ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides the survey of European markets and trade during the eighteenth century in relation to manufacturing. The Market and the State, examining issues of region versus nation state, and the impact of national economic policies. Markets, Merchants and Middlemen, looks at the organization of the market through agents, marketing networks and the diffusion of fashion. Markets and Urban Manufacture examines the general relationship of urban and rural industrialization and the special role played by urban institutions. The special experience of Birmingham is highlighted. Market Production and Women's Work examines the way production for the market affected women's access to apprenticeship in England, and their labour force status in France. Market Structures and Social Institutions raises issues of access to markets and older social institutions such as landholding arrangements.
