ABSTRACT
This part conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters. The part covers cases of contact during the four centuries after 1500. They involved, for the most part, societies that were primarily agricultural, though amid rising market production and, at the end, selective industrialization. Economic changes through the early modern and long 19th century periods imposed huge burdens on many men as well as women, but on the whole male workers were more successful in retaining their workforce role. Women’s work remained vital in the world economy, and regional variations remained significant; on the whole, however, conditions deteriorated. Important changes in Western standards themselves complicated the global picture. Christian emphases remained important, particularly concerning sexual issues, but the familial and moral power attributed to women in the 19th century added a somewhat different element, as did the new emphasis on romantic love, which could both empower and ensnare individual women.
