Networked Industry Survival

This chapter introduces the reader to the deeply entrenched relation of capitalist networks and the Dutch paper industry. The production of paper from ragsraw materialrags—old and torn cloth—already existed in pre-industrial seventeenth-century Netherlands and continued well into the nineteenth century. Initially, the chapter conducts an international comparison of this well-established industry before delving into a more detailed exploration of the four dimensions of networks in capitalism: technology, state-industry relations, competition and cooperation, and labor-capital relations. The chapter concludes by outlining the methodology used to historicize the industry across four phases of capitalism: the rise of Dutch capitalism (1580–1815), Dutch monarchic liberalism (1815–1914), Fordism (1914–1980), and post-Fordism (1980 until now).