Comparative and Connected Global Capitalism(s)

Capitalism, in one form or another, can be viewed as a global phenomenon. Even if processes of production, exchange, consumption and accumulation differed greatly in response to local contexts, cultures and environment, they were hardly an uncommon occurrence in any part of the world. This chapter, rather than tracing European influence into global markets, through maritime trade or empire, as a precursor to capitalist development, will instead focus on how economies and actors in Africa and Asia functioned prior and during this engagement. Drawing especially on case studies related to Chinese, Armenian and Akan ‘capitalisms’ in the early modern era, it will adopt an alternative perspective on economic development that highlights effective cross-cultural and communal, rather than national or state-driven, frameworks as a key feature underpinning global exchange. This is important not only as a means for understanding international ‘capitalisms’ in a comparative perspective, but also by contributing to changing ideas regarding how new European entrants to these regions were able to effectively integrate (or not) into pre-existing networks.