The present essay links the social, institutional and cultural approaches of guilds and guildsmen with their daily economic practice. Using as the point of departure a case study of the Antwerp and Ghent garment trades during the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, a preliminary model is presented, stressing the interrelatedness between divergent strategies, behavioural practices and specific market segments. It is argued that the choice of artisans for a certain market segment implied path dependency and, hence, influenced their investment patterns, their labour relations, their attitude towards the guild, and their personal representation in daily life.

This article investigates the relationship between social mobility and status in guilds and the political situation in sixteenth-century Ghent. First, it argues that Ghent guilds showed neither a static picture of upward mobility nor a rectilinear and one-way evolution. It demonstrates that the opportunities for social promotion within the guild system were, to a great extent, determined by the successive political regimes of the city. Second, the article proves that the guild boards in the sixteenth century had neither a typically oligarchic nor a typically democratic character. Third, the investigation of the houses in which master craftsmen lived shows that guild masters should not be depicted as a monolithic social bloc, but that significant differences in status and wealth existed. The article concludes that there was no linear positive connection between the duration of a master craftsman's career and his wealth and social position.

In 1905, dockworkers in Rotterdam harbour organized a great strike against the introduction of machines for the transhipment of grain. The initial success of this strike was a profound shock to the leaders of political parties and national labour organizations, who, in spite of many differences of opinion, shared a positive attitude towards mechanization and regarded strikes against machinery as reactionary. The conflict in Rotterdam provoked a national debate about the implications of mechanization, which clearly exposed the strains and contradictions in this “dominant ideology of technology”. The article shows how several local labour leaders questioned the legitimacy of this ideology and why they failed in the end to persuade their superiors.

Octave Mirbeau was a committed supporter of right-wing politics in the 1870s, and a committed opponent of the right wing during the Dreyfus Affair. This paper examines the reasons for his political change of heart, and discusses his changing analyses of right-wing political culture. Mirbeau's ideas are compared with those of some of his contemporaries, such as Blum, Peguy and Sorel.

General Issues

SOCIAL THEORY AND SOCIAL SCIENCE

HARDING, NEIL. Leninism. Macmillan Press Ltd, Basingstoke [etc.] 1996. ix, 346 pp. £42.50.

KOFMAN, MYRON. Edgar Morin. From Big Brother to Fraternity. [Modern European Thinkers Series.] Pluto Press, London [etc.] 1996. viii, 132 pp. £30.00. (Paper: £9.99.)

Harald Deceulaer. Membres de guilde, entrepreneurs et segments du marché: le cas des commerces de l'habillement à Anvers et à Gand (du seizième au dix-huitième siècles).

Johan Dambruyne. Guildes, mobilité sociale et statut à Gand au seizième siècle.

Dick van Lente. Les machines et l'ordre du port: le débat sur la mise en place de déchargeurs de grain à Rotterdam, 1905–1907.

Sharif Gemie. Octave Mirbeau et la nature changeante de la culture politique de droite en France de 1870 à 1914.

Traduction: Christine Krätke-Plard

Harald Deceulaer. Gildemitglieder, Unternehmer und Marktsegmente: Das Bekleidungsgewerbe in Antwerpen und Gent (sechzehntes bis achtzehntes Jahrhundert).

Johan Dambruyne. Gilden, soziale Mobilität und Status im Gent des sechzehnten Jahrhunderts.

Dick van Lente. Maschinen und die Ordnung des Hafens: Die Debatte über die Einführung von Getreideentladern in Rotterdam, 1905–1907.

Sharif Gemie. Octave Mirbeau und die wechselnde Beschaffenheit rechter politischer Kultur. Frankreich 1870–1914.

Übersetzung: Klaus Mellenthin

Harald Deceulaer. Agremiados, empresarios y segmentos de mercado: el caso de los comercios de vestido en Amberes y Gante (siglos XVI a XVIII).

Johan Dambruyne. Gremios, movilidad social y prestigio en Gante en el siglo XVI.

Dick van Lente. Las máquinas y el orden del puerto: el debate sobre la introducción de las máquinas descargadoras de grano en Rotterdam, 1905–1907.

Sharif Gemie. Octave Mirbeau y la naturaleza de la cultura política de derechas en cambio. Francia 1870–1914.

Traducción: Willeke Tijssen

Johan Dambruyne, Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek — Vakgroep Nieuwe Geschiedenis, Universiteit Gent, Blandijnberg 2, B-9000 Gent, Belgium

Harald Deceulaer, Sterstraat 15, B-2018 Antwerpen, Belgium

Sharif Gemie, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Glamorgan, Pontypridd, Mid Glamorgan, CF37 1DL, UK

Chitra Joshi, I-39 Jangpura Extension, New Delhi 11 00 14, India

Reinhart Kößler, Im Uhlenwinkel 8, D-44892 Bochum, Germany

Eberhard Kolb, Historisches Seminar, Universität zu Köln, Albertus-Magnus-Platz, D-50923 Köln, Germany

Dick van Lente, Faculteit der Historische en Kunstwetenschappen, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam, Burgemeester Oudlaan 50, 3062 PA Rotterdam, The Netherlands; e-mail: [email protected]

Ahlrich Meyer, Jahnstrasse 13, D-26122 Oldenburg, Germany

André Mommen, Faculteit der Politieke en Sociaal-Culturele Wetenschappen, Vakgroep Politicologie, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Oudezijds Achterburgwal 237, 1012 DL Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Jürgen Rojahn, Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis, Cruquiusweg 31, 1019 AT Amsterdam, The Netherlands; e-mail: [email protected]

Danielle Tartakowsky, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 9 rue Malher, 75004 Paris, France

Wayne Thorpe, Department of History, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4L9, Canada

Eric D. Weitz, St Olaf College, 1520 St Olaf Avenue, Northfield, MN 55075–1098, USA