Els Debats entorn dels orígens setcentistes de la industrialització catalana

Abstract

Catalonia has long been an industrial country. The density and intensity achieved by industry throughout the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries turned this line of economic specialisation into one of the countrys hallmarks. The roots of Catalonias industrial boom lie deep in the 18th century. The «vanquished Catalonia», which had lost its institutions and its constitutional freedoms after the War of the Spanish Succession, was able to drive its economic growth and transformation towards the ideal starting point of an industrialisation such as the one in Great Britain. The fact that this strong growth in the economy coincided with the triumph of Bourbon centralist absolutism has encouraged interpretations that seek to link one with the other. The aim of this article is to analyse the different interpretations given by different scholars regarding the reasons behind Catalonias economic growth in the 18th century.