近代英国零售业的社会认同

The Social Identity of Modern British Retail Industry

地理大发现后,英国商人的整体地位不断提高,中上层商人的社会地位尤其显著,而小批发商、零售商则仍被看作“社会末流”,似乎于国家财富积累无益。经过近代早期漫长的发展历史,零售商及零售业才逐渐获得社会认同。人们愈加认可零售业,认为无论是在生产端还是在消费端,它都有着重要的经济价值。零售业的发展满足了英国社会日益增长的产品交换需求,进一步刺激了消费市场的扩张,迎合了早期工业化、城市化,助力英国走在欧洲同行前面,并率先开启了现代化。

After the age of Exploration,the overall status of British merchants continued to rise,with the social status of middle and upper class merchants being particularly prominent,while small wholesalers and retailers were still be regarded as the“the lower-class”and seemed to be of no benefit to the accumulation of national wealth.After a long development in early modern history,retailers and the retail industry gradually gained social recognition.With the growing recognition of the retail industry,people believed that it had significant economic value both in production and consumption.The development of the retail industry had met the increasingly demand for product exchange in British society,further stimulated the expansion of the consumer market,satisfied the needs of early industrialization and urbanization,helped Britain stay ahead of its European counterparts,and started the process of modernization.