Chris Nierstrasz | University of Warwick (original) (raw)

Papers by Chris Nierstrasz

Research paper thumbnail of ‘La Conception Française: Philippe Haudrère et les Français aux Indes’: An Interview with Philippe Haudrère

Research paper thumbnail of Rivalry for Trade in Tea and Textiles

Research paper thumbnail of Private Trade and Monopoly Structures: The East India Companies and the Commodity Trade to Europe in the Eighteenth Century

Political Power and Social Theory 29: Chartering Capitalism - Organizing Markets, States, and Publics, Aug 2015

Our research is about the trade in material goods from Asia to Europe over this period, and its i... more Our research is about the trade in material goods from Asia to Europe over this period, and its impact on Europe’s consumer and industrial cultures. It entails a comparative study of Europe’s East India Companies and the private trade from Asia over the period. The commodities trade was heavily dependent on private trade. The historiography to date has left a blind spot in this area, concentrating instead on corruption and malfeasance. Taking a global history approach we investigate the trade in specific consumer goods in many qualities and varieties that linked merchant communities and stimulated information flows. We set out how private trade functioned alongside and in connection with the various European East India companies; we investigate how this changed over time, how it drew on the Company infrastructure, and how it took the risks and developed new and niche markets for specific Asian commodities that the Companies could not sustain.

Books by Chris Nierstrasz

Research paper thumbnail of Goods from the East, 1600-1800 - Trading Eurasia

The imperative of the long-distance seaborne trade of Europeans, from the age of exploration, was... more The imperative of the long-distance seaborne trade of Europeans, from the age of exploration, was to acquire the goods of the exotic East – the silks and porcelains and tea of China, the spices of the spice islands and the textiles of India. Goods from the East focuses on the trade in fine products: how they were made, marketed and distributed between Asia and Europe. This trade was conducted by East India Companies and many private traders, and the first Global Age that resulted deeply affected European consumption and manufacturing. This book provides a full comparative and connective study of Asia's trade with a range of European countries. Its themes relate closely to issues of fine manufacturing and luxury goods in the current age of globalization. Goods from the East brings together established scholars, such as Jan de Vries, Om Prakash and Josh Gommans, and a new generation of researchers, who together look into the connections between European consumer cultures and Asian trade.

Research paper thumbnail of Rivalry for trade in Tea and Textiles. The English and Dutch East India Companies (1700-1800)

Despite their tendencies towards monopoly, East India companies were fierce competitors for India... more Despite their tendencies towards monopoly, East India companies were fierce competitors for Indian textiles and Chinese tea. This study compares the rivalry between the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and the East India Company (EIC) in their trade in tea and Indian textiles by focussing on their global empires. The reasons for the success and failure in this fierce competition need to be found in Europe, Asia and the wider Atlantic. The impact of this trade is visible in events such as the opening of Western trade with China, the Boston Tea Party, the establishment of British Empire in Bengal and the Industrial Revolution. Furthermore, this books put this rivalry in the perspective of the different varieties of tea and textiles that both companies brought back to Europe

Research paper thumbnail of In the Shadow of the Company. The Dutch East India Company and its Servants in the Period of its Decline, 1740-1796

Is there any truth in the story that the morality of the servants of the Dutch East India Company... more Is there any truth in the story that the morality of the servants of the Dutch East India Company in the eighteenth century was so rotten that one could believe the Dutch Maxim 'Vergaan Onder Corruptie' - in translation something like 'Succumbed to Corruption'- and use this as an explanation for a very complex phenomenon? Chris Nierstrasz introduces us in his 'In the Shadow of the Company', to the realities of the decision makers and of the servants in the field. Responding to the changing realities in Asia, the Company could only try to use the mercantile potential of its higher echelons to postpone its downfall. In a situation in which the directors were not able to increase investment from Holland, the servants in Asia were forced to take up the challenge.

Research paper thumbnail of ‘La Conception Française: Philippe Haudrère et les Français aux Indes’: An Interview with Philippe Haudrère

Research paper thumbnail of Rivalry for Trade in Tea and Textiles

Research paper thumbnail of Private Trade and Monopoly Structures: The East India Companies and the Commodity Trade to Europe in the Eighteenth Century

Political Power and Social Theory 29: Chartering Capitalism - Organizing Markets, States, and Publics, Aug 2015

Our research is about the trade in material goods from Asia to Europe over this period, and its i... more Our research is about the trade in material goods from Asia to Europe over this period, and its impact on Europe’s consumer and industrial cultures. It entails a comparative study of Europe’s East India Companies and the private trade from Asia over the period. The commodities trade was heavily dependent on private trade. The historiography to date has left a blind spot in this area, concentrating instead on corruption and malfeasance. Taking a global history approach we investigate the trade in specific consumer goods in many qualities and varieties that linked merchant communities and stimulated information flows. We set out how private trade functioned alongside and in connection with the various European East India companies; we investigate how this changed over time, how it drew on the Company infrastructure, and how it took the risks and developed new and niche markets for specific Asian commodities that the Companies could not sustain.

Research paper thumbnail of Goods from the East, 1600-1800 - Trading Eurasia

The imperative of the long-distance seaborne trade of Europeans, from the age of exploration, was... more The imperative of the long-distance seaborne trade of Europeans, from the age of exploration, was to acquire the goods of the exotic East – the silks and porcelains and tea of China, the spices of the spice islands and the textiles of India. Goods from the East focuses on the trade in fine products: how they were made, marketed and distributed between Asia and Europe. This trade was conducted by East India Companies and many private traders, and the first Global Age that resulted deeply affected European consumption and manufacturing. This book provides a full comparative and connective study of Asia's trade with a range of European countries. Its themes relate closely to issues of fine manufacturing and luxury goods in the current age of globalization. Goods from the East brings together established scholars, such as Jan de Vries, Om Prakash and Josh Gommans, and a new generation of researchers, who together look into the connections between European consumer cultures and Asian trade.

Research paper thumbnail of Rivalry for trade in Tea and Textiles. The English and Dutch East India Companies (1700-1800)

Despite their tendencies towards monopoly, East India companies were fierce competitors for India... more Despite their tendencies towards monopoly, East India companies were fierce competitors for Indian textiles and Chinese tea. This study compares the rivalry between the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and the East India Company (EIC) in their trade in tea and Indian textiles by focussing on their global empires. The reasons for the success and failure in this fierce competition need to be found in Europe, Asia and the wider Atlantic. The impact of this trade is visible in events such as the opening of Western trade with China, the Boston Tea Party, the establishment of British Empire in Bengal and the Industrial Revolution. Furthermore, this books put this rivalry in the perspective of the different varieties of tea and textiles that both companies brought back to Europe

Research paper thumbnail of In the Shadow of the Company. The Dutch East India Company and its Servants in the Period of its Decline, 1740-1796

Is there any truth in the story that the morality of the servants of the Dutch East India Company... more Is there any truth in the story that the morality of the servants of the Dutch East India Company in the eighteenth century was so rotten that one could believe the Dutch Maxim 'Vergaan Onder Corruptie' - in translation something like 'Succumbed to Corruption'- and use this as an explanation for a very complex phenomenon? Chris Nierstrasz introduces us in his 'In the Shadow of the Company', to the realities of the decision makers and of the servants in the field. Responding to the changing realities in Asia, the Company could only try to use the mercantile potential of its higher echelons to postpone its downfall. In a situation in which the directors were not able to increase investment from Holland, the servants in Asia were forced to take up the challenge.