*European Social Science History Conference (Ghent, Belgium, 13-16 April 2010)*

How did merchants belonging to different religious groups conduct trade with one another during the Medieval and Early Modern period? How did different societies accommodate "infidels" in the interest of promoting profitable commercial activity? We seek papers that focus on specific instances of inter-faith commerce from around the world in the period from 1000 to 1800. Papers from a variety of perspectives (e.g. economic history, legal history, cultural history) are welcome. They should be based on original research.

We are particularly eager to receive contributions that approach two inter-related themes:

a) the emergence of institutions, technologies, and forms of social organization that may have reduced the uncertainty of commercial exchanges, which was particularly acute in the absence of family and religious ties. For example, papers might explore the mechanics of medium- to long-term credit between individuals and groups who shared no religious affiliation and traded over significant distances. Analyses of failed or coerced inter-faith commercial exchanges are also welcome if they reveal larger patterns of cross-cultural interaction.

b) the tension between economic pragmatism, legal prescriptions, and religious prejudice. We are eager to link the mechanics of commercial exchange to their broader cultural implications in a wide variety of contexts and historical moments. In particular, we want to understand how and whether the quest for profit either encouraged more tolerant attitudes or merely enabled different groups to coexist in the context of religious biases and patterns of segregation.

The ultimate goal of this session is to develop a comparative approach to these questions and to trace changes over time, while respecting the historical particularity of diverse cases.

Please send a paper title and an abstract of no more than 800 words via email to both session organizers no later than 1 April 2009. Proposals should be written in English. We are especially keen to review papers that combine empirical research and theoretical reflections.

Francesca Trivellato
Professor of History
Yale University
Email: francesca.trivellato@yale.edu

Cátia Antunes
Assistant Professor of History
Leiden University
Email: c.a.p.antunes@let.leidenuniv.nl