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From imitation to invention: creating commodities in eighteenth‐century Britain[Note 1. I am grateful to Patrick O’Brien, Andrew Sherratt, and ...]
Author(s) -
Berg Maxine
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
the economic history review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.014
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1468-0289
pISSN - 0013-0117
DOI - 10.1111/1468-0289.00212
Subject(s) - imitation , product (mathematics) , context (archaeology) , memetics , industrialisation , neoclassical economics , taste , product innovation , economics , industrial organization , market economy , history , epistemology , psychology , philosophy , social psychology , geometry , mathematics , archaeology , neuroscience
This article presents the history of new goods in the eighteenth century as a part of the broader history of invention and industrialization. It focuses on product innovation in manufactured commodities as this engages with economic, technological and cultural theories. Recent theories of consumer demand are applied to the invention of commodities in the eighteenth century; special attention is given to the process of imitation in product innovation. The theoretical framework for imitation can be found in evolutionary theories of memetic transmission, in archaeological theories of skeuomorphous, and in eighteenth‐century theories of taste and aesthetics. Inventors, projectors, economic policy makers, and commercial and economic writers of the period dwelt upon the invention of new British products. The emulative, imitative context for their invention made British consumer goods the distinctive modern alternatives to earlier Asian and European luxuries.