We invite proposals for papers to be included in an accepted session at the World Economic History Congress, July 28-August 1, focused on the technological paradigms of key countries during the Industrial Revolution (that is the period 1700 to 1870 approximately). We are especially interested in proposals for papers that take a broad perspective on the experience of particular countries as opposed to some narrow aspect on the subject of technological change, and broaden the geographic coverage of the session. We are open to contributions dealing with any country whose experience provides useful insights on the topic of this session, but particularly keen to add papers that deal with the Ottoman empire, the Low Countries, Germany, France, China, and India.

This session seeks to revisit the two facets of technological change, i.e., the factors that led Britain to take the lead when it comes to the multiple inventions of the period as well as the factors which conditioned the speed of technological diffusion. The presence of technological progress vs stagnation (or late catching up) was the main determinant of the relative shifts that took place in terms of aggregate growth rates during the Great Divergence. Britain, an unlikely candidate, forged ahead of northern Italy and China which ranked at the top in terms of wealth and/or technological innovation in the post-medieval period while latecomers (e.g., Germany, southern Low Countries, Japan, and the US) were able to eventually catch up, in most cases borrowing elements of the British technological paradigm.

The session is based on the ongoing work of a scholarly group which aims at publishing a collection of essays on the subject and includes Jean-Pascal Bassino, Haris Kitsikopoulos, Paolo Malanima, Joshua Rosenbloom, and Bas van Leeuwen. Papers presented at this session may be solicited for a planned book project.

Those interested in been included in the session should send a two-page description of their paper to Haris Kitsikopoulos (kitsikop@yahoo.com) and Joshua Rosenbloom (jlrosenb@iastate.edu) and, if junior scholars, their cv. We wish to receive applications as soon as possible but no later than March 1st. Decisions will be made on a rolling basis and communicated as early as practicable.