Pre-industrial worlds of production: conventions, institutions and organizations

Abstract

"The concept of the worlds of production is discussed as an approach for analysing different forms of producing linen in the City of Münster in Westphalia in 16th and 17th century. The analysis shows how different conventions of product quality, of markets, of organizing artisans and of production regimes are combined to coordinate the actors and the objects and constitute a particular world of production. Fabricating linen in Münster did not take place in one homogeneous trade, but was operated in three different worlds of production, which are analyzed in detail." (author's abstract)