Read Anywhere and on Any Device!

Subscribe to Read | $0.00

Join today and start reading your favorite books for Free!

Create Free Account

Wellsprings of Achievement: Cultural and Economic Dynamics in Early Modern England and Japan

0/5 ( ratings)

Britain and Japan are frequently compared by those studying economic growth and technological innovation in industrialised societies. But are such comparisons legitimate? Do the so-called Protestant and Japanese 'work ethics' have anything in common? Can they actually explain the respective achievements of these two nations? What is achievement, and how should it be compared? In this volume, twelve distinguished scholars from the historical, social and human sciences reflect on these questions. Six general essays look from the perspective of different disciplines at the concept and interpretation of achievement, and consider its complex associations with creativity and innovation. Six historical case studies then focus on England and Japan since the 17th century, taking as their point of departure the emergence of English capitalism. They examine how people have written about work and its value, and how they have drawn on cultural resources in their attempts to shape their own or others' actions. The link between individual identity and the actions of groups, how particular groups have exerted profound effects on entire nations, and how such effects may be unintended consequences of individualised and self-interested behaviour are prominent themes. This interdisciplinary volume thus offers a range of resources and approaches for those interested in the comparative study of cultures. It arises from a series of symposia organised by the Achievement Project, a five-year interdisciplinary programme of enquiry, directed by the editor, focusing on economic growth and technological innovation since 1500.

Language: English

Pages: 272

Format: Hardcover

Publisher: Routledge

Release: November 28, 1995

ISBN: 0860784657

ISBN 13: 9780860784654

Wellsprings of Achievement: Cultural and Economic Dynamics in Early Modern England and Japan

0/5 ( ratings)

Britain and Japan are frequently compared by those studying economic growth and technological innovation in industrialised societies. But are such comparisons legitimate? Do the so-called Protestant and Japanese 'work ethics' have anything in common? Can they actually explain the respective achievements of these two nations? What is achievement, and how should it be compared? In this volume, twelve distinguished scholars from the historical, social and human sciences reflect on these questions. Six general essays look from the perspective of different disciplines at the concept and interpretation of achievement, and consider its complex associations with creativity and innovation. Six historical case studies then focus on England and Japan since the 17th century, taking as their point of departure the emergence of English capitalism. They examine how people have written about work and its value, and how they have drawn on cultural resources in their attempts to shape their own or others' actions. The link between individual identity and the actions of groups, how particular groups have exerted profound effects on entire nations, and how such effects may be unintended consequences of individualised and self-interested behaviour are prominent themes. This interdisciplinary volume thus offers a range of resources and approaches for those interested in the comparative study of cultures. It arises from a series of symposia organised by the Achievement Project, a five-year interdisciplinary programme of enquiry, directed by the editor, focusing on economic growth and technological innovation since 1500.

Language: English

Pages: 272

Format: Hardcover

Publisher: Routledge

Release: November 28, 1995

ISBN: 0860784657

ISBN 13: 9780860784654

More books from Penelope Gouk

Music, Science, and Natural Magic in Seventeenth-Century England

4.4/5 ( ratings)

Musical Healing in Cultural Contexts

Towards Tonality: Aspects of Baroque Music Theory

The Routledge Companion to Music, Mind, and Well-Being

Ivory Diptych Sundials, 1570-1750

Music, Nature and Divine Knowledge in England, 1650-1750: Between the Rational and the Mystical (Music in Society and Culture, 11)

Music, Nature and Divine Knowledge in England, 1650-1750: Between the Rational and the Mystical (Music in Society and Culture Book 11)

Representing Emotions: New Connections in the Histories of Art, Music and Medicine

The Routledge Companion to Music, Mind, and Well-being

Rate this book!

Write a review?