Globalization is ancient

August 22, 2016 6:26 AM

Mapping the Mercantilist World Economy Our current globalized capitalist world economy was built on Mercantilist foundations, put in place in the first phase of global European expansion, the second phase being that of the formal European empires of the industrial age. In the case of the “New World” in the Americas, Europe’s Mercantilists were creating entirely new trade networks and hinterlands. In the Old World of Afro-Eurasia however, Europe was rearranging the existing, much older, world economy it had been part of since the Middle Ages. I wanted to illustrate this first phase of global capitalism with thematic maps.
posted by infini (12 comments total)

Fascinating! A lot of this is stuff I've seen in bits and pieces elsewhere, but the way they've brought it all together is great. Plus, prettymaps!
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:03 AM on August 22, 2016 [1 favorite]

Interesting. I liked this part the best:

Whether in the old Levant or the new one, in 1498 Europe still produced little of value to the world economy’s core regions.

He barely mentioned pirates. Boo. They are my favorite part.
posted by bukvich at 7:53 AM on August 22, 2016 [2 favorites]

This is wonderful!
posted by yonation at 8:06 AM on August 22, 2016

I found it last Christmas when looking for evidence of trade routes in East Africa before the advent of the Europeans. What is known as "informal trade" (the informal economy and all its synonyms, mostly negative) tends to be, I discover, the original trading networks and relationships predating the imposition of the formal structured "economy" as currently dominant, globally. Ravi Kanbur of Cornell frames this situation so:

The administrative mindset on informality has somewhat more complex roots. It is best illustrated by a strand of the dual economy literature which goes back to colonial times. Indeed, the term “dual economy” was coined by the Dutch anthropologist and colonial administrator J. H. Boeke in his characterization of the economy of the Dutch East Indies.
4
The distinction here was between those activities that fell under the purview of colonial rules and regulations, and those activities that were beyond the legal and administrative reach of the colonial government. My reading of the colonial administrative literature brings to mind the notion of a wall which separates the formal from the informal.

On this side of the wall is the well-ordered colonial state,subject to a set of laws andregulations, managed by its administrators and officials. On that side of the wall is the (mostly native) informal economy, ill understood and misunderstood by colonial policy makers

It is perceived to be chaotic, disorganized, with criminal elements. The colonial yoke has been lifted but not the mindset
posted by infini at 8:27 AM on August 22, 2016 [5 favorites]

infini: isn't this part of the larger pattern of European colonizers characterizing their acquisitions as "virgin materials"? Seeing resources as unused, or undiscovered, or not efficiently utilized, as part of a fantasy of legitimacy rationalizing greed. As if claiming squatter's rights to a land or a people. Instead of a nation, here they lay claim to trade, but the logic seems the same.
posted by idiopath at 8:36 AM on August 22, 2016 [1 favorite]

idiopath, I'm tempted to agree but will yield to documentation since I've been approaching this subject from an entirely different angle (from the bottom up). otoh, I'm currently reading "From the Ruins of Empire" by Pankaj Mishra and all signs point to "trade" being used in just such a way as you suggest, especially the opium trade with China as one such clear example. In fact, its less about laying a claim to trade, than using force and threats to open up markets to "trade" and "traders". Both Japan and China were forced into opening ports.
posted by infini at 8:49 AM on August 22, 2016 [3 favorites]

In the East African (Swahili Coast) context, many of the richest trading cities were destroyed and looted by the Portuguese. Later colonial administrations forcibly imposed entirely new structures and economy, including currency, in order to create conditions that would impel people to work on farms for fiat money. Prior to that, folks were happy with their fruits and game, if nomadic, else were self sufficent otherwise. Africa's economic history makes me weep harder than even India or China, for at least the latter had been there, done that, and had a vast body of knowledge through millennia to back them.
posted by infini at 8:53 AM on August 22, 2016 [3 favorites]

I'm currently reading "1493" by Charles Mann, which covers the birth of the global economy from the perspective of the trade and homogenization brought on by the Colombian Exchange.

Lots of fascinating and horrific details in there about the early days of Western capitalism, corporations, and colonization. I think it would be a good companion read.
posted by Therapeutic Amputations at 9:10 AM on August 22, 2016 [2 favorites]

One feature not mentioned was the need for the lumber trade with the Americas to build all of those ships. For most of the European powers, which had largely been deforested by the 1500-1600s, access to new lumber, good oak and high-quality masts, good cooperage for storing goods, was critical to the infrastructure necessary to maintain the naval trade. Without that ready access to timber, it's interesting to speculate what might have happened.
posted by bonehead at 10:49 AM on August 22, 2016 [3 favorites]

Thanks bonehead! your comment made me go digging!

The history of deforestation in Europe is closely linked to economic development and military expansion.
posted by infini at 11:15 AM on August 22, 2016 [4 favorites]

Thanks bonehead!

It took me a bit to parse this as a genuine thank you.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 3:56 PM on August 22, 2016 [1 favorite]

Yes I also enjoyed reading Charle's Manns 1493, particularly the discovery of the trade winds in the North Pacific that allowed Spain to trade South American silver for Chinese porcelain and silk. Spanish pieces of eight were the global currency of the 16th century. (But eventually descended into inflation). Ironically China was putting itself back on the "silver standard" after a long bout of inflation caused by paper money.
I always wondered why Admiral Zheng He (1371-1433) didn't discover those North Pacific trade winds ? It would make an interesting alternative history along with the Aztecs and Incas fighting Spain with nuclear weapons.
posted by Narrative_Historian at 3:56 AM on August 23, 2016 [1 favorite]