DOCTORAL RESEARCH Maureen H. Berry, Editor UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
Studies seeking historical explanation for past or present phenomena rely as much on the availability of evidence as on the ingenuity of the researcher in both seeking it out, in new places or forms, and recognizing it for what it is. This point is illustrated in many of the dissertations included in the current selection, by the researchers’ efforts to use new tools, or bring new perspectives, to familiar but still fruitful research areas.
Szaivert’s work on the Roman minting system in the first century A.D. provides the first example of searching through non-literature sources for events in economic history. This study in numismatics is part of a large-scale research program, involving the ancient Roman coinage plans, currently being conducted by the Numismatic Institute of the University of Vienna. Kehoe was also interested in the economic history of the Roman Empire. He moved one century later in time to the North African provinces, and made use of a series of inscriptions, already discovered in Tunisia, to build an economic model of food production.
Bringing an imaginative focus to bear on a recognized problem area, St. George integrated data developed from two artifacts: housing and furniture, with documentary sources in his study of social change in early New England. Floystad’s research into the household economies of the labor force in an eighteenth century Norwegian ironworks is the first of our dissertations involving early industrial working conditions. Most of his information came from the firm’s accounting records, which were very comprehensive because of the multiple economic ties between employer and employees.
Rollison’s study of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Glouces-tershire, to evaluate the nature of industrial evolution, again illustrates shift in research focus. This shift had two dimensions: geographical and temporal. The selected county was somewhat distant from the industrializing areas, and the study was longitudinal to allow for trend recognition. Shelton adopted similar focus strategies in her inquiry into change in the early American textile industry. Her geographical shift was away from New England, the traditional research site, to Philadelphia. She was thus able to trace the effects of English immigrant labor on the industrialization process. Luchembe’s comparative study of copperminers in Zambia and Peru over the past century repeats the theme that broader perspectives are needed on seemingly localized problems. The dissertation looked to the world of international finance capital for explanations of industrializing processes in two widely-separated investee countries. The last dissertation also deals with industrial change: this time in the Bavarian brewery business. While other studies laid heavy emphasis on labor relations, Mayer goes to the macro level, examining the interactive effects of government and industry policies on industrial growth.
Die Muenzpraegung des Kaisers Nerva (The Coinage of Nerva) (Uni-versity of Vienna, 1979; Vol. 42/02 pp. 248-9/C)1 by E. Szaivert. This dissertation deals with the organization of the Roman minting system in the first century A.D. Szaivert chose to concentrate on the reign of Nerva for two main reasons: firstly, because this period lent itself to the study of coinage organization, and secondly, because of the broader applicability of the research findings. The coinage system of the first century can also serve as a prototype for that of the next one.
During Nerva’s reign, all coins were minted in Rome. The study provides a tabulated outline of all the coinage, complete with photo-graphs, reconstructing the chronological sequence of the different issues. The last issue of Domitianus and the first of Traianus were also analyzed and included in order to demonstrate the continuity of the Roman mint’s organization. This research disclosed that Rome had six mint departments (officinae) in operation by the end of the first century: the same number already known to exist two centuries later. Other coins were also dated and classified in proper sequence.
As an extension of the research, a considerable number of die comparisons were made in order to clarify other research ques-tions. The reverse sides of the types of coins might, for example, depict certain of the Emperor’s political activities which were not otherwise recorded. These die comparisons brought to light Nerva’s ordinance abolishing the provision of mules for the imperial postal service, for which there are no extant literature sources. This isolated example shows the important role which numismatics can play in providing basic materials for ancient history research.
The Economics of Food Production on Roman Imperial Estates in North Africa (The University of Michigan, 1982; Vol. 43/10, p. 3390-A) by Dennis Patrick Kehoe. One of the problems faced by any empire-building nation is determining how to make the best comprehensive use of its colonies’ resources. Various institutions in the Roman provinces, for example, were incorporated into the overall administrative structure to consolidate control mechanisms. The general question researched by Kehoe was how this process of “romanization” affected the local economy: in particular that of North Africa.
There were two main reasons for this choice of location. First, Tunisia was one of the empire’s most fertile provinces and supplied Rome with about two-thirds of its grain consumption. Second, a rich data base existed from which the author could construct an economic model for food production. This base consisted of a series of inscriptions which was discovered at the beginning of this century in the middle Bagradas valley in northern Tunisia. These inscriptions describe the agricultural system and contain regulations for management of the imperial estates in the second century A.D.
Crown land was farmed out to sharecroppers, coloni, under per-petual leaseholds. The middlemen to whom the rents were paid were known as conductores. Because of the relative abundance of land, and the large volume of production, attributable to both the fertility of the land and population density, the government received significant amounts of revenues.
In developing his economic model, Kehoe examined the eco-nomic relationships between the sharecroppers, middlemen, and government, as well as the economic intents and effects of the estate management regulations. One of his conclusions is that the coloni were able to exercise economic leverage in their dealings with the government as independent farmers, and were not merely peasant laborers as had previously been argued.
