Karl Polanyi, William Cronon, and development in nineteenth century Illinois : a new synthesis

Karl Polanyi described late nineteenth century policy and legislation that regulated use of land, labor, and money in Britain as part of a protectionist counter-movement made in response to the emergence of the self-regulating market system. The existence of similar, yet unique, protective counter-moves in the nineteenth century United States provides the framework for the reinterpretation of several economic events of the nineteenth century.

The commercialization of agriculture and subsequent urbanization in the nineteenth century Illinois led to a transition from relative rural self-reliance to rural-urban interdependence. This transition was concomitant with the entry of Illinois into the self-regulating market system. Counter-moves, notably the state's 1870 constitution, followed.

Polanyi's work was primarily concerned with the changing place of the economy within society. The emergence of the self-regulating market system required the separation of the economy from society, which had deleterious effects on both man and nature. The work of Polanyi in combination with that of William Cronon, an environmental historian, offers the opportunity to synthesize economic history, ecological economics, and environmental history.