This book provides a new ‘global’ history of the Scottish city of Dundee in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It focuses on the question ‘How did the people of Dundee respond to the challenge of being the most economically globalised city in the world in the years before the First World War?’ It shows how the answer to this question is complicated by the fact that Dundee's jute industry was in competition with the jute industry of Calcutta. It describes how Dundee, dubbed, Juteopolis, had to cope not only with low-wage competition from abroad, but also with the political reali ... More

This book provides a new ‘global’ history of the Scottish city of Dundee in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It focuses on the question ‘How did the people of Dundee respond to the challenge of being the most economically globalised city in the world in the years before the First World War?’ It shows how the answer to this question is complicated by the fact that Dundee's jute industry was in competition with the jute industry of Calcutta. It describes how Dundee, dubbed, Juteopolis, had to cope not only with low-wage competition from abroad, but also with the political reality that, for decision-makers in London, the fate of the British Empire in India was far more important than the economic well-being of a small Scottish city. It shows how these issues were understood by ordinary Dundonians, as well as how they were understood by politicians and policy-makers. By combining economic, political, and social history, the book highlights the significance of empire for British policy-making and shows how the challenges historically posed by globalisation can be best analysed.