European University Institute Library

Food, energy and the creation of industriousness, work and material culture in agrarian England, 1550-1780, Craig Muldrew

eng

index present

non fiction

Food, energy and the creation of industriousness

electronic resource

dictionaries

703841772

Craig Muldrew

Cambridge studies in economic history. Second seriesCambridge Social Sciences eBooks

work and material culture in agrarian England, 1550-1780

Until the widespread harnessing of machine energy, food was the energy which fuelled the economy. In this groundbreaking 2011 study of agricultural labourers' diet and material standard of living, Craig Muldrew uses empirical research to present a much fuller account of the interrelationship between consumption, living standards and work in the early modern English economy than has previously existed. The book integrates labourers into a study of the wider economy and engages with the history of food as an energy source and its importance to working life, the social complexity of family earnings, and the concept of the 'industrious revolution'. It argues that 'industriousness' was as much the result of ideology and labour markets as labourers' household consumption. Linking this with ideas about the social order of early modern England, the author demonstrates that bread, beer and meat were the petrol of this world, and a springboard for economic change.--, Provided by publisher

Introduction -- What did labourers eat? -- Calories consumed by labourers -- Labourers' household goods -- Work and household earnings -- Agricultural labour and the industrious revolution -- 'Honest' and 'industrious' labourers? -- Conclusion

Food, Energy & the Creation of Industriousness