Routledge Historical Resources

Currents of Thought

Browse by current of thought to discover a wide variety of primary and critical materials on various topics including European Enlightenment, Classical Political Economy and Marxism. Click on a tile to read an overview of the current of thought and view the relevant primary source documents, secondary source book chapters, journal articles and thematic essays.

Classical political Economy

Classical political economy is a child of the Enlightenment in Scotland, France and Italy in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Its advocates challenged the authoritarian…

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Classical political economy is a child of the Enlightenment in Scotland, France and Italy in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Its advocates challenged the authoritarian…

European Enlightenment

The Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason, was a crucial period in European history, which began (according to some authors) in the late…

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The Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason, was a crucial period in European history, which began (according to some authors) in the late…

Historical Schools

Prior to the emergence of political economy (later known as economics) as a separate subject—thereby reflecting a deepening division of labour within sciences—economic, philosophical and…

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Prior to the emergence of political economy (later known as economics) as a separate subject—thereby reflecting a deepening division of labour within sciences—economic, philosophical and…

Institutionalism

The movement known as Old Institutionalism emerged in the United States of America at the end of the nineteenth century and was at its height…

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The movement known as Old Institutionalism emerged in the United States of America at the end of the nineteenth century and was at its height…

Marginalist and Neoclassical Schools

It is frequently argued that there was a marginalist revolution in the late nineteenth century, which replaced classical economics with marginalist economics. Alas, things are…

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It is frequently argued that there was a marginalist revolution in the late nineteenth century, which replaced classical economics with marginalist economics. Alas, things are…

Marxism

The writings of Karl Marx (1818–83), and his activities during his lifetime have always been at the centre of multiple and lively controversies. Debate has…

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The writings of Karl Marx (1818–83), and his activities during his lifetime have always been at the centre of multiple and lively controversies. Debate has…

Non-socialist Critiques of Political Economy

From its emergence as an apparently new discipline during the eighteenth century, political economy—entertaining, as it did, the assumptions of free competition in markets, selfish…

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From its emergence as an apparently new discipline during the eighteenth century, political economy—entertaining, as it did, the assumptions of free competition in markets, selfish…

Socialist Currents of Thought

The term ‘socialism’, as it is understood today, first gained currency during the early nineteenth century, although it had already seen sporadic use, in a…

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The term ‘socialism’, as it is understood today, first gained currency during the early nineteenth century, although it had already seen sporadic use, in a…