The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World

In today’s world, innovation appears tied to discussions of Big Tech. Yet, Virginia Postrel’s new book, The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World, reminds us that innovation is everywhere. In her history of the textile industry, Postrel finds examples of the same drive for innovation and new technologies that we typically associate with Silicon Valley today. Please join us for a discussion of The Fabric of Civilization and how it can help us understand broader questions of innovation, technology and competition in today’s policy debates.

R Street Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, public policy research organization. Our mission is to engage in policy research and outreach to promote free markets and limited, effective government.

We believe free markets work better than the alternatives. We also recognize that the legislative process calls for practical responses to current problems. To that end, our motto is “Free markets. Real solutions.”

We offer research and analysis that advance the goals of a more market-oriented society and an effective, efficient government, with the full realization that progress on the ground tends to be made one inch at a time. In other words, we look for free-market victories on the margin.