← The Great Transformation

What Is the Great Transformation?

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What Is the Great Transformation? The making of your civilization
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The Ancient World. The Roman Empire dominated late antiquity
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Collapse of Western Roman Empire. Population decline by one third. By 700, 2% of shipwrecks of 100 CE. “Great migration” disrupted Roman civilization
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Great Migration
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Early Middle Ages. Roughly 500-1000 CE. 500- 800 CE sometimes called “Dark” Ages
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Early Middle Ages. Rise of Islam: 632 - 750. Cut off trade routes to East
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The Medieval World. People occupied a fixed status
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The Medieval World. No notion of economic “growth” – customary income
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High Middle Ages. Roughly 1000 – 1300 CE
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High Middle Ages. Cities began to grow.
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High Middle Ages. Commerce flourished.
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High Middle Ages. Economic restrictions gradually broke down.
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High Middle Ages. Universities founded: Oxford, Paris, Bologna, Cambridge
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High Middle Ages. The building of the great cathedrals. (To the left is Notre. Dame in. Paris.)
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Late Middle Ages. 1300-1450: Growth set back by the plague and famine. Death rate up to 75%, pop. dropped by 1/2
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The Renaissance. Flourishing of the arts. Renewed growth of cities. Increase in commerce and trade
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The Protestant Reformation. Weber will contend that the rise of Protestantism is crucial to the rise of capitalism. Calvinism held that “ordinary” life is sacred.
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The Scientific Revolution. Moved European thought towards a view characterized by disembodied reason and disenchanted nature.
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The Enlightenment. “Rationality” was seen as crippled by tradition and custom.
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The Industrial Revolution. The factory system of production first appeared in England
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The Rise of Economics. Adam Smith and other social theorists sought to establish economics as a new science explaining the new conditions. Others, like Marx, dismissed the classical economists as apologists for exploitation.
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Output Soared. For the first time in history, part of the world saw sustained economic growth.
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The Backlash Against Industrialism. But was the new wealth being shared justly? And did it justify the conditions found in industrial society?
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The Rise of Socialism. Did not question the value of mass production. But held that democratic control of production would “rationalize” the economy.
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World War I: A Crisis for Liberalism. Liberal society was supposed to promise an ever-better social world. The massive destruction and brutality of this war threw that promise into doubt.
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The Great Depression. A second crisis for liberalism. Is capitalism inherently unstable? To what extent can the government “fix” and downturn?
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A New World War. Does capitalism inherently generate warfare? How can we prevent a Third World War?
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The Cold War Between Economic Systems. The “Cold War” after World War II was often seen as a direct competition between capitalism and socialism. Did capitalism win?
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A Crisis for Global Capitalism? The financial crisis and the bailouts. The debate over health care reform.
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