This version of the course guide is provisional until the period for editing the new course guides ends.

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Social and Economic History in the Modern World

Code: 100367 ECTS Credits: 6
2025/2026
Degree Type Year
History OT 4
Science, Technology and Humanities OT 4

Contact

Name:
Manuel Santirso Rodriguez
Email:
manuel.santirso@uab.cat

Teaching groups languages

You can view this information at the end of this document.


Prerequisites

None


Objectives and Contextualisation

The economic and social evolution during the XIX and XX centuries is described from the changes in the demography, the economic structure, the economical thought, the action of the States and the ecological impact. In the first part, great attention is paid to the transition from developed feudalism to capitalism, including the processes of industrialization and urbanization; secondly, the Gilded Age is described, with the second industrialization and imperialism; finally, the great economic systems of the 20th century are characterized, both capitalism and socialism, in some versions; finally, a panorama of the socioeconomic evolution of the last decades is drawn.


Competences

    History
  • Applying the main methods, techniques and instruments of the historical analysis.
  • Developing critical thinking and reasoning and communicating them effectively both in your own and other languages.
  • Identifying the main historiographical tendencies and critically analysing their development.
  • Respecting the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
  • Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Students must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
    Science, Technology and Humanities
  • Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
  • Assess the social, economic and environmental impact when acting in this field of knowledge.
  • Construct discourse on scientific and technical knowledge using the linguistic resources of argument.
  • Develop and communicate orally and in writing the objectives and results of research projects on science, technology and society, using techniques for managing scientific information.
  • Display a capacity for organisation and planning and, at the same time, for adapting to new problems or situations.
  • Make critical use of digital tools and interpret specific documentary sources.
  • Recognise the political, social and cultural dimension of science and technology development in the different historical periods.
  • Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
  • Students must develop the necessary learning skills to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Acquire a broad vision of the different methodologies in historiography.
  2. Analyse the principal social and political movements in the 19th and 20th centuries.
  3. Analysing the main social and political movements of the 19th and 20th centuries.
  4. Be aware of the amount of time and organisation needed to produce written papers.
  5. Collect and interpret data on which to substantiate the conclusions drawn, including, where necessary, a reflection on social, scientific or ethical matters in the field of humanities.
  6. Collect and interpret data on which to substantiate the conclusions drawn, including, where necessary, a reflection on social, scientific or ethical matters in the field of international studies.
  7. Communicate orally and in writing in your first language or a foreign language, using the terminology and techniques intrinsic to historiography.
  8. Communicating in your mother tongue or other language both in oral and written form by using specific terminology and techniques of Historiography.
  9. Coordinate historical knowledge with knowledge of the humanities and the different social and juridical sciences.
  10. Critically analyse the principles, values and procedures that govern professional practice.
  11. Display advanced knowledge and understanding of theory and practice and of the work methodologies specific to the humanities, thus achieving a high level in knowledge generation.
  12. Engaging in debates about historical facts respecting the other participants' opinions.
  13. Identify personal training needs for practising journalism as an employee or a professional and engage in highly self-directed learning in all kinds of specific contexts, whether structured or not.
  14. Identify the social, economic and environmental implications of academic and professional activities in the corresponding area of knowledge.
  15. Identifying the main and secondary ideas and expressing them with linguistic correctness.
  16. Know the characteristic topics and features of the great ideological traditions, especially the classical ideological currents.
  17. Know the theoretical foundations of the different currents in historiography.
  18. Learn independently.
  19. Organising and planning the search of historical information.
  20. Properly using the specific vocabulary of History.
  21. Read and interpret the historical documents generated in the contemporary era.
  22. Reading and interpreting the historical documents produced in the contemporary era.
  23. Recognising diversity and multiculturalism.
  24. Search for historical and historiographic bibliography in repositories and catalogues and locate primary and secondary sources on the web.
  25. Show familiarity with the basic conceptual tools of sociology, anthropology, economics and political science.
  26. Show mastery of both theoretical and practical advanced knowledge and show understanding of the theoretical and practical aspects of the work methodology of international studies, to a depth that reaches the very forefront of knowledge.
  27. Solving problems autonomously.
  28. Submitting works in accordance with both individual and small group demands and personal styles.
  29. Synthesise, analyse and explain complex qualitative and quantitative information on cultures, geographic spaces, social groups, legal frameworks and different historical periods.
  30. Through personal arguments or procedures, apply the knowledge acquired and the ability to solve problems to complex situations concerning the humanities, including specialist professional activities that require creative, innovative ideas.
  31. Understand that ideologies have a significant impact on political and social movements, both past and present.
  32. Understand the approaches, analytical models and fundamental concepts of political theory.
  33. Use knowledge of the interrelationship between markets and politics and of how politics regulates the economy and how the economy influences political decision-making.
  34. Use knowledge that helps to understand the role of the state in globalisation: the state's autonomy, its capacity for establishing a tax system, the welfare state, and support for social coalitions.
  35. Use knowledge to assess how changes to the institutional framework alter the behaviour of economic agents and the economic results obtained.
  36. Use knowledge to make 'ceteris paribus' forecasts regarding the impact of interventions on economic results, calibrate the unwanted effects and understand the logic between instruments, objectives and magnitudes, and their co-determination of economic policy.
  37. Use knowledge to understand the political bases of economic development, with particular reference to the colonial heritage, the effect of development aid and corruption.
  38. Use knowledge to understand economic agents and actors, what determines their behaviour and how they interact.
  39. Use knowledge to understand how the economic agents and actors of different nations interact with each other; the cause, the effect and the policies relating to the movement of people, goods, capital and ideas, and the mechanisms by which impacts are transmitted in an integrated economy characterised by high interdependence.
  40. Use knowledge to understand society's transformation and the rules of community living over time; how sovereignty, rights and freedoms, power distribution, ideologies and beliefs have evolved, and the role of the great social movements.
  41. Use knowledge to understand the factors that have given rise to the phenomenon of globalisation and to understand the political and economic bases of globalisation, together with the latter's effects on contemporary society and politics.
  42. "Use knowledge to understand the functioning of the economy in its national dimension: framework institutions like the productive, fiscal and monetary systems; the definition and application of property rights and access to information; and assess how these elements determine market balances and the impact of economic policies."
  43. Use knowledge to understand the origin, evolution and current configuration of the institutions that govern today's world economy, and to know how and why these were created and how they help to sustain the current institutional system and make it work.
  44. Use specific vocabulary of history correctly.
  45. Using the characteristic computing resources of the field of History.

