Shipping and Globalization in the Post-War Era

This open access book belongs to the Maritime Business and Economic History strand of the Palgrave Studies in Maritime Economics book series.

This volume highlights the contribution of the shipping industry to the transformations in business and society of the postwar era. Shipping was both an example and an engine of globalization and structural change. In turn, the industry experienced and pioneered, mirrored and enabled key developments that led to the present-day globalized economy. Contributions address issues such as the macro-level shift of shipping’s centre of gravity from Europe to Asia, the political and legal frameworks within which it developed, the strategies and performance of both successful and unsuccessful firms, and the links between the shipping industry and the wider economy and society. Without shipping and its ability to forge connections and networks of a global reach, the modern world would look very different.

By bringing together scholars from various disciplinary and national backgrounds, this book advances our understanding of the linkages that bind economies and societies together.

Niels P. Petersson is Professor of History at Sheffield Hallam University in the UK. His research interests are in global and transnational history, including the history of business and trade, the shipping industry, Empire, and labour.

Stig Tenold is Professor of Economic History at the Department of Economics, NHH Norwegian School of Economics. His main research has been within the field of contemporary maritime history, both from an economic history and from a business history angle.

Nicholas J. White is Professor of Imperial and Commonwealth History at Liverpool John Moores University. His main research interests are in the history of decolonization (particularly in Southeast Asia) and international business (with a focus recently upon ocean-going shipping).