Global Capitalisms and Commodities, Part 1

In considering the history of global capitalism, comparative approaches reveal important findings. Together with its companion panel, “Global Capitalisms and Commodities, Part 2,” this panel tracks global capitalist movement in the 20th century. In this panel, three separate commodities are considered: wheat, silk, and minerals. By considering the social networks, laws, and politics that structured these and other commodities’ global circulation between the 1920s and 1950s, this panel and its companion panel chart the history of global capitalism itself. They reveal the imperialist legacies that have structured the global economy, and they demonstrate how and why powerful regions have orchestrated cross-border commodity trade. Along the way, the panels also highlight the social inequalities of global commodity circulation.