STRATEGY AND HISTORY OF COMMERCIAL RELATIONS

Module History of International Trade Relations (XIX-XXI CENTURY)

The course will be divided into two parts: one general and one dedicated to the analysis of two case studies. In the first, the history of international trade relations from the first industrial revolution to the 21st century will be reconstructed. Trade reactions will be analysed in relation to the history of the world economy and the main political processes. It will shift from the new structure of world trade, made possible by technological innovations and industrial development, which established itself in the nineteenth century. Following: the history of industrial relations in the era of imperialism; the two world wars; the crisis of 1929 and the attempt to revive a national capitalism (de-globalization); Bretton Woods and the reconstruction of the "Atlantic economy"; the cold war. Until the "new globalization" between the end of the 20th century and the early years of the 21st. To conclude with the economic and political challenges that await him (a new "deglobalisation"?).

In the second part of the course, in light of the volumes by Lovel and Beckert indicated in the bibliography, the events relating to the cotton trade, central above all in the 19th century and the opium war, will be analysed, which allow us to analyze an important chapter in the relationship between commercial relations and the political sphere. Finally, the Opium War represents one of the references to the identity of China today which from that event began the so-called "century of humiliation". Finally, a study will be devoted to the Bretton Woods Conference. 

Furthermore, readings will be assigned by:

S. Beckert, L'impero del cotone. Una storia globale, Einaudi, Torino;

J. Lovell, La guerra dell'oppio e la nascita della Cina moderna, Einaudi. Torino;

B. Steil, La battaglia di Bretton Woods, John Maynard Keynes, Harry Dexter White e la nascita di un nuovo ordine mondiale, Donzelli, Roma 2015.

Non attending students will have to agree with the professor with chapters of one of these book to study for the exam.

The evaluation will take place through an oral test and, as regards attending students, participation in the course will be taken into account.

Trade during the Industrial Revolution
What is meant by "great specialization" compared to the 11th century
Market integration
Commercial relations in the age of imperialism
World War I and global trade.
The crisis of 1929 and the great depression
The return of protectionism
Post-World War II re-Globalization
Globalization of the last thirty years
Globalization crisis?
The centrality of cotton between the first industrial revolution and the twentieth century
The Opium Wars