Land Reform and the Liberal Revolution

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Author(s): Nick Sharman (University of Nottingham, UK)
Copyright: 2025
Pages: 28
Source title: Regional, International, and Transatlantic Relations From the Iberian Peninsula to the World
Source Author(s)/Editor(s): Susana Soares da Silva Rocha Relvas (Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Portugal), Mark Gant (University of Chester, UK), Deirdre Kelly (Technological University Dublin, Ireland)and Siân Edwards (University of Cardiff, UK)
DOI: 10.4018/979-8-3373-0634-6.ch010

Keywords: Business & Management / Global Business / Information Science Reference / International Relations

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Abstract

Spain's adoption of a market-driven land market in the nineteenth century has been the subject of intense academic study. Much of this has painted a picture of a weak bourgeoisie unable to overcome the conservative resistance of the traditional institutions, monarchy, nobility and Church. Building on Karl Polanyi's analysis of Britain's experience of its Industrial Revolution, the chapter suggests a more complex story. Policies inspired by an individualistic free market ideology threatened the integrity of Spanish society, much of it founded on strong communitarian traditions. In response, progressive as well as reactionary groups united to halt or mitigate the impact of liberal reforms. The often-violent reactions slowed the process of reform, allowing change to be absorbed without the intense trauma endured by the English working class. Spain's ‘failure' to undergo a rapid agricultural and industrial revolution on the Northern European model can be seen as a form of adaptation to the inexorable forces of international capitalist change.

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