Author: John McGuire
Patrick Bertola/Peter Reeves
Editor: John McGuire / Patrick Bertola / Peter Reeves
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Year: 2001
Language: English
Pages: 243
ISBN/UPC (if available): 0195653742
Description
What were the dynamics and shifts in the movements of precious, metals in the past? The essays in this volume explore these questions through a critical examination of the experiences of different countries, especially those of India.
How does the creation of worldwide flows in precious metals relate to the world systems theory? Was the Indian Ocean and Asia external to the world system? Did the transformations in the world economy largely relate to and emanate from Europe?
Moving from the early stage of capitalist development to that of high imperialism and beyond, this volume investigates how the world economy was governed by the needs of merchant capital and high imperialism from 1500 to 1750, and by shifts in the process of industrial revolution in the subsequent period, from the1870s to the 1940s. Empirical and theoretical discussions about the role of precious metals over time and across countries, both within and outside imperial boundaries, highlight the extent to which India’s position in the world economy was shaped by its access to precious metals, and the role it played in the development of capitalism.
The volume further provides both a broad frame work and useful insights into the role of gold in the capitalist world economy by undertaking cross-national comparisons with a non-colonized Asian country, Japan, and two British colonies or ex-colonies, South Africa and Australia.
This book offers a powerful argument for revising the standard thesis articulated by Immanuel Wallerstein and others and revisits the rise of capitalism in terms of developments in Asia and particularly in India. It will be of appeal to specialists in world systems theory, capitalism, British imperialism, and to economists and historians more generally.