Pax Economica: Left-Wing Visions of a Free Trade World

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Today, free trade is often associated with right-wing free marketeers. In Pax Economica, historian Marc-William Palen shows that free trade and globalisation in fact have roots in nineteenth-century left-wing politics. In this counterhistory of an idea, Palen explores how, beginning in the 1840s, left-wing globalists became the leaders of the peace and anti-imperialist movements of their age. By the early twentieth century, an unlikely alliance of liberal radicals, socialist internationalists, feminists, and Christians envisioned free trade as essential for a prosperous and peaceful world order. Of course, this vision was at odds with the era's strong predilections for nationalism, protectionism, geopolitical conflict, and colonial expansion. Palen reveals how, for some of its most radical left-wing adherents, free trade represented a hard-nosed critique of imperialism, militarism and war.

Palen shows that the anti-imperial component of free trade was a phenomenon that came to encompass the political left wing within the British, American, Spanish, German, Dutch, Belgian, Italian, Russian, French, and Japanese empires. The left-wing vision of a 'pax economica' evolved to include supranational regulation to maintain a peaceful free-trading system - which paved the way for a more liberal economic order after World War II and such institutions as the United Nations, the European Union, and the World Trade Organization. Palen's findings upend how we think about globalisation, free trade, anti-imperialism, and peace. Rediscovering the left-wing history of globalism offers timely lessons for our own era of economic nationalism and geopolitical conflict.

Reviews

"A New Yorker Best Book We've Read This Year"
"A Financial Times Best Book of the Year: Economics"
"A Chicago Council on Global Affairs Read of the Year"
"Essential. . . . In this brilliantly detailed history of the free trade movement, Palen reveals something that will be eye-opening to members of the left and right, but arguably not surprising: free trade was historically an ideology most passionately embraced by members of the left."---John Tamny, Forbes
"A comprehensive account of the modern free-trade movement and a timely act of historical reclamation, this book illuminates the forgotten legacy of left-wing advocacy for liberalized markets. Palen, a historian, reveals the movements origins to be internationalist and cosmopolitan, led by socialists, pacifists, and feminists, who viewed expanded trade as the only practical way to achieve lasting peace in a newly globalized world. This fresh perspective complicates contemporary political archetypes of neoliberal free marketeers and 'Made in America' populists, adding valuable context to our often overly simplistic economic discourse." * New Yorker *
"A new book by Marc-William Palen . . . which is as well-informed as it is well-timed, demonstrates in detail that left-wing free traders were the leading globalists of their age."---Adrian Wooldridge, Bloomberg UK
"A very fine piece of work."---Alex Middleton, The Critic
"A corrective to dominant understandings of the views of the Left and Right on trade. . . . In telling the story, then, of a distinctive, global, and explicitly left-wing free trade tradition, Palens book, whose publication coincides with a year in which a possible Republican presidency is set to outline an even more economic nationalist agenda, couldnt be more timely."---Lise Butler, Jacobin
"At a time when it can be hard to remember why anyone ever thought otherwise, historian Marc-William Palen has excavated a history of those who believed that free trade and peace went together. . . . He offers an instructive reckoning with what has passed for free trade until now, allowing us to see that actually existing free trade since the 1970s let us down because it was never free."---Kate Yoon, Boston Review
"Free trade doctrine was once a mainstay of the political left, according to this probing history. . . . [The book is] a revealing analysis of how potent, disruptive, and even revolutionary the concept of economic freedom has been." * Publishers Weekly *
"Intriguing, thought-provoking and impressively panoramic. . . . [Pax Economica] tells the neglected and, to anyone conditioned by contemporary political alignments, somewhat surprising tale of an era, roughly between 1840 and 1945, when notable support for free trade came from a loosely defined political left."---Andrew Stuttaford, Wall Street Journal
"The author should be applauded for his addition to the historiography and debate on the roots and supporters of free trade. His book has achieved its goal of incorporating socialists, pacifists, radical liberals, and other left-wing movements as some of the original standard-bearers of free trade. . . .The book is approachable and enjoyable to read. . . .Those interested in economic history, political economy, and just refreshing perspectives should definitely read this book."---Maximilian Magnacca, The Society of Professional Economists
"Palen has a good eye for the telling anecdote. . . . But Palens central argument is an interesting one."---Howard Davies, Literary Review
"In Pax Economica, Marc-William Palen of the University of Exeter chronicles the history of left-wing free traders. They are a breed that is now almost extinct, but remnants of their influence are everywhere. . . . On all sides of the political spectrum supporting free trade once again feels radical." * Economist *
"The work is ambitious, immaculately researched, and a timely publication amid the resurgence of economic nationalism and geopolitical conflict. . . . The book will interest scholars and general readers. It follows the tradition of broad sweep history, informed by a considerable body of research and synthesis, and as such is thought-provoking, engaging, and interesting to read."---Gordon Bannerman, The Centre for Enterprise, Markets and Ethics
"As Palen of the University of Exeter shows, free trade was once the cause of anti-imperialists and those seeking global peace against protectionists, nationalists and imperialists . . . This book is an excellent counter to contemporary conventional wisdom."---Martin Wolf, Financial Times
"This elegantly written history of ideas is a timely reminder that parts of the left were strong advocates of commercial liberalism and thus the conjecture that free trade can make the world more peaceful. . . . A worthwhile addition to the literature on the liberal peace thesis."---Gerald Schneider, Journal of Peace Research
"A deeply researched, touchstone history of the cosmopolitan left and the global economy. One which also stands as a reminder that solutions to the problems of globalization might not only be found behind tariff walls."---Dr Sean T. Byrnes, Diplomatic History

Author Bio

Marc-William Palen is a historian at the University of Exeter and the author of The 'Conspiracy' of Free Trade: The Anglo-American Struggle over Empire and Economic Globalisation, 1846-1896.