Englands Weg in die Marktgesellschaft

Focusing on the example of England and starting in the Middle Ages, this book examines the rise of modern market society. It emphasizes the singularity of the English case, and challenges the idea of a Western pattern of commercialization. Using England as an example, the book reconstructs the centuries-long process of commercialization that gave birth to modern market society. It is shown under what circumstances, since the late Middle Ages, certain types of markets - for land, capital and labor, but also e.g. B. for rights of use - and how the social relationships mediated through markets were shaped in the course of the early modern period. In this context, the book examines the emergence of regulatory and control bodies of the market, such as the stock exchange, the Bank of England and Lloyds insurance. Communication between the actors and how they deal with the uncertainty and risks of the market are also dealt with. The result of the study shows that the process of commercialization of the economy, society and culture in England did not lead directly to industrial society, as research had previously assumed, but to the service society.