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The Civil Rights Revolution as Economic History

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  • Wright, Gavin

Abstract

This address urges Americanists to take the post–World War II era on board as economic history, using the Civil Rights Revolution to set an example. The speed and sweepof the movement's success illustrates the dynamics of an “unanticipated revolution” as analyzed by Timur Kuran, to be grouped with famous historical surprises such as the triumph of British antislavery and the fall of Soviet communism. The evidence confirms that the breakthroughs of the 1960s constituted an economic as well as a political revolution, in many respects an economic revolution for the entire southern region, as well as for African-Americans.

Suggested Citation

  • Wright, Gavin, 1999. "The Civil Rights Revolution as Economic History," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 59(2), pages 267-289, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:59:y:1999:i:02:p:267-289_02
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    Cited by:

    1. Besley, Tim & Persson, Torsten & Sturm, Daniel, 2005. "Political Competition and Economic Performance: Theory and Evidence from the United States," CEPR Discussion Papers 5138, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Besley, Timothy & Persson, Torsten & Sturm, Daniel, 2010. "Political competition, policy and growth: theory and evidence from the United States," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 121718, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Daron Acemoglu & James A. Robinson, 2008. "Persistence of Power, Elites, and Institutions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(1), pages 267-293, March.
    4. Liu, Wai-Man & Ngo, Phong, 2012. "Voting with Your Feet: Political Competition and Internal Migration in the United States," MPRA Paper 43601, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. James A. Robinson, 2008. "How Institutions Change Over Time," Working Papers 446, Economic Research Forum, revised 09 Jan 2008.
    6. Elizabeth U. Cascio, 2014. "Valuing the Vote: The Redistribution of Voting Rights and State Funds following the Voting Rights Act of 1965," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 129(1), pages 379-433.
    7. Sundstrom, William A., 2001. "Discouraging Times: The Labor Force Participation of Married Black Women, 1930-1940," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 123-146, January.
    8. Daron Acemoglu & James A. Robinson, 2008. "The Persistence and Change of Institutions in the Americas," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 75(2), pages 281-299, August.
    9. Collins, William J., 2003. "The political economy of state-level fair employment laws, 1940-1964," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 24-51, January.
    10. William J. Collins, 2001. "The Political Economy of Race and the Adoption of Fair Employment Laws, 1940-1964," Vanderbilt University Department of Economics Working Papers 0104, Vanderbilt University Department of Economics.
    11. William J. Collins, 2004. "The Political Economy of State Fair-Housing Laws Prior to 1968," Vanderbilt University Department of Economics Working Papers 0413, Vanderbilt University Department of Economics.
    12. James Robinson, 2010. "Elites and Institutional Persistence," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2010-085, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    13. Robinson, James A., 2010. "Elites and Institutional Persistence," WIDER Working Paper Series 085, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    14. Baland, Jean-Marie & Moene, Karl Ove & Robinson, James A., 2010. "Governance and Development," Handbook of Development Economics, in: Dani Rodrik & Mark Rosenzweig (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 4597-4656, Elsevier.
    15. Brian L. Goff & Robert E. McCormick & Robert D. Tollison, 2002. "Racial Integration as an Innovation: Empirical Evidence from Sports Leagues," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(1), pages 16-26, March.
    16. Anderson, D. Mark & Charles, Kerwin Kofi & Rees, Daniel I., 2020. "The Federal Effort to Desegregate Southern Hospitals and the Black-White Infant Mortality Gap," IZA Discussion Papers 13920, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Michael D Makowsky & Jared Rubin, 2013. "An Agent-Based Model of Centralized Institutions, Social Network Technology, and Revolution," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(11), pages 1-10, November.
    18. Fleck, Robert K. & Hanssen, F. Andrew, 2010. "Repeated adjustment of delegated powers and the history of eminent domain," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 99-112, June.
    19. Daniel Aaronson & Mark Borgschulte & Sunny Liu & Bhashkar Mazumder, 2024. "Schooling and Political Activism in the Early Civil Rights Era," Working Paper Series WP 2024-06, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
    20. William J. Collins, 2000. "The Political Economy of Race, 1940-1964: The Adoption of State-Level Fair Employment Legislation," NBER Historical Working Papers 0128, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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