The Dutch Golden Age and the Rise of the Middle Class

What this episode covers

Professor explains how the Dutch Golden Age gave birth to the Middle Class. With the transition from feudalism to market economics and from Catholicism to Calvinism, people changed their focus from accumulating status to accumulating wealth. This created the concept of "class." This concept brought with it certain pathologies (fears of disorder, failure, and germs) that expressed themselves in the Middle Class obsessions with money, art, and materialism.With his paintings, Johannes Vermeer captured the hypocrisies of Middle Class life during the Dutch Golden Age.

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How long is this episode of Professor Jiang?

This episode is 1 hour and 10 minutes long.

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This episode was published on May 24, 2026.

What is this episode about?

Professor explains how the Dutch Golden Age gave birth to the Middle Class. With the transition from feudalism to market economics and from Catholicism to Calvinism, people changed their focus from accumulating status to accumulating wealth. This...

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