Perceptions of Work in Early Modern Economic Thought: Dutch Mercantilism and Central European Cameralism in Comparative Perspective

Research on the perceptions of work seems to be characterized by a simple desideratum: while we know much about the intellectual history of work, our knowledge about how workers themselves perceived their activities has remained vague.1 Medieval and early modern political, religious, economic, legal and utopian texts as the major sources for a history of ideas on work are easily accessible. Their interpretation is one of the traditional fields of historical study, especially the history of ideas and intellectual history.2