Submarine Telegraphy and the Hunt for Gutta Percha

Challenge and Opportunity in a Global Trade
Approx. 368 Pp. Auflage 2018
ISBN: 978-90-04-34433-4
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 15, 330 Seiten, Format (B × H): 160 mm x 239 mm, Gewicht: 590 g

Reihe: Global Economic History Series

In Submarine Telegraphy and the Hunt for Gutta Percha, Helen Godfrey traces the connections between submarine telegraphy and the peoples of Singapore and Sarawak (Borneo) who supplied 'gutta percha', the latex insulating the world network of undersea telegraph cables. The book examines the complex inter-relationships linking metropolitan and local environments in a trade once described as a matter of interest to the whole civilized world. Using previously untapped corporate and official archives, trade data and a rich documentary record, the study explores the roles of cable producers, scientists, administrators, and local Chinese and indigenous traders. It reveals how a global trade may transcend technological, geographic and cross-cultural challenges, even hostilities. Motivations and outcomes are more complex than simple commercial gain.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Godfrey, Helen

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Ethnologie | Volkskunde Ethnologie Kultur- und Sozialethnologie: Materielle Kultur, Wirtschaftsethnologie
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftsgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Mentalitäts- und Sozialgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Wirtschaftsgeschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

List of Illustrations
Abbreviations
Currency Values, Weights and Measurements
Glossary

Introduction

Part 1: Submarine Telegraphy: The Forces of Science and Commerce
1 The Significance of Gutta Percha and the Rise of Submarine Telegraphy
Gutta Percha and its Significance
The Development and Significance of Submarine Telegraphy
2 Gutta Percha and the Challenge of Submarine Telegraphy
Gutta Percha and Submarine Telegraphy – The Early Years
Growth Years of Submarine Telegraphy and its Dependence upon Gutta Percha
3 The Rise and Challenges of the Gutta Percha Trade
The Lands of Plenty: Southeast Asia and Regional Trade
The European Hunt for Gutta Percha
4 Factory to Forest: Opportunity at the Periphery
Singapore and the Development of the Gutta Percha Trade
The Trade Comes to Sarawak via Singapore

Part 2: Power, Profit and the Periphery
5 The Gutta Percha Trade of Sarawak
Sarawak, its People and the Brooke Administrations
Significance and Growth of the Gutta Percha Trade in Sarawak
6 Operation of the Gutta Percha Trade in Sarawak
The Trade Network
Overland Trade Paths
Trade Venues: Bazaars and Outports
Credit and Barter
7 Impact of the Gutta Percha Trade – Opportunity
Interaction with the External Market
The Changing Nature of Sarawak Imports
Prestige Goods or Pusaka
8 Impact of the Gutta Percha Trade – Change and Challenge
Monetization
Changing Social Relations and the Gutta Percha ‘Wars’
9 Conclusions

Appendix 1 Gutta Percha
Appendix 2 Statistical Material
References
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Helen Godfrey, Ph.D. (2011), University of New England, is an independent researcher who has published related material as journal articles. Experiences living in Australasia, Africa, Britain and the Caribbean have widened her research perspectives.