Dear Colleagues

Please find below details of our forthcoming workshop.  We have also 
attached details as a pdf, please pass this on to colleagues who you think 
may be interested.


Many thanks

Sandip Hazareesingh & Jonathan Curry-Machado, 
Commodities of Empire Project


Commodities in evolution: 
historical change in different ages of globalisation, 1800-2000

The 2nd Annual Workshop of the Commodities of Empire project


Council Room, the British Academy, London
11 - 12 September 2008
 

First Call for Papers

Please submit an abstract of 300 words by 14 March 2008 to:

 
Dr Jonathan Curry-Machado, Coordinator, Commodities of Empire project: 
[log in to unmask]


The workshop will explore the long-term evolution of commodities in the 
modern era, particularly from the perspectives of regions subjected to 
colonial rule in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean. While 
commodity chains were a major factor in promoting interrelations between 
different parts of the world, this focus on the world outside Europe and 
North America is designed to question dominant periodisations 
of ‘globalisation’. Even when not identified purely with near contemporary 
processes, many accounts still tend to privilege late nineteenth century 
economic convergence between the nation states of the North Atlantic as 
the most significant benchmark of a ‘globalising’ world.

 
That modes and areas of production as well as patterns and places of 
consumption of commodities such as tea, coffee, tobacco, sugar and 
cochineal underwent radical transformation during this period is not in 
doubt. However, few accounts have focused on these changes over the longue 
duree, which would open up exciting possibilities of identifying, 
comparing and assessing the various mechanisms, both local and 
international, that historically produced the major shifts. This may also 
offer the promise of a more refined periodisation of ‘globalisation’, even 
though we need perhaps to bear in mind that commodities, like other 
interconnecting forces, were always uneven and limited in 
their ‘globalising’ capacities and that they generated resistance, 
conflicts and inequalities as well as convergence.

 
The workshop will critically explore the following propositions:

How significant were changes in political regimes (e.g. from colonial to 
postcolonial) in the evolution of commodity chains between 1800 and 2000? 
How far did the movement of commodities help bring about changes in the 
technological and infrastructural environment? 
What was the ecological and social impact (e.g. in terms of the 
distribution of wealth) of export crops over the long term? 
What factors promoted changes in the perception of, and demand for, 
particular commodities? 
What promoted and how significant were changes in labour regimes? 
Can local experiences and changing histories of commodities help us 
towards a more refined periodisation of ‘globalisation’? 
 

A British Academy Research Project, Commodities of Empire is a 
collaboration between the Caribbean Studies Centre at London Metropolitan 
University and the Ferguson Centre for African and Asian Studies at the 
Open University. Further details can be found on the project website, at 
www.open.ac.uk/Arts/ferguson-centre/commodities-of-empire.

 

Commodities of Empire Project

The Ferguson Centre for African and Asian Studies

Faculty of Arts, The Open University

Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA

Tel: 0044 (0)1908 655244

Fax: 0044 (0)1908 653973

 

Please visit our website at:  http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/ferguson-
centre/index.html

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