Explore UCD

UCD Home >

HIS42950

Academic Year 2025/2026

How the West came to rule (HIS42950)

Subject:
History
College:
Arts & Humanities
School:
History
Level:
4 (Masters)
Credits:
10
Module Coordinator:
Dr Armel Campagne
Trimester:
Spring
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

Capitalism has recently reemerged as a major concept in the historical literature, and the question of its rise and expansion continues to be at the center of the historiographical debate. This module investigates the historical roots of capitalism by scrutinizing the history of this debate from Adam Smith to the anti-Eurocentric turn of our times. It explores the scholarly discussions about the role of the expansion of trade, (un)free labor and revolutions in the transition to capitalism. Finally, this module provides a comprehensive history of the rise and expansion of capitalism at a global scale, whether in the British empire (England, Ireland, India), Eurasia (France, Germany, Spain, Turkey, Russia), the Americas (the United States, Canada and Brazil), South-East and East Asia (China, Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan), or Africa (Algeria, Senegal and South Africa). By doing so, it sheds new light on the history of the modern world, and in particular of slavery, industrialization, global warming, political revolutions, state authoritarianism, underdevelopment, (neo)colonialism and globalization.

The module does not assume any prior knowledge on the history of capitalism.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

At the end of this module participants should:
- Understand the history of the rise of capitalism on a global scale.
- Be able to critically reflect upon the historiographical debate on the origins of capitalism.
- Demonstrate an ability to discuss in class the historical literature as (future) historians rather than as students.
- Review critically an article or chapter just as historians do.
- Have acquired a specialized knowledge and understanding of the rise of capitalism through a case-study or thematic approach.
- Have developed a reflexivity on the historicity of capitalism.

Indicative Module Content:

This module will address such topics as:
- The commercialization model and its critique: was Adam Smith right?
- The Marxist debates on the transition from feudalism to capitalism
- How the West came to rule? The Great Divergence, Eurocentrism and anti-Eurocentrism
- The expansion of trade? From market opportunities to market imperatives
- The triumph of free labor? Dispossession and coerced work in the rise of capitalism
- Bourgeois revolutions? Political revolutions and the origins of capitalism
- From England to the world: English imperialism as the motor of capitalist expansion
- Top-down modernizations: the authoritarian path to capitalism
- (Neo)colonialism, neoliberalism and underdevelopment: the transition to capitalism in the Global South
- Class, gender and race in the rise of global capitalism

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Seminar (or Webinar)

22
Specified Learning Activities

95
Autonomous Student Learning

95
Total

212

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
This is a small-group, seminar-based module, taught through a two-hour weekly seminar. The seminar is focused on individual and collective active/task-based learning by means of small group and class discussion, presentations, and essay writing. Advanced reading, analytical and communication skills are developed through small group and class discussions of the mandatory readings and the oral presentation, and advanced research and writing skills through the extended research essay.

Generative AI may be permitted for certain assignments in this module, subject to the instructions of the module coordinator and in accordance with the Academic Integrity Policy. The Module Coordinator will provide further information during the module.

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 

Assessment Strategy
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Assignment(Including Essay): An extended research essay of 5 000 words using relevant primary and secondary sources, in consultation with the module coordinator Week 14 Graded No
50
 No
Individual Project: Oral presentation of the work in progress essay (15-20 minutes) Week 9, Week 10, Week 11 Graded No
30
 No
Participation in Learning Activities: Contribution to the class discussion, and notably the critical discussion of the mandatory readings Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9, Week 10, Week 11, Week 12 Graded No
20
 No

Carry forward of passed components
No
 

Resit In Terminal Exam
Summer No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, on an activity or draft prior to summative assessment
• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Online automated feedback

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Feedback on presentations is given individually, verbally and in writing. Feedback on end-of-semester essays is given individually and to the class on essay planning before final submission, and by appointment after submission and grading.

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
Spring Seminar Offering 1 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Tues 14:00 - 15:50
Print this page
Fill in the following details:
Enter the body of your query here.

From time to time UCD would like to send you further information that we feel, based on your enquiry, would be of interest to you.