Presenting a new approach towards the social history of working classes in the imperial context, this book looks at the formation of working classes in Scotland and Bengal. It analyses the trajectory of labour market formation, labour supervision, cultures of labour and class formation between two regional economies - one in an imperial country and the other in a colonial one. The book examines the everyday lives of the jute workers of the imperial nexus, and the impact of the 'Dundee School' of Scottish mechanics, engineers and managers who ran the Calcutta jute industry. It goes on to challenge existing theories of imperialism, class formation and class struggle - particularly those that underline the exceptional nature of the Indian experience of industrialization - and demonstrates how and why Empire was able to provide an opportunity to test and perfect ways of controlling the lower classes of Dundee. These historical debates have a continued relevance as we observe the impact of globalization and rapid industrialization in the so-called developing world and the accompanying changes in many areas of the developed world marked by de-industrialization. The book is of use to scholars of imperial history, labour history, British history and South Asian history.

In the mid-nineteenth century, Dundee was gradually establishing itself as Scotland’s third-largest city, with a rapidly expanding economy. What most attracted observers’ attention, however, was the religious revival that began in the Fall of 1839 under the leadership of two relatively young and inexperienced ministers, Robert Murray McCheyne (1813–1843) and William Chalmers Burns (1815–1868). In McCheyne’s Dundee, historian Bruce McLennan ably traces the story of revival in this industrial Scottish seaport. After looking at the social and economic conditions of the city, as well as the significant religious issues of the day, he then considers McCheyne and Burns—their backgrounds, their brief ministries in Dundee, and their impact as God’s instruments of great spiritual blessing to the people of that city. McLennan concludes with an analysis of the reactions to the revival—both approbation and opposition— and the awakening’s long-term effects, which could still be seen a generation later. Table of Contents: 1. Dundee in the 1830s and 1840s 2. Two Background Religious Issues of the Times 3. Breaking Up the Fallow Ground: McCheyne’s Early Years in Dundee, Preparing for Revival 4. “That Memorable Field”: Burns’s Seven Months in Dundee 5. McCheyne’s Last Years in Dundee: Continuing Evidence of Revival 6. McCheyne and the Lambs 7. Responses to the Revival: Opposition and Approbation 8. Aftermath

What were the economic roots of modern industrialism? Were labor unions ever effective in raising workers' living standards? Did high levels of taxation in the past normally lead to economic decline? These and similar questions profoundly inform a wide range of intertwined social issues whose complexity, scope, and depth become fully evident in the Encyclopedia. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the field, the Encyclopedia is divided not only by chronological and geographic boundaries, but also by related subfields such as agricultural history, demographic history, business history, and the histories of technology, migration, and transportation. The articles, all written and signed by international contributors, include scholars from Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Covering economic history in all areas of the world and segments of ecnomies from prehistoric times to the present, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Economic History is the ideal resource for students, economists, and general readers, offering a unique glimpse into this integral part of world history.

Dundee had an interesting role to play in the jute trade, but the main player in the story of jute was Calcutta. This book follows the relationship of jute to empire, and discusses the rivalry between the Scottish and Indian cities from the 1840s to the 1950s and reveals the architecture of jute's place in the British Empire. The book adopts significant fresh approaches to imperial history, and explores the economic and cultural landscapes of the British Empire. Jute had been grown, spun and woven in Bengal for centuries before it made its appearance as a factory-manufactured product in world markets in the late 1830s. The book discusses the profits made in Calcutta during the rise of jute between the 1880s and 1920s; the profits reached extraordinary levels during and after World War I. The Calcutta jute industry entered a crisis period even before it was pummelled by the depression of the 1930s. The looming crisis stemmed from the potential of the Calcutta mills to outproduce world demand many times over. The St Andrew's Day rituals in Calcutta, begun three years before the founding of the Indian Jute Mills Association. The ceremonial occasion helps the reader to understand what the jute wallahs meant when they said they were in Calcutta for 'the greater glory of Scotland'. The book sheds some light on the contentious issues surrounding the problematic, if ever-intriguing, phenomenon of British Empire. The jute wallahs were inextricably bound up in the cultural self-images generated by British imperial ideology.