POLS 3125 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: English Poor Laws, Workforce Productivity, Protestant Work Ethic
20 Dec 2017
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Document Summary
Role of the church: provides legitimacy of social order, steady income from tithes, doctrine espouses doctrine which demonizes wealth and encourages a simple life, rewards would be given in the afterlife. Social order was part of the divine order of things. Political organization and ideas: treaty of westphalia (1648) Leads to: decentralized political authority local fiefdoms and lords, feudalism, great variety of experiences and communities, some cities are vibrant trading centers, many communities are isolated. A new attitude toward economic activity: vs. suspicion of profit and wealth. Monetization of economic life needed to proceed to its ultimate conclusion: in order for exchange (buying and selling) to take place at all levels of society, need for cash. Market demand vs. regulation of economic tasks (tradition, command) Rise of cash economy: marketization of labor, land, capital. The enclosure movement: landed aristocracy, focus on land (elimination of commons, peasants lease land (middle class capitalists, ejected (wage labourers, landless poor)
