History 301/Spring 2000

Discussion/Study Questions for E. P. Thompson, "The Moral Economy of the English Crowd"

1. What does Thompson mean by "spasmodic protest"? According to those other historians he cites, why do people protest?

2. What is the "moral economy of the poor"?

3. Thompson describes a "paternalist model" of marketing and manufacturing. What are the elements of the paternalist model?

4. What is the laisser-faire, political economy model of marketing and manufacturing? How does it differ from the paternalist model?

5. How does the term "rationing by price" describe the pattern of the 18th century English grain market?

6. Which model--the paternalist or the laisser-faire--did "common people"--the crowd, subscribe to? Why?

7. What kinds of behaviors in the market place sparked protests? Who were the targets of protest?

8. What forms did protest take?

9. Who participated in these crowd actions? Who dominated?

10. How is a market a social as well as an economic nexus? What does the history of crowd riots tell us about the values of the pre-industrial poor?

11. Going back to the first question, are protests such as Thompson describes "irrational" or "rational"? How do you know?


Back to Main Page