Sessions

Quantitative Cultural History: Diaries, Music and Proverbs

Occupational structure and economic development in Eurasia

Occupational data offer fertile grounds for in-depth comparative studies on economic development across different periods and regions. This session brings together research that utilises new occupational data from eighteenth-century England and France, the nineteenth-century Ottoman Empire, and twentieth-century China. Sub-sectoral occupational data shed new light on the divergence between France and England; biographical microdata illuminate the regional agricultural and industrial panorama of the Ottoman Empire; and genealogical data suggest a surprising increase in by-employment during the era of factory production in China. The session integrates micro data and macro perspectives with a focus on the human dimensions of economic history.

Dynamic Migrations: Unraveling 19th and 20th-Century Population Movements, Their Influences, and Gender and Socioeconomic Disparities

This session offers a comprehensive exploration of 19th and 20th-century migrations, spanning both internal and international population movements. It delves into the multifaceted causes and consequences of these migrations, including an examination of how gender and socioeconomic class influenced migration patterns. We also explore the unique dynamics of migration during times of conflict, with a particular focus on the experiences of refugees. By shedding light on these diverse aspects, this session contributes to a deeper understanding of historical migrations, their impact on global economic history, and the varying factors influencing human mobility.

Roundtable on Networks in Economic History: seeing the unseen (Women’s Committee Session)

This roundtable seeks to open a discussion on networks in economic (and business) history. The contributors employ networks from various perspectives in their work and will discuss their research process in constructing and analysing networks. Importantly, the panel will discuss the benefits of network analysis with respect to ‘seeing the unseen’, in that network analysis permits one to view communities where an individual’s records may not have survived. It allows one to position more obscured figures in the context of a network thereby illuminating their broader position in a given community.

Participants: Emily Buchnea, Tehreem Husain, Carolyn Downs, Jennifer Aston

The Queen’s Business: Administrative Practices and Resource Management of Ruling Women in Premodern Europe

The contributors of this session will discuss the business strategies of ruling women in premodern Europe, their administrative practices and resource management. Queens drew income from multiple sources (lands, wardships, port customs, manufactures, taxes, and judicial proceedings) which required a complex administrative machinery. As such the queen held a unique position as both the wife or  mother of a monarch, and as a business woman in charge of her multiple revenue streams. Her  business acumen and overall success was impacted by her own personal involvement and decisions,  but also by her distinct political position and proximity to the crown.

International Banking: networks and innovation

This session applies fresh methodologies and perspectives to the interaction between financial innovation and banking networks. The papers range across the 20^th century generating a new dataset for international networks, introducing fresh evidence in links between Japan and London through the Eurodollar market, examining the process of IT-based innovation and exploring that structures that contributed to the use of international bank networks for criminal purposes in the later 20^th century. Each paper will address issues of technology, innovation and networks. Together they hope to inspire new ways to approach the history of the evolution of international banking.

Work and Gender in Pre-Industrial Italy: New Perspectives

This session aims to shed light on the often-overlooked and misconceived role of women in pre-industrial labour, focusing on the economies of the Italian peninsula between the late Middle Ages and the early Modern period. We endeavour to challenge conventional narratives and provide fresh insights into the diverse contributions of women, spanning both the labour market and the family economy.

Genealogies and Fertility Decline

Genealogies are an increasingly important source of information for historical demographers. This session includes several paper using genealogies to study fertility decline and social mobility along with another paper on fertility decline.

Economic Warfare in Modern History

This session brings together a number of papers on the history of economic warfare in modern times, seeking answers to a number of questions that have become salient in the context of the war between Russia and Ukraine. Can economic warfare be a substitute for military action, or is it best seen as a complement? How can a nation best prepare for and conduct itself during economic warfare? What are the consequences of economic warfare and how can they be measured? The three papers consider blockade during World War 1 and sanctions during the interwar and postwar periods.

Public Health and the Environment

Recent research on the health transition in Europe has emphasised the role of public health in reducing mortality and increasing health. This panel looks at the political decisions underpinning the expansion of public health services and complicates our understanding of public health by considering the role of the environment slowing the health transition.