Outsourcing as Compassion? The Case of the Manufacture of Cigarettes By Poor Catholic Nuns (1817-1819)

(WP 09/03 Clave pdf) This study adopted a historical perspective to trace back outsourcing through examination of the case of cigarette manufacturing by poor Catholic nuns during 1817-1819, that is, from the launch of said product until the cessation of operations as a consequence of low demand. In the context of an absolutist regime, justification for the outsourcing decision drew on arguments of compassion. The decision was enacted in a decree signed by King Fernando VII and assigned monitoring of outsourcing to the Royal Tobacco Factory of Seville. We examined the divergence between public discourse and actual practice from the standpoint of the Foucauldian framework of power/knowledge.