IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envira/v45y2013i7p1588-1604.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Institutional Mobility and Mutation in the Global Capitalist System: A Neo-Polanyian Analysis of a Transnational Cotton Standards War, 1870–1945

Author

Listed:
  • Amy A Quark

    (Department of Sociology, College of William & Mary, 214 Morton Hall, 100 Campus Drive, Williamsburg, VA 23185, USA)

Abstract

This paper explores the dynamics of institutional change in periods of instability in the global capitalist system. Two recent bodies of literature—actor-centered institutionalism and the ‘policy mobilities’ approach—emphasize how contextual and historical specificities drive transformation as institutions move across space. However, scholars in both traditions give less attention to the systematic patterns of social conflict that influence how policies move and mutate. Drawing on the case of a standards war in the global cotton trade from 1870 to 1945, I build on these literatures by linking them to a neo-Polanyian theory of social conflict within periods of market-led development. From this view, we must understand institutions, their mobilities, and mutations as constituted by and constitutive of struggles over how the global capitalist system should be organized and in whose interests. This requires building on, but also deepening Polanyi's analysis. While Polanyi emphasized the destructive effects of liberal market projects that generate social conflict, the ‘push-backs’ against liberal market projects are more diverse than Polanyi suggested, and social conflict can also emerge out of the creative moments of liberal market expansion.

Suggested Citation

  • Amy A Quark, 2013. "Institutional Mobility and Mutation in the Global Capitalist System: A Neo-Polanyian Analysis of a Transnational Cotton Standards War, 1870–1945," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 45(7), pages 1588-1604, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:45:y:2013:i:7:p:1588-1604
    DOI: 10.1068/a45521
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1068/a45521
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1068/a45521?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ransom, Roger L. & Sutch, Richard, 1972. "Debt Peonage in the Cotton South After the Civil War," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 32(3), pages 641-669, September.
    2. Marie-Laure Salles-Djelic & Sigrid Quack, 2003. "Theoretical Building Blocks for a Research Agenda Linking Globalization and Institutions," Post-Print hal-01892014, HAL.
    3. Lipartito, Kenneth J., 1983. "The New York Cotton Exchange and the Development of the Cotton Futures Market," Business History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 57(1), pages 50-72, April.
    4. Marie-Laure Salles-Djelic & Kerstin Sahlin-Andersson, 2006. "Introduction: A world of governance: The rise of transnational regulation," Post-Print hal-01891998, HAL.
    5. Killick, John R., 1974. "Bolton Ogden & Co.: A Case Study in Anglo-American Trade, 1790–1850," Business History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 48(4), pages 501-519, December.
    6. Marie-Laure Djelic & Sigrid Quack, 2003. "Theoretical Building Blocks for a Research Agenda Linking Globalization and Institutions," Chapters, in: Marie-Laure Djelic & Sigrid Quack (ed.), Globalization and Institutions, chapter 1, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    7. Fred Block, 2007. "Understanding the Diverging Trajectories of the United States and Western Europe: A Neo-Polanyian Analysis," Politics & Society, , vol. 35(1), pages 3-33, March.
    8. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/5oojir5leh8icq847ddt2lej75 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Marie-Laure Salles-Djelic & Sigrid Quack, 2007. "Overcoming path dependency: path generation in open systems," Post-Print hal-01891993, HAL.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jamie Peck, 2013. "Disembedding Polanyi: Exploring Polanyian Economic Geographies," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 45(7), pages 1536-1544, July.
    2. Cristina Temenos & Tom Baker, 2015. "Enriching Urban Policy Mobilities Research," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(4), pages 841-843, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Catherine Locatelli, 2020. "Une lecture institutionnaliste de la réforme du secteur gazier russe," Working Papers hal-02734835, HAL.
    2. Locatelli, C., 2020. "Une lecture institutionnaliste de la réforme du secteur gazier russe," Working Papers 2020-04, Grenoble Applied Economics Laboratory (GAEL).
    3. Alon, Anna & Dwyer, Peggy D., 2016. "SEC's acceptance of IFRS-based financial reporting: An examination based in institutional theory," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 1-16.
    4. Mehdi Abbas & Catherine Locatelli, 2019. "Interdependence as a lever for national hybridization: The EU-Russia gas trade [L’hybridation des systèmes institutionnels nationaux dans l’interdépendance. Les échanges gaziers UE-Russie]," Post-Print hal-02472141, HAL.
    5. Böhling, Kathrin & Arzberger, Monika B., 2014. "New modes of governance in Bavaria's alpine forests: The ‘Mountain Forest Initiative’ at work," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 43-50.
    6. Prabhir Poruthiyil, 2013. "Weaning Business Ethics from Strategic Economism: The Development Ethics Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 116(4), pages 735-749, September.
    7. Gabriela Chmelikova & Renata Kucerova & Helena Chladkova & Jindrich Spicka, 2024. "The dark side of economic success: ESG crime rate of European countries is driven by the conditions for doing business," MENDELU Working Papers in Business and Economics 2024-97, Mendel University in Brno, Faculty of Business and Economics.
    8. Marie-Laure Djelic, 2013. "When Limited Liability was (Still) an Issue: Mobilization and Politics of Signification in 19th-Century England," Post-Print hal-01891965, HAL.
    9. Zarina Anita, 2010. "Path dependency and landscape biographies in Latgale, Latvia: a comparative analysis," European Countryside, Sciendo, vol. 2(3), pages 151-168, January.
    10. McBride, Karen, 2021. "A French connection; paths to a ‘new system’ of accounting for the Royal Navy in 1832," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(2).
    11. Mihret, Dessalegn Getie & Mirshekary, Soheila & Yaftian, Ali, 2020. "Accounting professionalization, the state, and transnational capitalism: The case of Iran," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    12. Ulybina, Olga, 2014. "Russian forests: The path of reform," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 143-150.
    13. Bo Rothstein, 2011. "Can markets be expected to prevent themselves from self‐destruction?," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 5(4), pages 387-404, December.
    14. repec:dau:papers:123456789/7515 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Amy A. Quark & Rachel Lienesch, 2017. "Scientific boundary work and food regime transitions: the double movement and the science of food safety regulation," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(3), pages 645-661, September.
    16. Ramirez, Carlos D., 2003. "Did branch banking restrictions increase bank failures? Evidence from Virginia and West Virginia in the late 1920s," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 55(4), pages 331-352.
    17. Rosemary Batt & David Holman & Ursula Holtgrewe, 2009. "The Globalization of Service Work: Comparative Institutional Perspectives on Call Centers," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 62(4), pages 453-488, July.
    18. Bernard Colasse & Christine Pochet, 2008. "De la genèse du nouveau Conseil National de la Comptabilité (2007) : un cas d'isomorphisme institutionnel ?," Post-Print halshs-00522493, HAL.
    19. Rodrigues, Lúcia Lima & Craig, Russell, 2018. "The role of government accounting and taxation in the institutionalization of slavery in Brazil," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 21-38.
    20. repec:dau:papers:123456789/3499 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Ilya Okhmatovskiy & Robert J. David, 2012. "Setting Your Own Standards: Internal Corporate Governance Codes as a Response to Institutional Pressure," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(1), pages 155-176, February.
    22. Canaday, Neil & Jaremski, Matthew, 2012. "Legacy, location, and labor: Accounting for racial differences in postbellum cotton production," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 291-302.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:45:y:2013:i:7:p:1588-1604. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.