|
Showing 1 - 3 of
3 matches in All Departments
What did the Georgians think of themselves, and of their exciting,
turbulent, and controversial times? The Georgian era (1714-1830)
was a time of innovations. It saw the end of monarchical
absolutism, the world's first industrial revolution, and deep
transformations in religious and cultural life. Britain vastly
expanded its global exploration and settlements overseas and played
an ignoble role in the international trade in enslaved Africans.
But how were these major transitions experienced by people at the
time? Are their responses surprising-or to be expected? In this
wide-ranging history, Penelope J. Corfield explores every aspect of
Georgian life-love and violence, politics and empire, religion and
science, industry and towns. People's responses were often divided.
Pessimists saw loss and decline, while optimists saw improvements
and light. Out of these tensions came the Georgian culture of
experiment and resistance. Corfield shows how features of
continuity, like the monarchy and titled society, persisted
alongside innovations-while both old ways and new developments were
challenged whenever the human costs proved too great.
The modern professions have a long history that predates the
development of formal institutions and examinations in the
nineteenth century. Long before the Victorian era the emergent
professions wielded power through their specialist knowledge and
set up informal mechanisms of control and self-regulation.
Penelope Corfield devotes a chapter each to lawyers, clerics and
doctors and makes reference to many other professionals - teachers,
apothecaries, governesses, army officers and others. She shows how
as the professions gained in power and influence, so they were
challenged increasingly by satire and ridicule. Corfield's analysis
of the rise of the professions during this period centres on a
discussion of the philosophical questions arising from the complex
relationship between power and knowledge.
'Not simply pioneering, but also readable and entertaining.'-F M L Thompson, University of London This book identifies the growth of the professions as a key element in Britain's modernization from 1700 to 1850. Professional power depended ultimately upon public trust in specialist knowledge, but the professions were subjected to a torrent of ridicule and satire. This analysis of the rise of the professions during this period centres on a discussion of the philosophical questions arising from the complex relationship between power and knowledge.
|
|
Email address subscribed successfully.
A activation email has been sent to you.
Please click the link in that email to activate your subscription.