![Charles Montesquieu](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Charles_Montesquieu.jpg)
Doux commerce (lit. ''gentle commerce'' or ''soft commerce'') is a concept originating from the
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...
stating that
commerce
Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...
tends to civilize people, making them less likely to resort to violent or irrational behaviors.
This theory has also been referred to as commercial republicanism.
Origin and meaning
Proponents of the doux commerce theory argued that the spread of trade and commerce will decrease violence, including open warfare.
Montesquieu
Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (; ; 18 January 168910 February 1755), generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French judge, man of letters, historian, and political philosopher.
He is the princi ...
wrote, for example, that "wherever the ways of man are gentle, there is commerce; and wherever there is commerce, there the ways of men are gentle"
and "The natural effect of commerce is to lead to peace".
Thomas Paine
Thomas Paine (born Thomas Pain; – In the contemporary record as noted by Conway, Paine's birth date is given as January 29, 1736–37. Common practice was to use a dash or a slash to separate the old-style year from the new-style year. In th ...
argued that "If commerce were permitted to act to the universal extent it is capable, it would extirpate the system of war".
Engaging in trade has been described as "civilizing" people, which has been related to virtues such as being "reasonable and prudent; less given to political and, especially, religious enthusiasm; more reliable, honest, thrifty, and industrious".
In the greater scheme of things, trade was seen as responsible for ensuring stability, tolerance, reciprocity and fairness.
It is not clear when this term was coined. Writings of
Jacques Savary
Jacques Savary (22 September 1622 – 7 October 1690) was a successful French merchant who became a widely recognised expert on questions regarding commerce. He was the author of ''Le parfait négociant'' (1675), a manual on mercantile trade, w ...
, a 17th-century French merchant, have been suggested as one possible origin
but similar use has been traced earlier, for example to a
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...
-era 16th century work by
Michel de Montaigne.
The basic idea that trade lessens the chance for conflict between nations can be traced as far as writings of
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of Classical Antiquity, classical antiquity ( AD 600), th ...
.
It became popular in the 17th century writings of some scholars from the Age of Enlightenment, and has been endorsed by thinkers like Montesquieu,
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—es ...
,
Smith
Smith may refer to:
People
* Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals
* Smith (given name)
* Smith (surname), a family name originating in England, Scotland and Ireland
** List of people wi ...
, and
Hume, as well as
Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and ...
.
It has been discussed in their essays and literary works; for example Voltaire's poem ''
Le Mondain
"Le Mondain" ("The Worldling" or "The Man of the World") is a philosophical poem written by French enlightenment writer and philosopher Voltaire in 1736. It satirises Christian imagery, including the story of Adam and Eve, to defend a way of life ...
'' (1736) has been described as endorsing the doux commerce theory.
Out of those, Montesquieu has been argued to be the writer most responsible for the spread of this idea in his influential ''
Spirit of Law'' (1748),
and the theory is sometimes described as "Montesquieu's doux commerce." (although Montesquieu did not use the term itself).
In modern scholarship, the term has been analyzed by economist
Albert Hirschman
Albert may refer to:
Companies
* Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic
* Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands
* Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia
* Albert Productions, a record label
* Albert ...
in his 1977 work ''
The Passions and the Interests: Political Arguments For Capitalism Before Its Triumph.'' Hirschman is credited with summarizing the doux commerce argument for the modern readers and popularizing the term in modern discourse.
Critique
At the same time, even Montesquieu and other proponents of trade from the Enlightenment era have cautioned that some social effects of commerce may be negative, for example
commodification,
conspicuous consumption, or erosion of interest in non-commercial affairs.
Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke (; 12 January NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS">New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS/nowiki>_1729_–_9_July_1797)_was_an_NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">N ...
offered the following critique of the doux commerce idea: that it is not commerce that civilizes humans, it is that humans are civilized through culture, which enables them to engage in commerce.
This theory led to trade becoming associated with peaceful and inoffensive activities representative of the "civilized" West European nations; which has however been criticized by later scholars as omitting the facts that much of the said "gentle" trade and resulting prosperity was built on activities like the
slave trade
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
and
colonial exploitation.
This follows the criticism of Marx. He gives the examples of the slave trade in the Netherlands in the 17th century, and the genocide of a million Indians in 1866 due to famine, caused by the hoarding of rice by the English.
The doux commerce theory continues to be debated in the modern times. The question of whether commerce's impact on the society is net positive or net negative has no conclusive answer. Mark Movsesian noted that "as Hirschman once suggested, the doux commerce thesis is right and wrong at the same time: the market both promotes and corrupts good morals."
See also
*
Capitalist peace The capitalist peace, or capitalist peace theory, or commercial peace, posits that market openness contributes to more peaceful behavior among states, and that developed market-oriented economies are less likely to engage in conflict with one anot ...
*
Classic liberalism
Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics; civil liberties under the rule of law with especial emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, economi ...
*
Economic liberalism
Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberali ...
*
Gains from trade
In economics, gains from trade are the net benefits to economic agents from being allowed an increase in voluntary trading with each other. In technical terms, they are the increase of consumer surplus plus producer surplus from lower tariffs ...
*
Mercantilism
*
Moral progress
Moral progress refers to improvement in concepts such as moral beliefs and practices experienced on a societal scale. Michele Moody-Adams noted that "moral progress in belief involves deepening our grasp of existing moral concepts, while moral p ...
*
Peace economics
Peace economics is a branch of conflict economicsSilwal, Shikha B., Charles H. Anderton, Jurgen Brauer, Christopher J. Coyne, and J. Paul Dunne. (2021). The Economics of Conflict and Peace: History and Applications. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univer ...
*
Wandel durch Handel
References
{{Reflist
Early Modern economics
History of international trade
Enlightenment philosophy
Peace
Montesquieu