Course 2021-2022 a.y.

30530 - GLOBAL ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL HISTORY

Department of Social and Political Sciences

Course taught in English
Go to class group/s: 31
CLEAM (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/12) - CLEF (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/12) - CLEACC (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/12) - BESS-CLES (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/12) - BIEF (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/12) - BIEM (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/12) - BEMACS (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/12)
Course Director:
GRACE BALLOR

Classes: 31 (I sem.)
Instructors:
Class 31: GRACE BALLOR


Suggested background knowledge

There are no prerequisites for taking this course, but students who have never taken economic history at university level may wish to read Robert C. ALLEN, "Global Economic History: A Very Short Introduction", Oxford University Press. This short text, which is now available electronically through the Bocconi Library catalog, is covered in the course, but it also serves as a useful background reading for students who wish to have an introduction to the subject.

Mission & Content Summary

MISSION

Globalization defines nearly every aspect of our lives. Education, work, entrepreneurship, innovation, trade and finance all have global dimensions, which today we take for granted. Students at Bocconi live and study within a global environment and learn of important aspects of globalization in most of their courses. They year 2020 has been a powerful demonstration of the power and inevitability of globalization. The mission of this elective course is to make students better understand how our interconnected world economy and the global economy emerged historically and how globalization transformed economies and societies around the world. We will learn that globalization has not been a one-way street and that modern history witnessed periods of both increasing and diminishing globalization. The course aims to provide students with the tools for understanding economic and social change in a historical and global perspective. The teaching material will help students develop critical thinking and narrative skills.

CONTENT SUMMARY

In this elective course, we examine through ten topics how the global economy emerged in the past and how globalization transformed macro regions of the world.

  1. The first part of the course traces the connection between western expansion and the rise of the global economy from the 16th to 19th centuries and explains what factors - social, cultural, and technological - limited early globalization. We study how growing prosperity in Europe compared with the development of other world regions.
  2. The second part of the course discusses globalisation and deglobalization in the industrial age and the shifts of global economic power they brought about. We teach modern economic history in a global context and focus mainly on non-European regions. The syllabus covers the following topics:

Part 1

  • The origins of globalisation
  • The Atlantic economy
  • The Asian empires
  • The rise of the West  
  • War and revolution

Part 2

  • European hegemony 
  • American leadership
  • Latin America: catching up and falling behind
  • The rise of the East
  • The poverty of the South

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO)

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

At the end of the course student will be able to...
  • Identify the main forces of globalization and the economic and social consequences of globalization
  • Explain the historical origins of the global economy and differences in the impact of globalization between different world region
  • Discuss economic development in a historical and global perspective

APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

At the end of the course student will be able to...
  • Identify key facts and trends in global economic history
  • Understand the role of the social and institutional context in economic development
  • Summarize complex narrative interpretations
  • Develop crtical thinking
  • Develop skills in academic writing

Teaching methods

  • Face-to-face lectures

DETAILS

The lectures are designed to engage students on the course topics and to help them summarize and understand the content of the advanced course readings. Guest lectures serve the purpose of introducing students to aspects of the history of globalisation, which are not directly discussed in the course readings but that enrich the context in which we can understand the course material.


Assessment methods

  Continuous assessment Partial exams General exam
  • Written individual exam (traditional/online)
   x x

ATTENDING AND NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS

Students will be assessed by written examination only, but they will have two available options: partial and general exams. Both exams will contain only open-answer questions. 


Teaching materials


ATTENDING AND NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS

All teaching materials will be listed in the course syllabus. They will be accessible electronically either through the library catalog or on the Blackboard course page. Students will not have to buy any textbooks.

Last change 19/07/2021 16:13