Bücher der Reihe Political Economies of Capitalism, 1600-1850

This book showcases the wide variety of commercial cosmopolitan practices that arose from the global economic entanglements of the early modern period. It will be important reading for students and scholars working at the intersection of economic, global, and cultural history during this period.

FORTHCOMING OPEN ACCESS TITLEThis collection of essays re-examines ideas of change and movements for change in early modern Europe without presuming that "progressive" change was the outcome of "reforms"."Reform" today implies rational, incremental change to public institutions and procedures. "Improvement" has a more general application, emphasising the positive outcome to which "reform" is oriented. But the language of reform is today used of historical personalities and movements that did not themselves use the term, and who in many cases were not necessarily seeking the progressive change that we would understand today. The activities of "reform" were embedded in contemporary politics, and while "improvement" was part of a contemporary vocabulary, its real presence has been obscured by the range of natural languages in which it was expressed. Contributors to this volume seek to establish what was meant by contemporary usage. Bringing together scholars of Russia, Southern, Western, Central and Northern Europe, this collection sheds new light on both common and divergent features of a political process too often treated as a uniform movement towards modernity.This volume is a useful resource for students and scholars interested in Enlightenment studies, intellectual history, and conceptual history in early modern Europe.

This book showcases the wide variety of commercial cosmopolitan practices that arose from the global economic entanglements of the early modern period.Cosmopolitanism is not only a philosophical ideal: for many centuries it has also been an everyday practice across the globe. The early modern era saw hitherto unprecedented levels of economic interconnectedness. States, societies, and individuals reacted with a mixture of commercial idealism and commercial anxiety, seeking at once to exploit new opportunities for growth whilst limiting its disruptive effects. In highlighting the range of commercial cosmopolitan practices that grew out of early modern globalisation, the book demonstrates that it provided robust alternatives to the universalising western imperial model of the later period. Deploying a number of interdisciplinary methodologies, the kind of 'methodological cosmopolitanism' that Ulrich Beck has called for, chapters provide agency-centred evaluations of the risks and opportunities inherent in the ambiguous role of the cosmopolitan, who, often playing on and mobilising a number of identities, operated in between and outside of different established legal, social, and cultural systems.The book will be important reading for students and scholars working at the intersection of economic, global, and cultural history.

The years 1690-1727 represented a period of significant change for Scotland. It was a time of grand colonial endeavours and financial innovation, punctuated by bouts of economic turmoil and constitutional and political uncertainty. The infamous Darien Scheme, the establishment of the Bank of Scotland and the Royal Bank of Scotland, the Anglo-Scots Union, the Hanoverian Succession, and the Jacobite rising of 1715, all occurred during this short time span. Therefore, it was not only a period that presented Scotland with opportunities but also a period in which the country ultimately lost its autonomy. It was also during these years, and against this unsettled backdrop, that the Scottish Financial Revolution commenced.The complexity of the Scottish situation during the late seventeenth and the early eighteen centuries has historically made the identification of a Scottish Financial Revolution difficult. This monograph, the first dedicated to the topic, addresses this problem and provides a model for identifying and understanding the revolution through the economic, political, and constitutional contexts of the period. Using examples of financial developments and innovation driven by Scotsmen in Scotland, Europe, and the colonies, this work defines the Scottish Financial Revolution as a series of developments which took place in Scotland when political circumstances allowed, but which also occurred outwith Scotland through the agency of members of the Scottish diaspora. This monograph is therefore the story of how Scotsmen at home and abroad contributed to financial debate and development between 1690 and 1727.Credit, Currency, and Capital: The Scottish Financial Revolution, 1690-1727 will appeal to students and scholars interested in the history of Economics and Finance. It will also be of interest to those studying the history of the Anglo-Scots Union and the complex relationship between Scotland and England.