Outsourcing Empire: How Company-States Made the Modern World
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- Create Date：2022-07-23 09:51:55
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Andrew Phillips
- ISBN：0691206198
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Summary
How chartered company-states spearheaded European expansion and helped create the world's first genuinely global order
From Spanish conquistadors to British colonialists， the prevailing story of European empire-building has focused on the rival ambitions of competing states。 But as Outsourcing Empire shows， from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries， company-states--not sovereign states--drove European expansion， building the world's first genuinely international system。 Company-states were hybrid ventures: pioneering multinational trading firms run for profit， with founding charters that granted them sovereign powers of war， peace， and rule。 Those like the English and Dutch East India Companies carved out corporate empires in Asia， while other company-states pushed forward European expansion through North America， Africa， and the South Pacific。 In this comparative exploration， Andrew Phillips and J。 C。 Sharman explain the rise and fall of company-states， why some succeeded while others failed， and their role as vanguards of capitalism and imperialism。
In dealing with alien civilizations to the East and West， Europeans relied primarily on company-states to mediate geographic and cultural distances in trade and diplomacy。 Emerging as improvised solutions to bridge the gap between European rulers' expansive geopolitical ambitions and their scarce means， company-states succeeded best where they could balance the twin imperatives of power and profit。 Yet as European states strengthened from the late eighteenth century onward， and a sense of separate public and private spheres grew， the company-states lost their usefulness and legitimacy。
Bringing a fresh understanding to the ways cross-cultural relations were handled across the oceans， Outsourcing Empire examines the significance of company-states as key progenitors of the globalized world。
From Spanish conquistadors to British colonialists， the prevailing story of European empire-building has focused on the rival ambitions of competing states。 But as Outsourcing Empire shows， from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries， company-states--not sovereign states--drove European expansion， building the world's first genuinely international system。 Company-states were hybrid ventures: pioneering multinational trading firms run for profit， with founding charters that granted them sovereign powers of war， peace， and rule。 Those like the English and Dutch East India Companies carved out corporate empires in Asia， while other company-states pushed forward European expansion through North America， Africa， and the South Pacific。 In this comparative exploration， Andrew Phillips and J。 C。 Sharman explain the rise and fall of company-states， why some succeeded while others failed， and their role as vanguards of capitalism and imperialism。
In dealing with alien civilizations to the East and West， Europeans relied primarily on company-states to mediate geographic and cultural distances in trade and diplomacy。 Emerging as improvised solutions to bridge the gap between European rulers' expansive geopolitical ambitions and their scarce means， company-states succeeded best where they could balance the twin imperatives of power and profit。 Yet as European states strengthened from the late eighteenth century onward， and a sense of separate public and private spheres grew， the company-states lost their usefulness and legitimacy。
Bringing a fresh understanding to the ways cross-cultural relations were handled across the oceans， Outsourcing Empire examines the significance of company-states as key progenitors of the globalized world。
Reviews
David Sogge
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This book recounts the career and retirement of a major warhorse and workhorse in the service of European capitalism in non-European places。 Forerunners of empire and of colonialism， chartered companies were private agencies operating on behalf of， or in collusion with public authorities。 This book describes the rise and decline of five major examples， with remarks on a number of lesser cases。 The authors put classic comparative methods of analysis to good use。 By signposting what they intend to This book recounts the career and retirement of a major warhorse and workhorse in the service of European capitalism in non-European places。 Forerunners of empire and of colonialism， chartered companies were private agencies operating on behalf of， or in collusion with public authorities。 This book describes the rise and decline of five major examples， with remarks on a number of lesser cases。 The authors put classic comparative methods of analysis to good use。 By signposting what they intend to say， then recapping their arguments chapter by chapter， and in the conclusion， the authors create an accessible， compact and convincing account for both university and general readers。 The prose is clear and the editing tight – which comes at the cost， perhaps， of human interest and savoury anecdotes。 They are sparse。 Among the few I found was one about a latecomer state-promoted enterprise， in New Guinea， where uncurious German overseers dutifully erected massive fences against monkeys， only to discover that there were no monkeys on that island。 A creature of early globalized capitalism， the company-state is now extinct。 Yet its history seems pretty relevant for understanding trends in today’s capitalism。 With enthusiastic help from domestic and international politicians， central bankers and other public sector authorities， under terms of ‘public-private partnerships’， ‘blending’， 'de-risking'， 'multi-stakeholderism' and， indeed ‘outsourcing’ （as in the book's sub-title）， multinationals and corporations in the finance， insurance and real estate sectors are today marching forward in seven league boots。 So it disappointed me that the authors decline to pursue， and indeed seem to dismiss， the proposition that basic， if camouflaged， mixing of public/private norms， framings and reflexes that company-states cultivated and celebrated centuries ago live on today， and robustly -- in laws， agencies and other core institutions with global reach。 But perhaps that would require another book altogether。 。。。more
