Globalisation has a history. After about twenty years of massive historical research into this topic, that statement now seems a platitude. But it also represents a considerable advancement on earlier assumptions made from about the late 1980s by the World Bank and similar bodies holding the view that globalisation was a very recent phenomenon. Moreover, globalisation is not a theory but a process, meaning that historical disciplines can add considerably to our understanding of this phenomenon
Each lecture will be introduced by a short reading (usually newspaper articles) permitting the students to interact during the lectures. PPT presentations will be offered as well
Obiettivi Formativi
The main objective is demonstrating that globalisation is an historical but not unique process, and that discovering the long-run trajectories of its most important aspects permits to understand it better
Prerequisiti
Good knowledge of political economy, international relations, geography, and economic sociology will help very much but it is not a formal requirement
Metodi Didattici
The course will be taught by two instructors. The first one will present the main aspects of today's globalisation, while the second one will be dealing with the long-run vision of globalisation.
Altre Informazioni
The lectures will be structured with PPT presentations available in the Moodle platform before each lecture.
The ATTENDING students will be asked to prepare a group presentation on one of the issues of the course. The presentations will take place during the last weeks of the course.
Modalità di verifica apprendimento
The final grade of the attending students will be the sum of the group presentation (30%) and the written exam (70%).
The non-attending students will be asked to prepare an individual paper (20 pages, no less than 6,000 words, bibliography excluded), with a value of 30% of the final grade. The written exam will give them 70% of the final grade. The written exam will be devided into two sections: in each section there will be three open questions. The students will be required to answer at two out of three questions per section.
Programma del corso
Let’s start with a plain statement. Globalisation has a history. After about twenty years of massive historical research into the broad topic of globalisation, that statement now seems a platitude. But it also represents a considerable advancement on earlier assumptions made from about the late 1980s by the World Bank and similar bodies which held the view that globalisation was a very recent phenomenon. Moreover, globalisation, in the words of Hopkins, is not a theory but a process, meaning that historical disciplines, more than other social sciences, can add considerably to our understanding of this phenomenon which has broad economic, social and political ramifications.
The course will be structured in two parts. The first will examine the idea of globalisation as a long-term phenomenon, analysing the different forms that such a concept can take over the centuries from the late Middle Ages to the early contemporary age. Some macro-themes will then be analysed from this perspective in order to identify trends and moments of discontinuity, as well as the different global impact of their dynamics.
The second part will propose a historical as well as thematic investigation of economic globalisation since the 1820s. Our set of lectures will revolve around three main macro themes, all considered in a historical perspective. These can be summarised as follows: first, the notion and phases of globalisation and the weight that modern industrial development and technology had in its development; second, the role of international trade and finance, as well as governance, in globalisation; finally, the weight of economic crises, which constitute a feature of market economies, in hampering or stimulating economic globalisation. Within the ambit of each single theme, we will also consider the weight of multinational business in technological advancement and in the spread of industry; the importance of mass migration in the creation of the first global economy and in globalisation after 1945; the main theories about the international spread of industry and the nature of economic crises.
1) Spaces and geography in the past
a) The commercial revolution of the Middle Ages (1200-1400)
b) The great geographical discoveries (1500-1700)
c) The first colonial Empires: Portugal, Spain, Dutch Republic, England
d) The “Modern World-System”
e) The first age of globalization (1800-1900)
2) Money and finance in the long run
a) The Carolingian reform: short, medium and long-term effects
b) The foreign exchange market of the Middle Ages
c) The European exchange fairs (1400-1600, Genève, Lyon, Besançon/Piacenza)
d) The great financers of the Crowns and the international money market in the Early Modern Age
e) The northern European finance in the Modern Age: Antwerp, Amsterdam, London
f) The financial markets’ integration in the Nineteenth century
3) The raw materials in the long run
a) Commodity chains in the world-economy prior to 1800
b) Wool
c) Silver
d) Cotton
e) Coal
4) The search and use of energy sources in the long run
a) Traditional sources: energy in pre-modern societies
b) Organic and non-organic sources
c) Energy scarcity and cost
d) The First Industrial Revolution: a modern energy regime
e) The take-off of coal
d) Energy and industrial growth
e) The Second and Third Industrial Revolutions: energy transitions in the Twentieth century
f) The rise of oil and electricity
5) Diseases and pandemics in the long run
a) Major lethal epidemics of the pre-industrial world
b) The Black Death and other plague waves
c) Other major pre-industrial lethal epidemics
d) Geography, intensity, mortality of a plague
e) How environment and institutions shape a plague
f) Economic and social consequences of plagues: positive or negative impacts in the long run?
6) Demography, inequality, and life standards in the long run
a) Population dynamics in pre-industrial societies
b) The Malthusian model
c) The demographic transition of the Nineteenth century
d) Economic inequality in Europe and beyond in the long-run
e) Europe in an Asian mirror: the Great Divergence
7) Globalisation and modern economic growth, 1820-2022
a) Globalisation: definitions and phases
b) Globalisation and the transforming power of industry: the spread of industry from Britain (Gershenkron, Rostow)
c) Globalisation and the transforming power of industry: the spread of industry from 1980: China and the Asian tigers
8) The globalisation of knowledge and the spread of technology, 1820-2022
a) Revolution in transport and communication, 1820-1914
b) Revolution in transport and communication, 1915-1950c
c) The PC, the internet, mobile communication and the new globalisation wave, 1980-2022
9) The main actors of globalisation: the multinational firm, 1870c.-2022
a) Multinational firms and foreign direct investment: an overview
b) Multinational firms and the international spread of technology (Baumol, Mira Wilkins)
c) Multinational firms, industrialisation and technology transfer, 1820-2022: Italy, Japan and China
10) Globalisation and global governance: trade, 1820- 2022
a) Trade and the first globalisation, 1820-1914
b) The collapse of global trade after 1929 and the reconstruction of a multilateral trading system after 1945.
c) Trade liberalisation after 1980
11) Globalisation and global governance: finance and mass-migration, 1820-2022
a) Finance and money in the classical gold standard, 1820-1914
b) The inter-war financial chaos and the post-war arrangements
c) Mass-migration (Kuznets and Abramovits) and the creation of a global economy
12) Is globalisation irreversible? A new phase in globalisation.
a) Economic crises, capitalism and globalisation: Schumpeter, Marx, Polaney, Kindleberger
b) The 1929 and 2008 economic crises as major backlashes in globalisation
c) Environmental change, infectious disease, national security and globalisation: the lessons from the Covid 19 after 2020.