HIST 641: Jobs, Industries, and Modern Markets (CRN: 23709) Spring 2026

Thursday, 3pm–5:50pm Instructional Modality: Face-to-face

 

Course Description

How did industrialization change work, politics, even warfare? What has deindustrialization left in its wake? What tools can historians use to understand these transformations? Why did they matter? How do they continue to matter? This course uses the paired themes of industrialization and deindustrialization as an introduction to transnational, comparative, and global history.

Students will gain familiarity with relevant scholarship and develop a research project of their own in this area.

 

Learning Outcomes

  1. Demonstrate knowledge of major concepts, empirical patterns, and historical context during periods of industrialization and deindustrialization around the world;
  2. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of competing explanations for periods of industrialization and deindustrialization around the world;
  3. Interpret relevant evidence to support conclusions about the behavior of individuals, institutions, and organizations during periods of industrialization and deindustrialization;
  4. Explain how social, historical, and technical knowledge informs and can shape global decisions, based on examples from periods of industrialization and deindustrialization;
  5. Develop original historical research about industrialization and

Learning Resources, Technology, and Texts

Books

Cooper, M. Counterrevolution: Extravagance and Austerity in Public Finance. Zone Books, 2024.

Edwards, S. The Chile Project: The Story of the Chicago Boys and the Downfall of Neoliberalism. Princeton University Press, 2023.

Hobsbawm, E. The Age of Revolution: Europe 1789–1848. Vintage, 1996 [1962].

Iandolo, A. Arrested Development: The Soviet Union in Ghana, Guinea, and Mali, 1955–1968.

Cornell University Press, 2022.

Paine, S. C. M. The Japanese Empire: Grand Strategy from the Meiji Restoration to the Pacific War. Cambridge University Press, 2017.

Pommeranz, K. The Great Divergence: China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World Economy. Princeton University Press, 2000.

Seow, V. Carbon Technocracy: Energy Regimes in Modern East Asia. University of Chicago Press, 2021.

Tooze, A. Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World. Penguin, 2018. Wallerstein, I. World-Systems Analysis: An Introduction. Duke University Press, 2004.

Westad, O. A., and Jian, C. The Great Transformation: China’s Road from Revolution to Reform.

Yale University Press, 2024.

Articles

Edgerton, D. “Liberal Militarism and the British State.” New Left Review 185 (1991): 138–69.

Edgerton, D. “The ‘White Heat’ Revisited: The British Government and Technology in the 1960s.” Twentieth Century British History 7, no. 1 (1996): 53–82.

Farrell, H. and Newman, A. L. “Weaponized Interdependence: How Global Economic Networks Shape State Coercion.” International Security 44, no. 1 (2019): 42–79.

Heathcote, J., Perri, F., Violante, G. L, and Zhang, L. “More unequal we stand? Inequality dynamics in the United States, 1967–2021.” NBER Working Paper no. 31486, July 2023.

Kelsey, T. “The Retreat from ‘High Technology’ in Post-War Britain.” English Historical Review

138, no. 594–95 (2023): 1363–93.

Krige, J. “Debate: Building a U.S. Regulatory Empire in the Chip War with China.” Technology and Culture 65, no. 4 (2024): 1081–1108.

Piketty, T. “Capital in the 21st Century, Ten Years Later.” Working Paper 21, World Inequality Lab, September 2025.

Saez, E. and Zucman, G. “Wealth Inequality in the United States since 1913: Evidence from Capitalized Income Tax Data.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 131, no. 2 (2016): 519–78.

Tsing, A. “Supply Chains and the Human Condition.” Rethinking Marxism 21, no. 2 (2009): 148–76.

Please acquire each required book in hardcopy (from either a library or bookstore) and bring it to class, having already read it, the week it is assigned. Books may be purchased from University Bookstore (360 W. State St.), Follett’s Purdue West Bookstore (1265 W. State St.), or online vendors such as Amazon.com.

Please print out each article and bring it to class, having already read it, the week it is assigned. All required articles can be accessed using the Library Reading List tool on Brightspace.

Students may use digital texts in class only if stipulated as part of their University-approved course accommodations.

