What’s in a Name? Trade and Trust Amongst South Asian Family Businesses in the Indian Ocean

Contemporary Indian Ocean traders and their trading networks and business practices remain understudied, despite the significant role they play in moving commodities and capital across 35 developing nations, linked by the world’s third largest ocean. This project will investigate the social and economic relations and practices of Sri Lankan and South Indian traders who work within two commodity networks that trade gems and gold jewelry across the Indian Ocean. It asks the following questions: How do Sri Lankan gold and gem traders use trust-based practices of exchange to trade gemstones, extend credit and manage debt as they work with local miners, suppliers, goldsmiths and gem cutters? How do South Indian traders draw on their historical trading connections with Sri Lankan traders to purchase commodities from them, and sell them in new markets in Hong Kong? How are historical trading practices in the region reconstituted to adapt to new global flows? I intend to answer these questions through ethnographic fieldwork combining participant observation, semi-structured interviews, family histories and archival research.