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Die Fäden des globalen Marktes. Eine Sozial- und Kulturgeschichte des Welthandels am Beispiel der Handelsfirma Gebrüder Volkart,1851-1999

This book (515p) is based on a five year-long research endeavour and the examination of 24 public and private archives in seven countries and on three continents. It was accepted as a habilitation thesis (second book; pre-requisite for eligibility as a full professor in Germany) by the University of Konstanz (Germany) in 2010.

In 1852, the Swiss merchant house Volkart began to export raw materials from the Indian subcontinent and became one of the world’s biggest coffee and cotton traders until the mid-20th century. The book studies the establishment of networks with merchants in Asia and the Americas and argues that these co-operations were only possible due to a shared mercantile culture. The book, in other words, argues that the global market that came into being in the 19th century was not a creation of Western actors alone but relied on the agency of non-Western businessmen as well.