Overview

This book analyses the transformation in 16th- and 17th- century English economic life that overturned the traditional restraints of the medieval economy for the commercial ethos that governs the modern world, and the resulting imbalance which opened the way to the environmental breakdown of today. On the open fields and commons, the smallholders had worked closely with the land as given, with minimal intervention in natural processes. The 16th century introduced a fundamental difference of approach as the inducement of exceptional profits encouraged manipulative exploitation of the land. “Freedom of trade” from arbitrary restraints and impositions became the new economic ethos, officially established by the mid-17th-century revolution and reinforced by other changes such as the emergence of the nationstate. The “rise of science” was associated with the agriculturalist adoption of empirical method for “improvement”, and a new philosophy accorded humankind the right to degrade other species for its own ends. By focusing on the causes and effects of capitalism at its first appearance, this volume traces the environmental crisis back to the switch from an essentially universalist to a basically individualist world. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of Early Modern England, Economic Studies, and Environmental Studies.

Full Product Details

Author:   George Yerby (Raphael Samuel History Centre., UK)
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
Weight:   0.530kg
ISBN:  

9781032873510

ISBN 10:   1032873515
Pages:   172
Publication Date:   30 June 2025
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Not yet available  
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Table of Contents

Introduction: The Cycle of Destruction: As the Present Denies the Past, So the Past Deconstructs the Future 1. The Balance of Natural Forces in the Past: The Equitable Relationships Between People, and Between Human Economics and Nature in the Universalist Context of the Medieval Period 2. The Breach in the Universalist Continuum: The Rise of the Yeoman Farmer and the Force of the Profit Motive, with the Decline of the Communal Smallholders 3. The Structures That Split Up the Common Lands and Broke the Communal Spirit: The Shape of Consolidated Individualist Farming 4. The Timing of Enclosure, the Force of Consolidation Without Enclosure, and the General Polarisation of Landholding 5. Those Who Had to Move On, and Those Who Stayed, with Nothing: The Depth of Deprivation; and the Subjectivist Heart of Capitalist Accumulation 6. “The End of All Good Nurture”, and the Breach of Relationship with the Land 7. The Environment Undermined: Early Industrialisation and the Invasion of the Commons 8. From Saints to Scientists: The Subjugation of Nature, the Agriculturalist Drive Behind the Scientific Revolution, and the Birth of Subjectivist Theory 9. The Rise of Freedom of Trade and Absolute Property: The Emergence of a Capitalist Ethos 10. The Emergent Nation-State, and the Enshrinement of the Subjectivist Mindset 11. Conclusion: The Lost Human, Who or Where?

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Author Information

George Yerby is a historical researcher currently associated with the Raphael Samuel History Centre. His publications include The English Revolution and The Roots of Environmental Change (2016) and The Economic Causes of the English Civil War: Freedom of Trade and the English Revolution (2020).

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