Liminal Actors, Global Entanglements and the Development of Capitalism in the Global South

II. Thursday, 11th September, 08:30-10:30

H Challenging Modernity from the Perspective of Global History

Global Capitalist Assemblages: A historiographical appraisal of multinational enterprise in the Global South

In light of the renewed focus on capitalism as a critical subject of historical analysis, historians have illuminated the globally interconnected processes of its making and remaking. Recent commodity-centered histories within global history offer compelling examples of how to write locally-grounded histories of global capitalism, articulating the complex and contingent relationship between the local and the global. In these accounts, business and global firms rarely appear as the analytical centerpiece. We argue, however, that the globally active firm provides an ideal lens for writing locally-grounded histories of global capitalism. Drawing on recent applications of Deleuzian assemblage theory in economic history, we propose to decenter the firm by approaching it as a ‘capitalist assemblage’. This analytical perspective allows for the examination of the spatiotemporal processes through which capitalism and capitalist ‘methods of doing things’ emerge, are maintained, or challenged in concrete sites and moments. This approach will not only contribute to the existing literature in global-oriented studies but also address the methodological and conceptual limitations found in the study of global firm within business history. We will illustrate this analytical framework with examples from Danish firms operating in semicolonial Siam at the turn of the twentieth century, arguing for the crucial role of liminal actors – those who defy simple categorization as either colonisers or colonised – in the development of capitalism in Siam.

W. L. Grut - A small scale Scandinavian actor in-between empires

At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century several Scandinavians, mainly male Danish entrepreneurs, became important figures in the development of capitalism in Siam. The dominant narrative about their role in Siam has described them as friendly aides and advisors to the Siamese absolute king’s modernizing project, and contrary to the French and British in Siam, the Scandinavian endeavors have only recently begun to be understood as part of colonial history.1

This paper turns attention to small-scale capitalist actors that navigated the spaces in-between the colonial empires. One Scandinavian who found opportunities in Siam, was W.L. Grut (1881–1949), a Swedish-Danish businessman and consul. Despite not leaving behind personal writings, the archival sources reveal that former military commander Grut, through family and business, was tied to a larger network of successful Danish entrepreneurs and military men who developed their capitalist interests close to the Siamese royal elite, circulating the boards and management of companies such as Siam Electric and Siam Cement. Their business engagements were transnational and their social connections and diplomatic ties created space for a global bourgeoisie life.

Historians of modern empire have increasingly highlighted the limitations of the prevailing focus on large imperial powers or formally independent, national governments. Questioning the importance these have often claimed for themselves as omnipotent agents of modernity and capitalism, scholars are now beginning to explore the roles played by liminal, often overlooked actors in shaping colonial or semi-colonial societies and in the introduction and fashioning of global capitalism. To this category of liminal actors belonged a whole ensemble of various non-state, commercial intermediaries - such as individual traders, entrepreneurial networks, and multinational firms - whose contributions to the diverse nature of the Age of Empire and the rise of capitalism merits greater attention in critical global histories. This approach aligns with global history's emphasis on transnational networks, non-state actors, and economic entanglements, offering a more nuanced perspective on how capitalism developed in colonial and imperial contexts.This panel encourages scholars to explore the development of capitalism in the Global South through the roles of actors who defy simple categorization as either colonisers or colonised. For instance, how do we account for the relationship between the development of capitalism in non-colonised Siam and Scandinavian entrepreneurs? How do we address the role of capitalists and entrepreneurs, both Western and non-Western, who were not official state representatives, in shaping capitalism and social relations more broadly in the Global South? By taking this approach, we aim to contribute to the ongoing discussion of the global history of capitalism.