How the history of technological revolutions can help us better understand economic and political polarization in the ag
472 50 5MB
English Pages xiv, 465 pages: illustrations; 25 cm Year 2019
Table of contents :
Introduction --
Part I. The great stagnation : A brief history of preindustrial progress --
Preindustrial prosperity --
Why mechanization failed --
Part II. The great divergence : The factory arrives --
The Industrial Revolution and its discontents --
Part III. The great leveling : From mass production to mass flourishing --
The return of the machinery question --
The triumph of the middle class --
Part IV. The great reversal : The descent of the middle class --
Forging ahead, drifting apart --
The politics of polarization --
Part V. The future : Artificial intelligence --
The road to riches.