Flandreau s new book is simply remarkable. It will force us to rethink the foundations of anthropology.
David Shankland, Director of the Royal Anthropological Institute This path-breaking book explores the intersection between scientific enterprise, the evolution of Victorian learned societies, and finance. That imperial states used science and science ideologies to advance territorial claims this is well known. That ... Read morefinance used ethnographic and geographic truths debated in the fledgling anthropological and geographical societies for the crucial creation of value to monetize largely tropical speculative ventures has been a hidden history. The human sciences and the institutions that developed around them were key elements not just in the globalization of knowledge but also that of finance capital and speculation. This remarkable history captures the depth of the interlinkages among protagonists whose identities and practices regularly blurred their economic and scientific roles. In this engagingly written volume, the rivalries, collusions, and corruptions that shaped tropical scrambles, tropical science, as well as money markets, come vividly to life.
Susanna B. Hecht, author of The Scramble for the Amazon and the Lost Paradise of Euclides da Cunha How did personal networks and exchanges evolve into the impersonal networks and stock exchanges that formed the global financial markets of the late nineteenth century? Flandreau keeps exploring the sources and personalities of key players in the London Stock Exchange, where most of the debts of the world were traded. The deeper he goes, the more interesting become his findings this time for the role played by promoters and anthropologists in expanding the scope of Britain s informal empire.
Larry D. Neal, author of A Concise History of International Finance This is one of the most fascinating books I have ever read. Flandreau s breathtaking account of Victorian anthropology is a unique combination of economic insight, historical acumen, and literary brio. It challenges our understanding of the relationship between knowledge and empire. Moreover, it is a compelling denunciation of the vested interests lurking behind academic inquiry. The cannibals portrayed in this story are still with us. From the centers of global financial power they continue to shape the agenda of modern social science.
Francesco Boldizzoni, author of The Poverty of Clio Flandreau's new book is simply remarkable. It will force us to rethink the foundations of anthropology.
David Shankland, Director of the Royal Anthropological Institute This path-breaking book explores the intersection between scientific enterprise, the evolution of Victorian learned societies, and finance. That imperial states used science and science ideologies to advance territorial claims
this is well known. That finance used ethnographic and geographic 'truths' debated in the fledgling anthropological and geographical societies for the crucial creation of 'value' to monetize largely tropical speculative ventures has been a hidden history. The human sciences and the institutions that developed around them were key elements not just in the globalization of knowledge but also that of finance capital and speculation. This remarkable history captures the depth of the interlinkages among protagonists whose identities and practices regularly blurred their economic and scientific roles. In this engagingly written volume, the rivalries, collusions, and corruptions that shaped tropical scrambles, tropical science, as well as money markets, come vividly to life.
Susanna B. Hecht, author of The Scramble for the Amazon and the Lost Paradise of Euclides da Cunha How did personal networks and exchanges evolve into the impersonal networks and stock exchanges that formed the global financial markets of the late nineteenth century? Flandreau keeps exploring the sources and personalities of key players in the London Stock Exchange, where most of the debts of the world were traded. The deeper he goes, the more interesting become his findings
this time for the role played by promoters and anthropologists in expanding the scope of Britain's informal empire.
Larry D. Neal, author of A Concise History of International Finance This is one of the most fascinating books I have ever read. Flandreau's breathtaking account of Victorian anthropology is a unique combination of economic insight, historical acumen, and literary brio. It challenges our understanding of the relationship between knowledge and empire. Moreover, it is a compelling denunciation of the vested interests lurking behind academic inquiry. The cannibals portrayed in this story are still with us. From the centers of global financial power they continue to shape the agenda of modern social science.
Francesco Boldizzoni, author of The Poverty of Clio An original and bold account showing that anthropologists in Victorian England were not only complicit in white-collar crimes but that anthropology itself benefited from and developed by the position of its personnel in both the scientific and financial sectors.
Kevin Yelvington An original and bold account showing that anthropologists in Victorian England were not only complicit in white-collar crimes but that anthropology itself benefited from and developed by the position of its personnel in both the scientific and financial sectors.
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