Looking into the Seeds of Time

by Brenner, Y. S.

• ISBN13: 9781560009962
• ISBN10: 1560009969
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-02-01
• Publisher: Transaction Pub

Summary

This stunning, refreshing work combines the history of economics and the practice of modern development. It is predicated on Brenner's view that there is no individual freedom without economic security, and that such security depends upon progress in both the natural and social sciences. Social institutions determine the pace and direction of technological advancement, and scientific and technological achievements determine which forms of social reorganization are possible and which are illusory. As all living is action, and living implies choices, any theory of development must start with the person. Brenner sees advanced societies as technically capable of providing for basic needs but not yet convinced of their ability to do so. Modern life reflects the fears of a society still trying to escape the anxieties, demons, and ghosts of a long dark era of unemployment and starvation, The problem of development is the contradiction between technological potentials and cultural inheritances.

Table of Contents

Foreword	v	(4)
Introduction to second edition	ix	(32)
Introduction to the 1979 Edition: General Outline and Scope of Book	xli
1. The Beginnings of Economic Development	1	(28)
2. `Production' Stimulated Growth -- the Role of Exports in the Development of Britain and Japan, with a Discussion of the Growth Delaying Factors in Continental Europe	29	(30)
3. `Demand' Stimulated Growth -- the Role of the Domestic Market in the Development of the U.S.A	59	(22)
4. The Socio-cultural Landscape: Europe on the Eve of the Reformation	81	(40)
5. The World Begins to Move: Reformation to the Age of Reason	121	(22)
6. The World in Motion: The Struggle between the Medieval and the Bourgeois Value Systems	143	(46)
7. The Ascent of the Bourgeoisie and the Rise of Utilitarianism	189	(46)
8. Dynamic Equilibrium: The Era of Bourgeois Consolidation	235	(66)
9. The Rise of Egalitarian Society	301	(32)
10. The Great Era of Prosperity	333	(64)
11. Towards the Future	397	(30)
Index	427