Stapelbroek, Koen (2024) The embarrassment of poverty: Dutch decline, liberalism, patriotism and the duties of the state around 1800. In: O'Flaherty, Niall, and Mills, Robin, (eds.) Ideas of poverty in the Age of Enlightenment. Studies in Early Modern European History . Manchester University Press, Manchester, United, Kingdom, pp. 106-127.

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Abstract

The Enlightened discourse on poverty in each national context shared much with the general conversation taking place across Europe. National socio-economic circumstances could, however, frame the timing of when and reasons why poverty became a significant concern. A good example of these processes is that of the Dutch Republic, as discussed in Koen Stapelbroeck’s chapter. Born out of its comparative wealth, a common myth in early eighteenth-century Europe was that poverty did not exist in the Republic. The emergence of poverty as an issue of economic and political debate occurred in tandem with attempts, especially in the 1770s and 1780s, to understand and stall Dutch economic decline. Two opposing discourses crystallised at this time, one which understood poverty as a mismatch of factors of production needing to be dealt with to ensure the State’s prosperity, and another which positioned poverty as an issue of moral economy, viewing it as a duty of the State to provide labour and subsistence for its citizenry. These positions provide through-lines to the rival positions of liberalism and socialism in the nineteenth century republic.

Item ID:	82915
Item Type:	Book Chapter (Research - B1)
ISBN:	9781526166784
Copyright Information:	© 2024 Manchester University Press
Date Deposited:	12 Jun 2024 02:30
FoR Codes:	43 HISTORY, HERITAGE AND ARCHAEOLOGY > 4303 Historical studies > 430308 European history (excl. British, classical Greek and Roman) @ 100%
SEO Codes:	13 CULTURE AND SOCIETY > 1307 Understanding past societies > 130704 Understanding Europe’s past @ 100%
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