – distinctive feature: "the presence of political leaders who maintain a socially approved monopoly on the legal use of legitimate force" (E. Service). High degree of specialization.

The emergence of the modern nation-state is a major feature of world affairs during 1450-1850.

*primary sector – extractive, e.g., mining, fishing, farming. Far more people were involved in the primary sector in 1450 than today.

*secondary sector – transformative, e.g., turning cotton into fabric into clothing. Industrial Revolution has a lot to do with moving people from the primary to the secondary sector.

*tertiary sector – services, e.g., banking, sales.

Economic Transformations

Shift in the relative importance of these sectors is a key to understanding the transformations 1450-1850. Those (nations, states) who make the transition first have a real advantage.

*production – early, family/kin setting, everyone is a producer. Families as production units, not just consumption units

*distribution – moving goods through the system, e.g., merchant families / firms

*consumption – economy works because we spend

The division in life experience has become greater between producing, distributing, consuming. Most of us in the present are only consumers. Another change since 1450.