Millicent Garrett Fawcett's Political Economy for Beginners: An evaluation

• Autores: Willie Henderson
• Localización: Paedagogica Historica: International journal of the history of education, ISSN 0030-9230, Vol. 40, Nº. 4, 2004, págs. 435-453
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • This article makes an analysis of Political Economy for Beginners, by Millicent Garrett Fawcett. It places the work within a "tradition" of pioneering economics writing by women such as Jane Marcet and Harriet Martineau, a tradition acknowledged by Fawcett. Fawcett's contribution to economics education and to economics has been, like that of her predecessors, underestimated. Her partnership with the blind Victorian economist, Henry Fawcett, follower of Mill, is outlined as is the commercial strategy for, and market evaluation of, the book. Although Millicent Garrett Fawcett lacked institutional support, validation for her work came from her closeness to Henry Fawcett. The nature and role of the Principles text, the development of such texts over time and the implications of such texts for textbook development also form part of the evaluation. Categories of analysis include textual organisation; the relationship to the Principles text; exemplification and an examination of the questions and puzzles that form a feature of the book. The paper concludes by examining the contexts within which judgements can be made about the work including similarities and contrasts with earlier writers in the genre.