Enterprise, adventure and industry

The formation of ‘commercial character’ in William Robertson's History of America

Dados Bibliográficos

ID11348018
AutoresNeil Hargraves (a 228 Easter Road, Edinburgh EH6 8LE, UK, autor correspondente)
Ano2003
Volume29
Fascículo1
Páginas33-54
Data de publicação2003-01-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoHistory of European Ideas (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0191-6599 • E-ISSN: 1873-541X
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1016/s0191-6599(02)00097-9
OpenAlexW1999249053
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas2

This paper addresses the question of how Robertson's History of America depicts the transition of world history from pre-modern disorder to a recognisably modern commercial order. It argues that in his narrative of action he moves beyond the limitations imposed by stadial forms of history, with which America is usually associated, and displays the importance of disordered forms of activity (here called ‘adventurism’, following Robertson's language) as a creative force in shaping the modern world. It concludes by suggesting that a close reading of his history does not support Robertson's assumptions concerning the formation of a stable, ordered and industrious ‘commercial character’ out of this process, but rather establishes a more complex and less teleological path to modernity

Action (physics · Adventure · American history · Art · Art history · Character (mathematics · Economics · Epistemology · Linguistics · Literature · Modernity · Narrative · Order (exchange · Philosophy of history · Reading (process · Sociology · Teleology · Transition (genetics · Anthropology · Historical Economic and Social Studies · History · Philosophy · Scottish History and National Identity