Doing Business with Strangers: Trust, Institutions and the History of Globalisation

Speaker: Edmond Smith, Manchester
Series: Core Seminar in Economic and Social History

Globalisation depended not simply on ships, markets or states, but on the ability of people to cooperate across enormous distances and deep cultural differences. How did merchants, investors and travellers learn whom to trust? How were promises enforced in the absence of shared laws or close personal relationships? Drawing on recent work in economic and global history, this session explores the roles of trust, reputation, networks and institutions in facilitating exchange and considers what these mechanisms can tell us about the historical development of globalisation.