Structuration, Biography Formation, and Knowledge: Observations on Port Growth during the Late Mercantile Period

Abstract

The impact of human agency and constraining and enabling structural conditions on the growth of ports during the late mercantile period is addressed from three vantage points. Fernand Braudel's works on mercantile capitalism are reassessed. A prepositional summary of my own theory of place as historically contingent process is presented. Finally, the interplay of biography formation, knowledge acquisition, and the growth of Boston, Massachusetts, between 1783 and 1812 is considered.