ICMS at Kalamazoo
May 7-10, 2020
This session sponsored by the 14th Century Society is looking for one more participant:
Although medieval studies has recently focused on a range of topics – among them monsters, the posthuman, materiality, and the senses – economic issues have been too often ignored despite the fact that these issues are critical in the larger culture today, from income inequality to taxes and tariffs. Yet with the rise of the monetary economy and consumption cultures, Europeans vigorously debated the ethical use of money and possession of material objects that fed social inequality. Different classes often held divergent views ranging from resistance to the dawn of capitalism, to accommodation of some new commercial practices, to wholehearted support for the new economic changes. Focusing on the fourteenth century, this session welcomes papers that discuss the lively debate that included Franciscans, Scholastics, royalty, and merchants, or that explore different viewpoints in the debate.
Please contact Diane Wolfthal (dbw2@rice.edu)