Content

PART 1: THE ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION IN THE CONTEMPORARY AGE (1750-1850)

1.1. Demographic changes

1.2. Agrarian reforms: property and technology

1.3. First industrializations

1.4. Urbanization

1.5. The fiscal-military state

1.6. Classical economists

 

PART 2: THE CENIT OF CAPITALISM (1850-1918)

2.1. International business relations

2.2. Imperialism and colonialism: the world-economy

2.3. The second industrialization

2.4. The beginnings of the tutelary State

2.5. Between naturwe and culture

2.6. Tendencies in economic thought

 

PART 3: REPLY AND REAFFIRMATION (1918-2000)

3.1. Alternative models: socialism and fascism

3.2. Underdevelopment

3.3. Welfare state

3.4. Economic neoliberalism

3.5. Neocapitalism and the environmental balance

3.6. Socio-economic challenges today


Activities and Methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Theoretical sessions 45 1.8 3, 2, 42, 40, 39, 32, 31, 17, 16, 22, 12, 25, 1
Type: Supervised      
Tutorials 15 0.6 10, 8, 13, 30, 19, 12, 9
Type: Autonomous      
Personal study 50 2 38, 35, 41, 43, 36, 34, 37, 33, 18, 14, 28, 23
Preparation of the dossier-final work 15 0.6 27, 11, 15, 22, 19, 28, 5, 29, 45
Reading of texts. Writing of works. Preparation of oral comments and seminars. Search of bibliographic information 10 0.4 27, 7, 26, 21, 19, 28, 5, 24, 4, 20, 45

Theoretical classes directed by the teacher, to the extent that sanitary circumstances allow. Otherwise, alternative non-face-to-face formulas will be used.

Seminar sessions and practices led by the teacher.

Comprehensive and analytical reading of texts.

Realization of practical exercises, work and analytical comments.

Comprehensive use of network resources as a communication vehicle (Moodle Classroom) or as an information fund (Internet).

Personal study.

15 minutes of a class will be reserved, within the calendar established by the center/degree, for students to complete the surveys to assess the performance of the teaching staff and to assess the subject.

It is only allowed to enter the classroom during the first 5 minutes of the leson and only to leave the classroom during the last 5 minutes of the lesson. No food or drinks may be consumed during the class. Students may not consult their mobile phones during class. Any duly justified exception to these rules must be explicitly approved in advance by the professor.

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.


