Chapter Economic growth and prosperity: two sides of the same coin? A comparison of the countryside of Antwerp and Piedmont in the long eighteenth century

Abstract

This paper proposes a comparative study of social mobility between peasant and commercial societies in two distinct rural areas of Europe, namely the Low Countries and Piedmont. The paper focuses on changing consumption patterns under the frame of the premodern consumer revolution to identify what kind of society was more mobile. The adoption of new facets of consumption especially in the form of novel luxuries and colonial products has long been identified as an effort from households to adopt more refined lifestyles thus improving their prestige and status relative to the rest of society. It will be shown that while commercial societies appeared better at promoting the circulation of prestigious goods across social groups, the phenomenon remained highly elitist.