Networks and business in the Amazon basin, 1890-1914

Abstract

This paper aims to identify the formation of networks and business development around the extraction and trade of rubber and cocoa in the Amazon Basin, during the period from 1890 to 1914. By using primary sources and the incorporation of network science, it is possible to identify business dynamics and their evolution in front of border changes and the reduced institutional presence. These elements did not limit the construction of local and global networks of merchants, bankers, politicians and diplomats who linked the Amazon to the international economic circuit as a single space and transformed its topology.