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Illustrations of political economy

Illustrations of political economy

selected tales
EconomicsHistory
Pages
439
Published
1832
Language
English

Synopsis

Illustrations of Political Economy is Harriet Martineau's twenty-five-volume series of novellas, published 1832-33, in which she set out to make "the principles which regulate society... more clear and interesting" by dramatizing what those principles actually do within communities.

Each tale is built around a particular economic principle — overpopulation, labor strikes, free trade — with plot subordinated to the lesson Martineau wanted to illustrate. Written to popularize political economy for a general readership, the series made Martineau's name and fortune, establishing her as both a successful and controversial author and a pioneer of nineteenth-century "social problem" writing.

Prose complexity
7/10

Vibe

InformativeIntellectual

Genres

Economics History Politics

About the author

H
Harriet Martineau

Harriet Martineau was an English social theorist often seen as the first female sociologist. She wrote from a sociological, holistic, religious and feminine angle, translated works by Auguste Comte, and, rarely for a woman writer at the time, earned enough to support herself. The young Princess Victoria enjoyed her work and invited her to her 1838 coronation. Martineau advised "a focus on all [society's] aspects, including key political, religious, and social institutions". She applied thorough...