Globalizing the Soybean asks how the soybean conquered the West and analyzes why and how the crop gained entry into agriculture and industry in regions beyond Asia in the first half of the twentieth century. Historian Ines Prodoehl describes the soybean's journey centered around three hubs: Northeast China, as the crop's main growing area up to the Second World War; Germany, to where most of the beans in the interwar period were shipped; and the United States, which became the leading cultivator of soy worldwide during the 1940s. This book explores the German and U.S. adoption of the soybean being closely tied to global economic and political changes, such as the two world wars and the Great Depression. The attraction of the soybean to stakeholders on both sides of the Atlantic was linked to a need for cheap alternatives to butter and lard and a desire for greater quantities of meat, which led to the soybean becoming a cheap resource for fat and fodder. Only occasionally was it also used as food. This volume is useful for anyone who is studying or interested in economic history and commodity trading in the twentieth century. It is also connected to the histories of capitalism, globalization, imperialism, and materiality.

The authors of this book focus on transcultural entanglements in Manchuria during the first half of the twentieth century. Manchuria, as Western historiography commonly designates the three northeastern provinces of China, was a politically, culturally and economically contested region. In the late nineteenth century, the region became the centre of competing Russian, Chinese and Japanese interests, thereby also attracting global attention. The coexistence of people with different nationalities, ethnicities and cultures in Manchuria was rarely if ever harmoniously balanced or static. On the contrary, interactions were both dynamic and complex. Semi-colonial experiences affected the people's living conditions, status and power relations. The transcultural negotiations between all population groups across borders of all kinds are the subject of this book. The chapters of this volume shed light on various entangled histories in areas such as administration, the economy, ideas, ideologies, culture, media and daily life.

In Enzyklopadien wird ein als allgemeingultig definierter Wissenskanon festgehalten. Zugleich betonen diese Werke unter dem Deckmantel des Allgemeinwissens das "Eigene" in Abgrenzung vom "Anderen" und stiften auf diese Weise Identitat. Doch wer legt fest, welches Wissen in ein Lexikon aufgenommen oder auch aus diesem eliminiert werden soll? Und welche Funktionen soll dieses Wissen erfullen? Die Historikerin Ines Prodohl geht diesen Fragen am Beispiel allgemeiner Enzyklopadien nach, die zwischen 1928 und 1956 im Deutschen Reich, der Schweiz und der SBZ/DDR entstanden. In ihrem Fokus stehen jene Akteure, die sich hinter der Zusammenstellung des in der Regel anonymisierten Wissens verbargen, die es beeinflussten und uberwachten. Neben den kulturpolitischen Zielen der Behorden geraten so auch die Interessen der Verlage sowie des Kreises jener Wissenschaftler und Experten in den Blick, die an den Enzyklopadien mitwirkten. Die Studie erhielt 2009 den Ruprecht-Karls-Preis der Universitat Heidelberg."