Von Hamburg nach Singapur : translokale erfahrungen einer hamburger kaufmannsfamilie in zeiten der globalisierung (1765–1914)
Author : Fiedler, Marine
Under the direction of : Jakob Vogel, Kim Siebenhüner and de Christian Windler
Paris, Institut d’études politiques
Deutscher Text
Keywords: History, Singapore, Merchants, Globalization, translocality, Bourgeoisie - Hamburg, German merchants - Bordeaux (Gironde) - Singapore - 19th century, Family archives.
Abstract
This thesis proposes to apply the concept of translocality to the case of a merchant’s family from Hamburg during the “long 19th century”. The Meyer family travelled to and settled in Atlantic and Mediterranean ports in the 1760s, before expanding globally from the middle of the next century onwards. The relationships between the family and Bordeaux and Singapore, which were unique both in terms of their duration and their intensity, constitute the centre of the study. The experiences of this merchants’ family in these port cities allow to grasp the economic, cultural and social connexions uniting the local and the global as well as their consequences. Applying the concept of translocality, the study analyses the consequences of the globalisation processes on the practises, perceptions and belongings of this family according to a tension between mobility and locality and thanks to three research axes : family and trade, mobility, and communities. Thanks to family archives which are rich in egodocuments, the case of the Meyer family is particularly suited for this project of a social and cultural history of the globalisation bringing together research fields rarely considered together, such as global and transnational history, history of the bourgeoisie as well as gender history and history of emotions. This thesis contributes to define the consequences of the processes of territorial, political, cultural and economic global integration on European elites, as well as on the emergence of a global consciousness in the 19th century.
