In the Doorway to Development

Ragnhild Hutchison, Ph.D. (2010) in History, European University Institute, Florence, is Post Doc in History at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim. She has worked extensively on production and consumption in the Early Modern Period.

• 1. Introduction1 Hypothesis2 Structure3 Theory4 Historiography of consumption in the early modern period5 The methods used6 The sources; their possibilities and challenges2. Politics, Population and Production: Norway at the Turn of the Nineteenth Century1 Politics2 Population and social groups2.1 Social differentiation3 Production3.1 Agriculture3.2 The export trades3.3 Pre-industrial manufacturing4 Imports5 Financial system6 Conclusion3. The Development of an Internal Market in Pre-industrial Norway1 Internal market formation2 Signs of market integration in Norway3 The process of market integration in Norway3.1 Transportation infrastructure3.2 Jurisdictional change: the opening of trade3.3 New retail forms: guesthouses and rural shops4 Conclusion4. Rural Households’ Allocation of Resources and Material Wealth1 Norwegian rural farmers’ annual budget1.1 Incomes1.2 Expenditures2 Material wealth seen through probate inventories2.1 Wealth disparities as seen using probate inventories2.2 Material wealth tied up in goods3 General trends4 Conclusion5. Changing Trends in Housing, Furnishings and Smaller Household Goods1 Comfort1.1. Housing1.2 Furnishings1.3 Smaller household goods2 How were the changes possible?2.1 Predictability and security: taxation and rents2.2 Breakability3 Social and economic consequences4 Conclusion6. Bites, Nibbles, Sips and Puffs – New Foodstuffs in Rural Norway1 From proteins to carbohydrates2 The spread of exotic goods2.1 Sugar and chocolate2.2 Coffee and tea2.3 Tobacco 2.4 Share of wages spent on exotic goods2.5 Norwegian exotic goods consumption compared3 The circumstances of the consumption4 Conclusion7. Conclusion: The Slow but Safe Path to a Market Economy