A Retreat from the Wilderness: Pattern in the Domestic Environ-ments of Southeastern New England, 1630-1730 (University of Penn-sylvania, 1982; Vol. 43/03, pp. 887-8/A) by Robert Blair St. George. One of the frustrations encountered in trying to trace patterns of change in early New England society has been the inadequacies of available documentation. Equally obstructing is the problem of finding alternative sources of information to fill in the gaps or round out the picture. What is needed, St. George claims, is the integration of data gleaned from artifacts with other public records. The artifacts he chose to illustrate his point were houses and furniture.
This study of changes in New England society during the first century of English settlement used three research methods: docu-mentary reconstruction, cultural geography, and structuralism. Through documentary reconstruction, a total of 439 artisans were associated with the houses and furniture of the period. Extant in-ventories were examined to determine the sizes and functions of houses on a room-by-room basis, and the taking of an estate inventory in 1668 was recreated. Cultural geography helped in mapping the distribution of specific types of houses and in relating furniture construction details to the demographics of artisans and their clients from identifiable areas of the mother country. Structuralism was used to establish typologies, observe their development over time, and clarify the symbolism underlying the inventory taking.
This research showed a significant degree of cognitive congruence between houses and furniture and the extent to which they were mutually reinforcing as control mechanisms. Formal changes in furniture and housing were related to similar variations in occupational identity among the artisans, attributable to shifts in religious and social sensitivities. The social upheaval in southeastern New England, particularly towards the end of the study’s time-frame, were reflected in the occupational structure and artifact forms of the local economy.
The Workman’s Fate. The Scanty Bread. Living Conditions of the Workers at Baaseland/Naes Ironworks 1725-1807 (Universitet i Bergen, Norway, 1979; Vol. 42/02, pp. 249-50/C) by I. Floystad. This dissertation is a detailed study of the household economies of employees at an ironworks in southern Norway during the eight-eenth century. Most of the source data was obtained from the firm’s accounting records which provided very comprehensive information because of the varied economic ties between workers and employer.
The firm was in virtual control of the workers’ living conditions through the recycling effects of wage earnings. The company store provided most of the goods the workers needed, the firm rented the small plots on which the workers grew their food supplements, and the firm extended credit through loans and other forms of pay advances.
Using such variables as income per year, retail prices, and household budgets, Floystad developed the real wages of employees in various activities, such as the hammers, the forge, and the mines. The household budgets for all families were reconstructed for selected years, showing the annual economic resources and patterns of expenditure and consumption. Incomes generally increased during the entire period because of higher employment, productivity, and wage rates. However, in real terms wages declined in the last quarter of the century, particularly around the year 1800, because of the high grain prices. Patterns of consumption for goods and services varied between families, but the average household spent about 70-80 percent of its income on food. At least 75 percent of energy requirements were obtained from cereals, mostly barley. Consumption of fat and potatoes was low, but most households had a satisfactory or good calorie intake.
Almost continual credit debts to the firm were characteristic of household economies. As families expanded, this debt increased. But as the children grew, and sons started to work part-time when they reached the age of 10 or 12, the credits were repaid.
Across-groups comparisons with other Norwegian working com-munities of the period were not possible because of the lack of similar studies; a situation which points to opportunities for further research.
The Intensification of Community, Society, and Economy in Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Gloucestershire (University of New South Wales (Australia), 1982; Vol. 43/10, p. 3395-A) by David Peter RoIlison. The genesis of the Industrial Revolution in England poses an intriguing question: was it a decisive watershed occurring at a particular point in time, or was it an intensification, or general diffusion, of long-rooted trends towards industrialization? Rollison argues for the latter, based on his study of industrial development in Gloucestershire, England. This is a county southwest of the “dark, Satanic mills” and not usually directly associated with industrialization.
Through the use of local history sources, Rollison traced a de-velopment cycle taking place over a 400-year period from the middle of the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries. The early social structures were based on dispersed villages, small market towns, and a few larger boroughs and cities. As mobility increased, popu-lations grew, and agriculture and manufacturing were rationalized, the traditional structures were subjected to stresses in a developmental process which the author describes as one of “intensification.” Social conflicts were heightened, pressures increased for various new social services, and the infrastructure, including communications and transportation systems, underwent severe strain. The pattern of change was deliberate with continuous adaptation. New local government initiatives were introduced in the late sixteenth century and the following sixty years or so saw a consolidation of innovative trends. After 1660, the tempo increased significantly when Gloucestershire assumed the role of a horizontal trade axis, complementing the traditional north-south routes. By 1850, regional and national economies had replaced by assimilation the marketing districts which previously had been relatively autonomous. Thus, from early localized origins evolved a more homogeneous commercial and industrial society.
