What was Cotton? Fibers, Markets and Technology in the British Industrial Revolution

Styles, John (2017) What was Cotton? Fibers, Markets and Technology in the British Industrial Revolution. In: Penn Economic History Forum, 2017-10-27.

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The paper is divided into four sections. The first reviews recent interpretations of the British Industrial Revolution in textiles. The second evaluates the evidence for economic inducements to innovation. The third examines demand for the various ‘cottons’, a key issue ignored in the leading interpretations. In conclusion, the fourth section considers the implications of demand for our understanding of technical innovation in spinning.

Item Type	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Keywords	material culture, economic history, history of technology
Date Deposited	15 May 2025 17:06
Last Modified	25 Feb 2026 00:02