Expert board:

• Scientific Council of RAS on economic history;
• Research and Educational Center «The economic history of Central Russia and the Middle Volga region» of Ogarev Mordovia State University;
• Center of Economic History of  Lomonosov Moscow State University

Certificate of registration

ISSN 2409-630X (Print), ISSN 2618-916X (Online)

DOI: 10.15507/2409-630X.044.015.201901.009-022

УДК 330.35.0 + 930

Maxim A. Akimov

The Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA)

(Moscow, Russia), e-mail: akimov-ma@ranepa.ru

 

THE GREAT DIVERGENCE IN THE LEFT HISTORICAL DISCOURSE: Second Phase of Debates and R. Brenner’s Viewpoint

 

Introduction. The article deals with the historiography of the discussion on the key issues of economic development of Europe in the pre-industrial period and the emergence of modern economic growth. Materials and Methods. The study of the Great divergence in the left historical discourse is carried out on the basis of a wide range of research literature using historical-genetic and historical-typological methods of historiographical analysis. Results. R. Brenner’s critical argument is that long-term demographic trends and commercialization played a significant role in feudal dynamics and transition to capitalism only in combination with a specific historical balance of class forces. Moreover, the class, by his definition, is expressed in the aspect of the relations of ownership of the means of production (land) and the relations of extraction of surplus (coercion). Discussion and Conclusions. Class structures were considered by him as resistant to the influence of economic forces, and class conflict as defining long-term economic structures. Brenner’s opponents were M. Postan, J. Hatcher, E. Le Roy Ladurie, G. Bois. The criticism of neo-Malthusian theories that unfolded during the discussion made a significant contribution to the development of a comparative approach to the study of the great divergence process.

Keywords: economic history, the Great Divergence, economic growth, GDP, qualitative methods in historical inquiry.

 

For citation: Akimov M. A. The Great Divergence in the Left Historical Discourse: Second Phase of Debates and R. Brenner’s Viewpoint. Ekonomicheskaya istoriya = Russian Journal of Economic History. 2019; 15(1): 9–22. (In Russ.). DOI: 10.15507/2409-630X.044.015.201901.009-022

 

Download article in PDF