Great Britain – India
Cotton played a fundamental role in the emergence and development of colonialism and capitalism and the links between them. In the 18th and 19th centuries, cotton became the world’s most important commodity..
From 1865 on, India was the most important centre for global cotton production. As a colonial power, Britain used violence to appropriate land and plantations and forced the local population to work under inhumane conditions. Technical superiority provided a justification for processing the raw material in British factories. Although colonial rule ended, the inequality it established continues. Today, global markets are still characterized by asymmetric trade and power relations between formerly colonized and colonizing countries.
