Empires, States and Law across Eurasia, 13th-20th century

Resarch Initiative The Origins of Globalization, held by François Gipouloux co-organises the 6^th EurasiaTrajeco Conference at Pablo de Olavide University, Sevilla, on the 5-6 October 2018.

This conference undertakes a large-scale investigation on a set of economic institutions which have been crucial to the achievement of economic development in Asia and in Europe: business partnerships, share-holding companies, maritime insurance, the bill of exchange, sophisticated accounting methods, among others. The main purpose of this study is to conduct a systematic comparison of the trajectory of peculiar economic institutions and business practices in two different environments. It will draw on the analysis of an unpublished set of private documents, local gazettes, stone inscriptions, prescriptive narratives and legal archives relating to economic development and merchants’ memoirs and genealogies in China and Japan over a period from the 16^th through the 20^th centuries.

The primary objective of this conference is to identify a set of economic institutions which have played a crucial role in 16^th-20^th century maritime Asia and to place the comparison with their counterparts in Europe during the same period at the core of the analysis of the Europe-Asia divergence. The trajectory of economic institutions will be treated as different layers within a comprehensive analysis of a single process that links historical and comparative dimensions. This framework will provide a firm foundation for multi-faceted interactions between scholars involved in economic history, legal studies, and anthropology, in both Europe and Asia. Breakthroughs are expected in the field of the analysis of the economic development of early modern Asian countries, especially China and Japan.

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