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For a New Approach to Credit Relations in Modern History

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Claire Lemercier  and
Claire Zalc
Claire Lemercier
Affiliation:
Centre de sociologie des organisations (CNRS-Sciences Po)
Claire Zalc
Affiliation:
Institut d’histoire moderne et contemporaine (CNRS-ENS)
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Abstract

Credit relations have not been thoroughly examined by modern historians and are usually viewed through the lens of evolutionist narratives recounting the victory of “ economic rationality” by means of the institutionalization, formalization, and modernization of these relations, although the veritable meaning of these terms are never precisely defined. This article examines the notion of credit relations by exploring their formalization and personalization, which are viewed as two relatively compatible elements. Drawing on a survey of recent publications on the subject, this article analyzes the complementarity of the various types of people involved in credit relations, the transformation of the tools for undertaking such a transaction, and the difficulties surrounding credit in addition to the (non-)existence of sanctions.

Type
History of Credit in the Modern Era
Information
Annales. Histoire, Sciences Sociales - English Edition , Volume 67 , Issue 4 , December 2012 , pp. 663 - 691
Copyright
Copyright © Les Éditions de l’EHESS 2012

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101. For a good example of this, see Sparks, Edith, “ Terms of Endearment: Informal Borrowing Networks among Northern California Businesswomen, 1870-1920,” Business and Economic History On-Line 2 (2004)Google Scholar: http://www.thebhc.org/publications/BEHonline/2004/Sparks.pdf .

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104. In some countries, the formula applies to those credit instruments that precisely follow the forms of bills of exchange. However, presence in court is generally required, no matter how brief (signing in before the clerk, summary judgment, etc.) See Gorl, Gina, “ Debt and Summary Judgment en droit anglo-américain : thèmes pour une recherche comparative,” Revue internationale de droit comparé 18-4 (1966): 851–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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110. Interview with J., a saleswoman, Lens, April 16, 2003.

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115. Lemercier, , “ Un modèle français de jugement des pairs Google Scholar,” chaps. 4-6; Finn, Margot, The Character of Credit: Personal Debt in English Culture, 1740-1914 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003).Google Scholar

116. A. Kagan, Robert, “ The Routinization of Debt Collection: An Essay on Social Change and Conflict in the Courts,” Law &Society Review 18-3 (1984): 323–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

117. Lydon, Ghislaine, On Trans-Saharan Trails: Islamic Law, Trade Networks, and Cross-Cultural Exchange in Nineteenth-Century Western Africa (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009)CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Other pioneering studies in this domain include: Hendley, Kathryn, “ Business Litigation in the Transition: A Portrait of Debt Collection in Russia,” Law&Society Review 38-2 (2004): 305–48;Google Scholar Manpreet Singh, “ Trade Credit and Contract Enforcement Reforms: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in India” (working paper, 2012), http://ssrn.com/abstract=2012138 .

118. Zelizer, Vivianna A., The Social Meaning of Money (New York: Basic Books, 1994)Google Scholar; Dufy, Caroline and Weber, Florence, L’ethnographie économique (Paris: La Découverte, 2007)Google Scholar; and Pierre François, Sociologie des marchés (Paris: Armand Colin, 2008).

119. In the same vein, Jeanne Lazarus defines her topic of study as “ banking relations.” See Lazarus, , L’épreuve de l’argent, 11.Google Scholar

120. “ Speaking of credit is speaking of power,” declares Jean-Pierre Hirsch, who also refuses to oppose formal and informal credit. See Jean-Pierre Hirsch “ Sur le renouvellement des systèmes de crédit au XIXe siècle et sur ses limites,” in Des personnes aux institutions. Réseaux et cultures du crédit du XVIe au XXe siècle en Europe, eds. Laurence Fontaine et al. (Louvain-la-Neuve: Bruylant-Academia, 1997), 425.

121. Guinnane, Timothy W., “ Les économistes, le crédit et la confiance,” Genèses 79-2 (2010): 6–25;CrossRefGoogle Scholar Guinnane, , “ Trust: A Concept to Many,” Jahrbuch für Wirtschaftsgeschichte 2005-1 (2005): 77–92.Google Scholar On building trust via interactional signals, see Beckert, Jens, “ Vertrauen und die performative Konstruktion von Märkten,” Zeitschrift für Soziologie 31-1 (2002): 27–43.Google Scholar