Indian Cotton Textiles in West Africa, 1st ed. 2019 African Agency, Consumer Demand and the Making of the Global Economy, 1750–1850 Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies Series

This book focuses on the significant role of West African consumers in the development of the global economy. It explores their demand for Indian cotton textiles and how their consumption shaped patterns of global trade, influencing economies and businesses from Western Europe to South Asia. In turn, the book examines how cotton textile production in southern India responded to this demand. Through this perspective of a south-south economic history, the study foregrounds African agency and considers the lasting impact on production and exports in South Asia. It also considers how European commercial and imperial expansion provided a complex web of networks, linking West African consumers and Indian weavers. Crucially, it demonstrates the emergence of the modern global economy.  

Kazuo Kobayashi is Associate Professor of Economic History at Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan. He completed his PhD at the London School of Economics and Political Science, UK. His research and teaching focus on African and global economic history.