Abstract
The author of the article proposes the interpretation of the concept of “early capitalism” that has not a clear definition and is often incorrectly associated only with the concept of mercantilism. The author first of all takes in consideration another — properly economic matter of the concept of the “early capitalism”, in particular the processes of modernization at the manufacture, using the example of the cloth manufacture in Florence in the XVth century. Evaluating the level of the modernization in the production field, it is important to take into account the following characteristics: the form of the industrial organization; the nature of ownership of the tools and of the means; professional level of the workers and forms of remuneration; organization of delivery of raw materials and the distribution of finished products; the level of the standardization of the industrial technology; the role of the workshops and of the polity in the functioning of the new forms of the manufacture.
Given these parameters, in article is analyzes the organization of the thin cloth manufacture in the frames of the Lana guild in Florence in XV century. The author draws a conclusion: the mixed manufacture functioned in strict frames of the Lana guild by norms of her technology. The fundamental tools were the property of this workshop. The innovations in the industrial technology were quite impossible. The modernizations can be noted in the organization of the production by efforts of the company of the clothiers, which employed skilled workers, who combined stages of the production process that was reducing the time of the industrial process. The guild Lana financed the fundamental technical structure. All expenses of the company are compensated by the profitable sales in the international markets, especially since the main role was played by the merchants, who were members of the board of the Lana workshop. As a result, the author finds it impossible to define the organization of production of thin cloth in Florence in XV century as the “early capitalism`s’ entrepreneurship. The accent should be put on the high achievements of the guild system in this sphere of production.
Keywords
early capitalism, manufacture, cloth, Florence, discussion
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