CFP: Capitalism by Gaslight: The Shadow Economies of Nineteenth-Century America (Philadelphia, PA June 7-8, 2012)

CALL FOR PAPERS




Capitalism by Gaslight: The Shadow Economies of Nineteenth-Century America



Date: June 7-8, 2012



Location: Library Company of Philadelphia



“Capitalism by Gaslight: The Shadow Economies of Nineteenth-Century

America,” an exhibition currently installed at the Library Company of

Philadelphia, showcases the many ways in which Americans earned a living

through economic transactions made beyond the spheres of “legitimate”

commerce. Entrepreneurs of this sort included everyone from prostitutes

and card sharps to confidence men, mock auctioneers, pickpockets, fences

of stolen goods, and many others.



Although these shadow economies may have unfolded “off the books,” they

were anything but marginal. Instead, they were crucially important parts

of the mainstream economy, bound up in the development of commercial and

industrial capitalism in nineteenth-century America. The shadow economy’s

successful entrepreneurs—women, people of color, and children among

them—had to be even more creative, flexible, and adaptive than

“respectable” counterparts. During this critical period, the rules of

“legitimate” economic engagement were still being established. What

separated legal from illegal, moral from immoral, acceptable from

disdained activities were far from settled issues. The practices,

networks, and goods that constituted shadow economies often paralleled and

in some instances overlapped with those found in wholesale and retail

businesses, calling into question the morality and legitimacy of legal

economic transactions.



To highlight not only the innovative research being done by historians of

capitalism and its culture but also the rich collections of the Library

Company that support study of these topics, the conveners seek paper

proposals for a conference on Thursday, June 7 – Friday, June 8, 2012,

that explore how shadow economies operated in the nineteenth-century

United States and examine the meanings Americans gave to them.



To ensure consideration, please send a 2-3 page abstract and c.v. both

to Wendy Woloson at wewo99 @ gmail.com and Brian Luskey at

brian.luskey @ mail.wvu.edu no later than January 15, 2012.