The Mills of Manayunk: Early Industrialization and Social Conflict in the Philadelphia Region, 1787-1837 (University of California, Los Angeles, 1982; Vol. 43/10, pp. 3398-9/A) by Cynthia Jane Shelton. Research into the nature of industrial development in America has usually concerned itself with New England. However, a considerable industrial growth occurred in Philadelphia where, by the middle of the nineteenth century, there were the greatest number of textile factories in the nation. Shelton’s dissertation studies the de-velopment of the factory wage labor system and industrial society in the Philadelphia area during the period 1787-1837. Its special focus is on the mil! village of Manayunk and its township of Rox-borough, which was the center of the mid-Atlantic textile industry. The basic methodology used was library research. The data base included newspapers, church records, tax lists, census schedules, and the correspondence and records of manufacturers.
The study explored three interconnected developments: shifts in relationships between capital and labor as water-powered mills re-placed shops; shifts in the balances of property ownership, economic power, and political and cultural authority in Roxborough; and the growth of religious, political, and industrial strife in the 1830s.
The broad social conflict, resulting from the industrial process, occurred earlier in the Philadelphia region than in New England and elsewhere because of the composition of the local textile work force. The stagnation of the textile industry in Britain brought a large supply of immigrant labor to the mid-Atlantic area. The nature of mill production, the timing of mechanization, and industrial conflict in the Philadelphia area can be traced to the ideology, poverty, and skill of these immigrants. Bringing a militant tradition with them from Lancashire, they were in the van of the union movement and carried out strike activities for two years in the 1830s. Those in the commercial community perceived that both evangelical religion and social reforms could mediate in the class conflict between mill-owners and the labor force. These class divisions became more distinct as struggles intensified over such issues as working conditions, temperance reforms, and public education.
Finance Capital and Mine Labor: A Comparative Study of Copper-miners in Zambia and Peru, 1870-1980 (University of California, Los Angeles, 1982; Vol. 43/04, p. 1252-A) by Chilufya Chipasha Luch-embe. Research into the history of industrial development in third world countries has traditionally concentrated on causal links with former colonial powers or other major investing nations. Diverging from this line of inquiry, Luchembe’s comparative study of the history of labor in the copper mines of Zambia and Peru goes beyond the conventional emphasis on localized or situation-particular influences
The dissertation is organized into seven chapters spanning the past century. The first chapter, set in the period 1870-1890, traces three antecedent elements which are critical for industrial development: the end of the slave trade, the rise of speculation in commodities, and the beginning of large-scale concentrated investment overseas. During the next two decades, speculation came to an end and production began. In Peru, this occurred just after the turn of the century when all locally-owned mines and concessions were purchased by a New York consortium. Speculation by the British in Zambia, on the other hand, did not end until after the first world war.
Chapter three deals with the interwar years and the differing effects on the Peruvian and Zambian copper industries of the de-pression years and the onset of the second world war. Social relations during these decades, particularly with respect to migrant labor, are explored in chapter four. By utilizing this type of labor, profits were maximized and international competition undercut.
Copper production was modernized and expanded in both countries during the forties and fifties. This capital investment brought an end to unskilled, labor-intensive operations and a need for skilled labor, which, in turn, stimulated labor movements.
The final chapters trace the effects on Peru and Zambia of the depreciation of the dollar on the international finance markets from 1960-1980. To minimize losses, companies cooperated in State na-tionalizations during this period. The concluding issue raised by the author is whether the state can maintain this posture in the face of the changing social structure in both countries.
Bavarian Breweries and Brewmasters, 1871-1914: A Study of Mittel-standspolitik and German Economic Modernization (Harvard Univer-sity, 1982; Vol. 43/10, p. 3395-A) by James Douglas Mayer. What influences did rural and urban artisans bring to bear on the eco-nomic, political, and social life of Bavaria during the interwar years 1871-1914? Mayer examined this question by focusing on the Bavarian brewmasters and breweries: one of the most respected of the old middleclass (Mittelstand) crafts. Research data was mainly obtained from various library sources, including the Bavarian main state archive and the private archive of the Bavarian Brewers League in Munich.
Bavaria’s breweries developed in the context of trade guilds. By the middle of the nineteenth century they were still operating as small artisan enterprises with a maximum of five employees, most of whom had served an apprenticeship of at least two years. Beer was a basic commodity at all levels of life and per capita consumption was unequalled elsewhere in the world. Considerable changes in organization and market orientation took place, however, in the period of 1870-1900. More than 2,000 small breweries went out of business, or were absorbed into larger firms. About 74 incorporated breweries were established, mainly in Munich and Nuremberg, and marketing adopted a national and an international focus. By 1910, Bavaria was producing 10 percent of the world’s beer.
Malt taxes from beer production had long been necessary for the economic survival of the Bavarian state and local communities. As the structure of the brewing industry changed, pressure was placed on Bavaria’s monarchy by two sets of conflicting demands for state intervention: on the one side, demands from regional associations of artisans and breweries for state protectionism; on the other, demands from the large firms for free trade and increased industrial opportunities. An outward appearance of harmony, however, was fostered by the mediating influences of local-level descendants of the guild system. Mayer concluded that, by the turn of the century, it was evident that the state bureaucracy had only limited ability to resolve economic differences, due to its neo-mercantilist and paternalistic philosophies.