 

Assignments

  1. Class attendance and Students will be expected to attend class having prepared for it beforehand by reading assigned texts carefully. In class, students will be expected to participate actively by asking relevant questions and contributing meaningfully to discussions. 20% of final grade.
  2. In-class presentation. Each student must introduce the reading and open discussion with an informal presentation one week (12-15 minutes at the beginning of class). Students will request their preferred date(s) in writing at the beginning of the Further instructions and details will be provided. 10%.
  3. Individual oral exams. Students will undergo an individual oral exam with the instructor outside class time three times during the Exams are synthetic, but not comprehensive; each exam will cover only one part of the course (e.g., Exam 1 covers Part 1), including all assigned materials and discussions relevant to that part of the course. The instructor will circulate likely exam questions at least one week prior to each exam. Exams are closed-note, closed-book, and can be expected to last 15-20 minutes. Students cannot use electronic devices during the exam, unless stipulated as part of the student’s course accommodations. Oral exams will take place Feb. 24–25, Apr. 7–8, and May 1 and/or 4. Students will request their preferred date(s) and time in writing at the beginning of the semester; if you know you will be unavailable or otherwise away from campus any of those dates, please let the instructor know as soon as possible. 10% each (30% total).
  1. Mock grant proposal. This assignment is modeled on the research statement for a dissertation research fellowship or postdoctoral The proposal will introduce a research project of your choosing and draw on literature from this course to justify and contextualize it; the proposal must introduce a relevant research question and outline a plan to pursue it, including preliminary description of primary sources/data. It can address any topic related to industrialization and/or deindustrialization in any part(s) of the world since 1750. A significant portion of the proposal will be devoted to justifying the scholarly need for and/or anticipated scholarly impact of this new research. Various and mixed research methods are acceptable (e.g., archives, interviews, quantitative analysis, etc.), but chosen methods must be clearly and succinctly presented for a nonspecialist audience. Required length of the final proposal document is 7–9 pages double-spaced—with one-inch margins, in Times New Roman 12-point font—including any footnotes (abbreviated Chicago-style, single-spaced, no smaller than 10-point Times New Roman). Additional and separate bibliography required, providing full Chicago-style references for secondary literature; no more than two pages, single-spaced, one-inch margins, 12-point Times New Roman.
    • Abstract of 250–350 words, including your research question, due on Brightspace by 11:59pm on Feb. 6 (5%); instructor will review and provide feedback privately.
    • Draft of 2–3 pages (double-spaced) due on Brightspace by 11:59pm on Mar. 13 (10%); please note that this draft (without any accompanying grade or instructor feedback) will be circulated to the entire class for peer review prior to in-class workshop;
    • Final proposal due on Brightspace by 11:59pm on May 7 (25%).

 

Late Assignment Policy

Without written permission from the instructor, student work forfeits the equivalent of one full letter grade (e.g., A work automatically becomes B work) for each day it is late. Work submitted more than 4 days late without this written permission will receive a failing grade and will not otherwise be graded.

 Students should request extensions in writing at least 72 hours before the assignment deadline, no matter the circumstances. When conflicts can be anticipated, such as for many University-sponsored activities and religious observations, inform the instructor of the situation as far in advance as possible. For cases that fall under excused absence regulations, you or your representative should contact or go to the Office of the Dean of Students (ODOS) website to complete appropriate forms for instructor notification. Under academic regulations, excused absences may be granted by ODOS for cases of grief/bereavement, military service, jury duty, parenting leave, or emergent medical care. The processes are detailed, so plan ahead.

Regarding make-up exams and presentations, or any other in-person assignment, please contact the instructor (and/or ODOS, if relevant) by email as far in advance as possible.

For unanticipated or emergency circumstances when advance notification is not possible, contact the instructor as soon as possible by email. Such emergencies may require documentation.

Extensions not covered by excused absence policies will be granted at the instructor’s discretion.

 Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) / Large Language Models Policy

Limited use of GenAI is permitted, but discouraged. You may use GenAI as a personal learning tool for self-study. Remember that you will, however, be assessed on your understanding of the assigned course materials, not any content produced by GenAI. Due to current limitations, such as lack of specificity and inability to weigh competing explanations, GenAI may lead students astray in this course. Based on your instructor’s experience, use of GenAI may disappoint students, especially insofar as grades are concerned. For this reason, students are not permitted to use GenAI at any stage of completing course assignments, from brainstorming to proofreading. Because current AI detection tools have very high false-positive rates, they will not be used. All assignments will be graded on their own merits. If use of GenAI results in a poor grade, students will not be allowed to re-do the assignment. AI use will not be considered plagiarism or academic dishonesty for the purposes of this course, unless AI leads the student to present others’ work as their own and to fail to provide proper scholarly credit and citation.

 

Grading Scale

A+: exceptional work A: 93% or higher

A-: 92-90

B+: 89-87

B:  86-83

B-: 82-80

C+: 79-77

C:  76-73

C-: 72-70

D+: 69-67

D:  66-63

D-: 62-60

F:    59 or lower

 

Grades round up no more than one half point (0.5%).