Markets, Law, and Ethics, 1400-1850.

This call seeks papers addressing market culture in the late medieval and early modern periods, conceived broadly as the norms, laws, customs and practices of exchange, 1400-1850. Scholars have made the case for distinctively late medieval/early modern instantiations of social and economic life, for example as “competence and competition,” a “competitive household economy,” or a “baroque economy”. But what is next? Historians from diverse historiographical backgrounds will compare and contrast findings across conventional chronologies and geographies, reflect on the implications of supra-imperial and global approaches, and ponder future interpretations of development of market culture. Confirmed speakers include: Christopher L. Tomlins, Martha Howell, Robert DuPlessis, Pierre Gervais, Alex Shepard, James Masschaele, Julie Hardwick. The three-day meeting will be held at the University of Sheffield 22 June -- 24 June, 2012. See longer cfp. for details and email paper titles and 300 word abstracts to s.middleton@sheffield.ac.uk and j.e.shaw@sheffield.ac.uk by December 15, 2011.