B
，
A solid insight into the unique features of the European “company-states，” and the role they have played in forging overseas empires （especially in the 17th & 18th centuries） and laying the foundations of financial capitalism until they became obsolete。 The authors do a great job in examining how company-states came into being （mostly as a legacy of medieval structures where it was customary for states to delegate “state” powers）， and their “hybrid” nature: on the one hand， acting like modern co A solid insight into the unique features of the European “company-states，” and the role they have played in forging overseas empires （especially in the 17th & 18th centuries） and laying the foundations of financial capitalism until they became obsolete。 The authors do a great job in examining how company-states came into being （mostly as a legacy of medieval structures where it was customary for states to delegate “state” powers）， and their “hybrid” nature: on the one hand， acting like modern corporations seeking to maximize profit， on the other， （surprisingly） acting with powers that we normally associate with modern states （the ability to have armies， wage wars， sign treaties， collect taxes etc。） This they generally did through trade， but more so through heavy use of diplomacy - now playing the supplicant to a local overlord， now playing the mediator between two local powers， thereby holding a tenuous balance in order to run their businesses。The authors point out that the making of the “company-state” was due to coincidental circumstances where both the state and the “company-state” benefited from a fruitful partnership: the former passing on the cost of expeditionary ventures and management of outposts while collecting revenue and the latter enjoying quasi-sovereign powers while keeping a monopoly on a particular trade in commodity （at least in theory）。 The authors conduct inter-temporal and inter-regional analysis among the companies to explain why some fared better than others。 Chief among these factors were geographical location， being relatively independent from state control， keeping under the radar， and being adaptable。 Their survival， however， no matter how nimble they happened to be， was ultimately struck down with states assuming their monopoly in international politics in the 19th century， and the concomitant change in public opinion。 Another strong point of the book is how the authors addressed the lack of validity of some of the commonly held beliefs on the topic: for example， that the company-states were true success stories， or that the Europeans’ conquest was based primarily on technological prowess of their armies。The book’s main drawback， however， lies with its textbooks approach， i。e。， recapitulating arguments at the end of every chapter， along with repetitions strewn across the book。 Instead， the conclusion at the end of the book would have sufficed。 。。。more
Martin Henson
，
A very readable and well argued case for a view of European history that recognises the crucial role of the company states。 My only disappointment is that， I think， there is insufficient attention paid to the economic/financial story。 Two key features of （at least some of） the company states are their ability to wield force and issue currency。 From reading books like David Graeber's Debt: The First 5，000 Years this cocktail is very powerful - taxing in a currency that the payer needs to earn （an A very readable and well argued case for a view of European history that recognises the crucial role of the company states。 My only disappointment is that， I think， there is insufficient attention paid to the economic/financial story。 Two key features of （at least some of） the company states are their ability to wield force and issue currency。 From reading books like David Graeber's Debt: The First 5，000 Years this cocktail is very powerful - taxing in a currency that the payer needs to earn （and is issued by the authority） and with guns to enforce this， is an effective way of dividing and ruling， and getting cooperation to generate economic activity。 Clearly the company states were often directly extractive of material wealth （e。g。 Clive's transfer of Nawab of Bengal's treasury （£250 million in today's money） in 1757 - see Shashi Tharoor's Inglorious Empire: What the British Did to India， pp。 3-4） but it is not quite clear what is meant and actually gained by e。g。 raising taxes and duties （p。 174）。 With the exception of a couple of well known examples， most company states were - from an economic perspective - a disaster: profits （if they existed） would have come from actual mobilisation of resources and generation of stuff - the money itself being a lubricant to this。 What I would like to know much more about is the way in which those company states that had the right to "mint money" used that right， and how this interacted with the currency of their home country。 Clearly， this is complicated， because during the period in question （say 1450 to 1900） the way money worked， even in states， was not simple - and this was a period in which money was basically specie （not meaning a distinction between coins and notes， but between coin and the kind of fiat credit money we have had since 1971）。 。。。more
Charles Bookman
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