GEHN Cotton Research Project Helsinki

Organisers

Dr. Kent Deng, London School of Economics, UK
Professor Prasannan Parthasarathi, Boston College, USA
Dr. Giorgio Riello, London School of Economics, UK

The cotton industry has long been a central attraction for economic historians interested in explaining the dynamics of economic development and technological change. Their emphasis has, however, been upon the periods immediately before, during and after the Industrial Revolution.

The histories of commerce and connexions between the producers and consumers of cotton textiles in Asia, Africa, the Americas and Europe in the medieval and early modern periods remain under-researched. This session on 'Cotton Textiles as a Global Industry' will address world connexions across the industry by gathering together scholars with expertise on the long-run histories of industries located in Europe, the Middle East, India, China and Japan.

Although the secondary literature on some countries (e.g. Britain and India) is rich, much less is known about the production, trade and consumption of cotton textiles in the Ottoman Empire, China, West Africa, the Americas and the West Indies. Papers will address the question of when, how and why the evolution of cotton industries in several areas of the world contributed to long-run development. Contributors are expected to address major global history questions by elaborating upon interconnections across space and by analysing the paths and patterns of development in several regions around the world.

Participants

This session has been preceded by:

a conference on 'Cotton Textiles as a Global Industry', held in Padua, Italy (November 2005), and
a workshop on 'Global Histories of Economic Development: Cotton Textiles and Other Global Industries' held at the Fondation des Treilles, France (March 2006)

Both meetings were sponsored and organised by the Global Economic History Network, based at the London School of Economics.

Session 59 will take place on Tuesday 22nd August, in the morning and the afternoon.

Morning

Six new papers will be presented in the morning session. Presentations will be 20 minutes, followed by 10 minutes for questions.

09.00-09.30. Tirthankar Roy (Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, India). "South Asia and World Textiles in the Eighteenth Century: A Review"
09.30-10.00. Prasannan Parthasarathi (Boston College, USA). "Cotton Textile Exports from the Indian Subcontinent, 1680-1780"
10.00-10.30. Robert S. DuPlessis (Swarthmore College, USA). "Cotton Consumption in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Atlantic World"
10.30-11.00. BREAK
11.00-11.30. James Thomson (University of Sussex, UK). "The Origins of the Spanish Trade in American Cotton"
11.30-12.00. José Jobson de Andrade Arruda (University of São Paulo, Brazil). "Brazilian Raw Cotton as a Strategic Factor in Global Textile Manufacturing during the Industrial Revolution"
12.00-12.30. David Jeremy (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK). "The Invention and Diffusion of New Technology in the Global Cotton Industry, 1790s-1850"

Afternoon

The afternoon will be dedicated to the discussion of four themes:

14.00-14.45. Global Areas of Cotton Textile Production and Manufacturing, 1200-1700 considering the organisation of production, technology, the role of raw materials, and the socio-cultural influences of the industry (Introduction: Kent Deng; Commentator: Larry Epstein).
14.45-15.30. Trade and Interconnexions, 1400-1850 considering the fluxes of raw materials and finished goods in the Inidan Ocena, between Asia and Europe and between Europe and America (Introduction: Prasannan Parthasarathi; Commentator: Peter Solar)
15.30-16.00. BREAK
16.00-16.45. Demand, Consumption and Fashion, 1400-1850 considering the role of cotton textiles in re-shaping the consumer culture of many parts of the globe and the way in which consumption fostered the development of the cotton textile industry (Introduction: Giorgio Riello; Commentator: Beverly Lemire)
16.45-17.30. The Industrialisation of Cotton Manufacturing, 1700-1850 considering the shift of cotton textile manufacturing from the East to the West. Particular attention will be given to the organisation of production, technology, the raw materials, and the socio-cultural influences of the industry (Introduction: Patrick O'Brien; Commentator: Kaoru Sugihara)

Discussion on these topics will be introduced by one of the organisers. A commentator will respond by providing a critical perspective on the theme. The remaining time will be used for questions and discussions.

Takeshi Abe, "The Development of Japanese Cotton Weaving Industry in Edo Period" (PDF)
Huw Bowen, "The Integration of the Asian Cotton Textile Industry: Trade Empire, and British Exports of Raw Cotton from India to China during the Late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries" (PDF)
Kent Deng, "Cotton Consumption and the Cotton Economy in China, c.600-1900 AD"
Robert S. DuPlessis, "Cottons Consumption in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World" (PDF)
Sakis Gekas, "The Organisation of Indian Textile Technology Before and After the European Arrival" (PDF)
Suraiya Faroqhi, "Ottoman Cotton Textiles, 1500-1800: the story of a success that did not last" (PDF)
James Fichter, "Indian Textiles and American Industrialisation, 1790-1820"
Pat Hudson, "The Limits of Wool in the 17th and 18th Centuries" (PDF)
Joseph Inikori, "English-East Indian Cotton Textiles Competition, 1750-1850: A Window into the Impact of Imports on Cotton Textile Production in West Africa" (PDF)
David Jeremy, "The Invention and Diffusion of Technology in the Global Cotton Industry, 1790s-1850" (PDF)
José Jobson de Andrade Arrude, "Brazilian Raw Cotton as a Strategic Factor in Global Textile Manufacturing during the Industrial Revolution" (PDF)
Colleen E. Krieger, "Guinea Cloth: Production and Consumption of Cotton Textiles in West Africa before and during the Atlantic Slave Trade" (PDF)
Beverly Lemire, "Shaping Demand, Serving Fashion: Exploring the Cotton Trade between Asia and Europe, c.1300-1800. A Well-Worn Tale Reconsidered" (PDF)
Maureen Fennell Mazzaoui, "The North Italian Cotton Industry, 1200-1800" (PDF)
Patrick O'Brien, "The Precocious Mechanisation of a Global History: English Cotton Textiles from Kay (1733) to Roberts (1822)" (PDF)
Prasannan Parthasarathi, "Cotton Textile Exports from the Indian Subcontinent, 1680-1780" (PDF)
Ulrich Pfister, "Cotton Manufacture in Switzerland and Southern Germany in the Fifteenth to Eighteenth Centuries: Agrarian Pre-conditions, Family Economy and Economic Institutions" (PDF)
Om Prakash, "India and the Indian Ocean in Textile Trade" (PDF)
Olivier Raveux, "La naissance de l'indiennage Europeen: L'example de Marseille (1648-1689)" (PDF)
Giorgio Riello, "The Ecology of Cotton in Early Modern Europe: Possibilities and Potentials" (PDF)
Tirthankar Roy, "South Asia and World Textiles in the Eighteenth Century: A Review"
George Bryan Souza, "The French Connection: Indian Cottons, Their Early Modern Technology and Diffusion" (PDF)
John Styles, "What Were Cottons For in the Early Industrial Revolution?" (PDF)
Masayuki Tanimoto, "The Rise and Fall of Cotton Weaving Districts in Late Tokugawa-era 1750-1880: Cotton and the Peasant Economy" (PDF)
James Thomson, "The Origins of the Spanish Trade in American Cotton" (PDF)
Ian C. Wendt, "400 Years of Decline? Understanding the Changing Structure of the South Indian Textile Industry" (PDF)
Harriet Zurndorfer, "The Resistant Fibre; The Pre-Modern History of Cotton in China" (PDF)