Publishing system
The publishing system is an economic form of organization of the early modern period , which is characterized by decentralized production . Mostly it is textiles that are manufactured by the so-called laid people in home work and are marketed centrally by the publisher. The word publisher is derived from template . The publisher submits money (financing) and / or raw materials .
history
Early forms of publishing can be traced back to the 9th century. In the villication system of the Franconian landowners , food was produced at home and passed on to the estate. We only find clear forms of publishing in the Netherlands in the 14th century . The system flourished in Germany in the 18th and 19th centuries, when international markets became receptive to bulk goods .
Structure and shapes
The decisive factor for the publisher is the home-based production of goods, while distribution is centrally regulated. The publisher can submit both the raw materials (such as raw cotton ) and the means of production (equipment such as spinning wheel or loom ). The publisher collects the goods produced and can market them centrally. Mostly he had a monopoly on buying the goods produced.
The extent to which the publisher provides raw materials or equipment depends on the publisher and the goods produced. For example, linen was mostly grown by the do-it-yourselfers, while cotton was imported and made into yarn and fabrics in Germany. Publishing houses could be extraordinarily large, so several thousand employees were not uncommon. Production was not aimed at the local market; instead, bulk goods were produced that were to be sold on supraregional or international markets. In the middle of the 19th century there were roughly as many employees in the publishing system as in the craft .
As bulk goods, the goods had to be of uniform quality. Therefore the production was tied to strict regulations. The production volume could also be regulated. Most of the textiles were produced in publishing houses. There were similar structures in arms and toy production, in letterpress printing and woodworking, but they remained insignificant for the national economy.
Publishing in the country
Agricultural work is characterized by a relative seasonality. Depending on the type of agriculture practiced, there can be phases in winter and summer in which relatively little work is involved. While large farms produced a sufficient income for the family over a normal year, the owners of small and very small farms were increasingly dependent on a sideline. In the real division areas in southwest Germany , the number of farm workers was particularly high in East Germany under peasant layer was particularly large. By the 19th century a large part of the population had formed that was dependent on part-time work and also had the structural and manual skills to actually carry it out. Due to the fact that some of the food was produced in-house, their additional requirements were quite low, so that the publishers could skim off cheap labor here. In comparison to the city, the income in the country was lower, which explains the predominant concentration of publishers there. The expenses for wages were lower than the additional costs for the transport of the finished goods from the individual do-it-yourselfer to the headquarters and the opposite transport of the raw materials.
The production in the homes of the do-it-yourselfers also brought further advantages for the publisher. A central workshop did not have to be built. Maintenance costs for heating, lighting and maintenance of workshop buildings could not be raised. All operating costs could be externalized at the expense of the do-it-yourselfers .
Publishing houses and guilds
There were mostly relocations in the country, but craftsmen were also integrated into a publishing system in the city. The number of craftsmen rose in the city in the 18th century. An increasing group could not find a sufficient livelihood in the socially and economically secure guild order and went to a publishing house that they basically hated. In fact, the guilds were avowed opponents of the publishers. They faced a powerful competitor who, based outside the city, could not be integrated into the guild rules. The guilds' complaints about the poor quality of the mass products may have been justified, but must be viewed critically with regard to the underlying clear business interests of the guilds. Despite all the criticism, the old guilds were unable to set sustainable limits for the publishing system. Ultimately, they were powerless against the business interests of the publishers, who often live in cities.
Publishing system and industrialization
The publishing system is often associated with industrialization . In some cases, a development from publisher to manufacture to industrial company is drawn, but this does not exist. Publishing houses made sense where there was a demand for bulk goods due to supra-regional market integration, which could be produced locally without costly investments in production goods. The publishing system in Germany was particularly successful in the pre-industrial textile sector: the do-it-yourselfers were trained in spinning and weaving; due to the precarious living conditions in the countryside and the seasonal nature of agricultural work, they were cheap and available. In the later course of history, the decentralized artisanal spinning and weaving mill was no longer competitive with machine production.
As a result, these publishers simply went under, the change from a publisher to a manufacturing company can only be proven in exceptional cases. It is interesting to mention that the manufacturer and publisher worked together in many cases. The goods from the do-it-yourselfers were processed in a central factory. The publisher and manufacturer were not mutually exclusive, but were often linked. For the economic development of Germany one may note advantages of the publishing system: On the one hand, it led to enormous accumulations of money through the exploitation of the workers, which could later be invested in other companies. With regard to the limited credit system in Germany until the middle of the 19th century, the importance of the accumulation of money in private hands for the economic development of Germany should not be underestimated.
Ultimately, the publishers gained national and international trading experience. The success of mass production may have sent signals to improve the foundations for economic development, be it roads that were in a deplorable condition across Germany at the beginning of the 19th century, or a more uniform customs system.
Location of workers
By entering the publishing system, the do-it-yourselfers changed from being self-employed in rural subsistence farming to wage laborers who had to meet foreign demands in return for meager piece wages . The homeworker ceased to be a direct market participant. He was often at the mercy of exploitation by the publishing house, without bargaining power from the union or the guild and without security, especially in times of crisis. This undoubtedly meant a loss of freedom for the worker, but it was often the only way to save him from starvation. The do-it-yourselfers were certainly in most cases exploited by the publisher and their labor was skimmed off at the lowest possible cost. The costs for the raw materials were deducted from the wages of the relocated, e.g. In some cases, payments were not made with money, but with food or specially manufactured goods (see truck system ). Could not compete with the machine production from abroad in particular as homework and the publisher wanted to push prices below the Tolerable, there were riots .
When assessing the publishers in terms of Pauperismus is however to note that the small farmers and in particular, their farming layers by landlord and rulers to the existence of the border with taxes, compulsory labor and household constraint were charged. In this sense, the publisher's system is nothing special.
Publishers today
There is practically no major publishing system in Germany today. An exception is the production of protective masks in 2020, home workers, house traders and contract sewing companies will be involved. In the Heuberg area , this system is jokingly referred to as “The Souterrain Manufacturers”, with small business owners from home weavers in the basement of their home. Often it was very modest Seldner houses with two rooms and, for example, sewing machines in the basement.
Seen globally, it still exists because large companies produce their components in third world countries , be it in the field of individual parts production or in the textile industry. In Hong Kong , paper flowers and toys are often made in the publishing system. The publishing system is widely used in China's toy industry and in the jewelry industries of India and China. In Ecuador , wooden boxes are made in decentralized housework. In Germany, some beer wholesalers still traditionally call themselves beer publishers .
literature
- Hans-Ulrich Wehler : German history of society . Volume 1, Beck, Munich 1989, pp. 94-97. ISBN 978-3-406-57872-4 .
- Roland Bettger: Publishing, Crafts and Homework . In: Claus Grimm (ed.): Departure into the industrial age . Oldenbourg, Munich 1985, ISBN 3-486-52721-5
- Gert Kollmer-von Oheimb-Loup : The economy at the time of Reuchlin . Lecture given on September 28, 2005 at the IHK Northern Black Forest Pforzheim ( online ).