Assessment

Continous Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Dossier of final practices 25% 4.7 0.19 10, 3, 42, 40, 39, 27, 18, 8, 15, 13, 30, 19, 28, 23, 5, 9, 20
Final exam 50% 1.3 0.05 3, 2, 38, 35, 41, 43, 36, 34, 37, 33, 32, 8, 17, 16, 11, 15, 14, 22, 23, 6, 29, 1, 44, 20
Workshop practices 25% 9 0.36 31, 7, 8, 26, 15, 22, 21, 19, 12, 28, 5, 24, 4, 25, 20, 45

If the tests cannot be done in person, their format will be adapted (keeping the weight) to the possibilities offered by the virtual tools at the UAB, always ensuring that all the students will be able to access it.

A student will be considered as "Not evaluable"  if he / she has submitted less than 30% of the evaluable evidences on the total of the subject.

To participate in the resit, students must have previously been assessed on a set of activities whose weight is equivalent to at least two-thirds of the total grade (CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT), or have submitted all the scheduled tests (SINGLE ASSESSMENT). In this regard, the professor in charge of the subject does not set a minimum grade point average for the subject.

The repechage will consist of an examination without supporting materials; the maximum grade that can be obtained in it is 5.0. Non-evaluable students can not access the repechage.

Students have the right to review the results of the tests carried out. Professor will establish opportunely the mechanisms to do it.

In the event of a student committing any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade awarded to an assessment activity, the student will be given a zero for this activity, regardless of any disciplinary process that may take place. In the event of irregularities in assessment activities of the same subject, the student will be given a zero as the final grade for this subject.

SINGLE ASSESSMENT:

  • Final exam 70%
  • Quarterly work 30%.

The same assessment method as continuous assessment will be used.

This subject allows the use of AI technologies as an integral part of the submitted work, provided that the final result reflects a significant contribution from the student in terms of analysis and personal reflection. The student must clearly (i) identify which parts have been generated using AI technology; (ii) specify the tools used; and (iii) include a critical reflection on how these have influenced the process and final outcome of the activity. Lack of transparency regarding the use of AI in the assessed activity will be considered academic dishonesty; the corresponding grade may be lowered, or the work may even be awarded a zero. In cases of greater infringement, more serious action may be taken.


Bibliography

General bibliography and mandatory

CAMERON, Rondo. Historia económica mundial, desde el Paleolítico hasta el presente. Madrid: Alianza Editorial, 2000 (4th) (available on line).

FERGUSON, Niall, Dinero y poder en el mundo moderno, 1700-2000. Madrid: Taurus, 2001.

KINDLEBERGER, Charles P., Problemas históricos e interpretaciones económicas. Estudios de historia financiera. Barcelona: Crítica, 1993.

LANDES, David. La riqueza y la pobreza de las naciones. Barcelona: Crítica, 2018 (4th) (available on line).

TORTELLA, Gabriel, Introducción a la economía para historiadores. Madrid: Tecnos, 1986.

WALLERSTEIN, Immanuel. El capitalismo histórico. México: Siglo XXI, 1988 (available on line).

ZAMAGNI, Vera. Historia económica de la Europa contemporánea: de la revolución industrial a la integración europea. Barcelona: Crítica, 2004 (available on line).

 

Extension bibliography

BAIROCH, Paul, De Jericho à Mexico: villes et économie dans l’histoire. París: Gallimard, 1985.

BELTRÁN, Lucas, Historia de las doctrinas económicas. Barcelona: Teide, 1989 (4ª).

CIPOLLA, Carlo M., Historia económica de la población mundial. Barcelona: Crítica, 2000 (8a).

GALBRAITH, John K., Un viaje por la economía de nuestro tiempo. Barcelona: Ariel, 1984 (en paper i e-book a la Biblioteca).

LACOSTE, Yves, Geopolítica. La larga historia del presente. Madrid: Síntesis, 2009.

LICHTEIM, George, Breve historia del socialismo. Madrid: Alianza editorial, 1979 (3a).

LINDERT, Peter H., Economía internacional. Barcelona: Ariel, 1994.

LIVI BACCI, Massimo, Historia de la población europea. Barcelona: Crítica, 1999.

MARIS, Bernard, Carta abierta a los gurús de la economía que nos toman por imbéciles. Barcelona: Granica, 2001.

PIKETTY, Thomas, El capital en el siglo XXI. Madrid, Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2014.

POUNDS, Norman. J. G., Geografía histórica de Europa. Barcelona: Crítica, 1990.

SKIDELSKI, Robert, John Maynard Keynes. Barcelona: RBA, 2013.

 

See https://ddd.uab.cat/pub/guibib/112365/modelchicago_a2021a.pdf


Software

Microsoft Office pack, specially Excel.


Groups and Languages

Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2025. You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject.

Name Group Language Semester Turn
(PAUL) Classroom practices 1 Spanish first semester morning-mixed
(TE) Theory 1 Spanish first semester morning-mixed