The general purpose of the course is to empower students to develop a critical approach to key issues in economic history over the last three centuries. The course aims at emphasising the fundamental changes brought about by the Industrial revolution, discussing some of the main features and trends of the world economy in the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries.
Course Prerequisites
None in particular but a reasonable basic knowledge of key economic and historical concepts. Anyway, if needs be, additional personal guidance will be provided over rudiments of history and basic economic notions.
Teaching Methods
Lectures, during which students' active and critical participation will be greatly appreciated and encouraged.
Assessment Methods
Oral exam, designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate achievement of the course learning outcomes. The assessment strategy aims at verifying the students' knowledge of the topics of the programme and their critical ability to connect historical events and put them in historical context and perspective.
Texts
Marco CATTINI, L’Europa verso il mercato globale. Dal XV secolo alla crisi di inizio XXI, Milano, Egea, 2015, seconda edizione, pp. 1-17, 22-29, 45-54, 63-291. Stefano BATTILOSSI, Le rivoluzioni industriali, Roma, Carocci, 2002.
Contents
After a brief introduction looking at the distinctive characteristics of the pre-industrial economy, the course moves on to examine the Industrial revolution in Britain and then discusses the industrialisation of other European and non-European countries, focusing on the major changes which occurred in the world economy in the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries.
A short summary of the main topics to be covered in the course includes:
The pre-industrial economy: some distinctive characteristics Britain, the first industrial nation, 1720-1870 The industrialisation of Europe, 1815-1914 The industrialisation of non-European countries: Japan and the United States An early globalisation, 1880-1914 The world economy between the two World Wars, 1914-1945 The world economy after the Second World War, 1945-2015 Decolonisation, the Third World, globalisation: an outline
