# Featured Publications ## expand\_more ## American Capitalism: New Histories ![american_capitalism_-_new_histories](/sites/g/files/omnuum11566/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/studyofcapitalism/files/american_capitalism_-_new_histories.jpg?itok=vS_lpzRn) ### [American Capitalism: New Histories (2018)](https://cup.columbia.edu/book/american-capitalism/9780231185240) ## Sven Beckert and Christine Desan, eds. The United States has long epitomized capitalism. From its enterprising shopkeepers, wildcat banks, violent slave plantations, huge industrial working class, and raucous commodities trade to its world-spanning multinationals, its massive factories, and the centripetal power of New York in the world of finance, America has come to symbolize capitalism for two centuries and more. *American Capitalism* presents a sampling of cutting-edge research from prominent scholars that venture new angles on finance, debt, and credit; women’s rights; slavery and political economy; the racialization of capitalism; labor beyond industrial wage workers; and the production of knowledge, including the idea of the economy, among other topics. Together, the essays suggest emerging themes in the field: a fascination with capitalism as it is made by political authority, how it is claimed and contested by participants, how it spreads across the globe, and how it can be reconceptualized without being universalized. A major statement for a wide-open field, this book demonstrates the breadth and scope of the work that the history of capitalism can provoke. ## Making Money: Coin, Currency, and the Coming of Capitalism ![making_money](/sites/g/files/omnuum11566/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/studyofcapitalism/files/making_money.jpg?itok=ClvCqJn4) ### [Making Money: Coin, Currency, and the Coming of Capitalism (2014)](http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198709572.001.0001/acprof-9780198709572) ### Christine Desan Money travels the modern world in disguise. It looks like a convention of human exchange – a commodity like gold or a medium like language. But its history reveals that money is a very different matter. It is an institution engineered by political communities to mark and mobilize resources. As societies change the way they create money, they change the market itself -- along with the rules that structure it, the politics and ideas that shape it, and the benefits that flow from it. This book tells the story of one particularly dramatic transformaiton in money's design that brought capitalism to England. ## Empire of Cotton [](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/10461/empire-of-cotton-by-sven-beckert/9780375713965/) ![empire_of_cotton](/sites/g/files/omnuum11566/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/studyofcapitalism/files/empire_of_cotton.png?itok=p_enrVCF) ### [Empire of Cotton (2014)](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/10461/empire-of-cotton-by-sven-beckert/9780375713965/) ### Sven Beckert The empire of cotton was, from the beginning, a fulcrum of constant global struggle between slaves and planters, merchants and statesmen, workers and factory owners. Sven Beckert makes clear how these forces ushered in the world of modern capitalism, including the vast wealth and disturbing inequalities that are with us today. In a remarkably brief period, European entrepreneurs and powerful politicians recast the world’s most significant manufacturing industry, combining imperial expansion and slave labor with new machines and wage workers to make and remake global capitalism. The result is a book as unsettling as it is enlightening: a book that brilliantly weaves together the story of cotton with how the present global world came to exist. ## Publications by Program Faculty, Students, and Affiliates Download 16 citations download- [BibTeX](/bibcite/export?pager_style=no_pager&number_of_items=20&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters=&&&format=bibtex) - [EndNote X3 XML](/bibcite/export?pager_style=no_pager&number_of_items=20&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters=&&&format=endnote8) - [EndNote 7 XML](/bibcite/export?pager_style=no_pager&number_of_items=20&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters=&&&format=endnote7) - [Endnote tagged](/bibcite/export?pager_style=no_pager&number_of_items=20&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters=&&&format=tagged) - [Marc](/bibcite/export?pager_style=no_pager&number_of_items=20&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters=&&&format=marc) - [PubMedId](/bibcite/export?pager_style=no_pager&number_of_items=20&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters=&&&format=pubmed_id) - [RIS](/bibcite/export?pager_style=no_pager&number_of_items=20&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters=&&&format=ris) ### Forthcoming Vanessa Ogle. “[Time, Temporality, and Capitalism Forthcoming ](/publications/time-temporality-and-capitalism-forthcoming)”. Past & Present Vanessa Ogle. “[Time, Temporality, and Capitalism Forthcoming ](/publications/time-temporality-and-capitalism-forthcoming)”. Past & Present Vanessa Ogle. “[Global Capitalist Infrastructure ](/publications/global-capitalist-infrastructure)”. In Cambridge History of America and the World: The Twentieth Century, edited by Mark Bradley, David Engerman, Max Paul Friedman, and Melani McAlister. Vol. 4 Vanessa Ogle. “[Global Capitalist Infrastructure ](/publications/global-capitalist-infrastructure)”. In Cambridge History of America and the World: The Twentieth Century, edited by Mark Bradley, David Engerman, Max Paul Friedman, and Melani McAlister. Vol. 4 ### 2019 Lukas Rieppel. 2019. [Assembling the Dinosaur: Fossil Hunters, Tycoons, and the Making of a Spectacle](/publications/assembling-dinosaur-fossil-hunters-tycoons-and-making-spectacle). Cambridge: Harvard University Press Lukas Rieppel. 2019. [Assembling the Dinosaur: Fossil Hunters, Tycoons, and the Making of a Spectacle](/publications/assembling-dinosaur-fossil-hunters-tycoons-and-making-spectacle). Cambridge: Harvard University Press - add\_circle do\_not\_disturb\_on Abstract - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674737587) A lively account of how dinosaurs became a symbol of American power and prosperity and gripped the popular imagination during the Gilded Age, when their fossil remains were collected and displayed in museums financed by North America’s wealthiest business... - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674737587) Robin McDowell. 2019. “[Bad Neighbors](/publications/bad-neighbors)”. Boston Review Robin McDowell. 2019. “[Bad Neighbors](/publications/bad-neighbors)”. Boston Review ### 2018 Nikolas Bowie. 2018. “[Corporate Democracy: How Corporations Justified Their Right to Speak in 1970s Boston](/publications/corporate-democracy-how-corporations-justified-their-right-speak)”. Law and History Review, 36, 4 Nikolas Bowie. 2018. “[Corporate Democracy: How Corporations Justified Their Right to Speak in 1970s Boston](/publications/corporate-democracy-how-corporations-justified-their-right-speak)”. Law and History Review, 36, 4 Caitlin Rosenthal. 2018. [Accounting for Slavery: Masters and Management](/publications/accounting-slavery-masters-and-management). Cambridge: Harvard University Press Caitlin Rosenthal. 2018. [Accounting for Slavery: Masters and Management](/publications/accounting-slavery-masters-and-management). Cambridge: Harvard University Press - add\_circle do\_not\_disturb\_on Abstract - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674972094) *Accounting for Slavery* is a unique contribution to the decades-long effort to understand New World slavery’s complex relationship with capitalism. Through careful analysis of plantation records, **Caitlin Rosenthal** explores the development of quantitative... - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674972094) Lukas Rieppel, William Deringer, and Eugenia Lean. 2018. “[‘Science and Capitalism: Entangled Histories’](/publications/science-and-capitalism-entangled-histories)”. Special Issue of Osiris, 33 Lukas Rieppel, William Deringer, and Eugenia Lean. 2018. “[‘Science and Capitalism: Entangled Histories’](/publications/science-and-capitalism-entangled-histories)”. Special Issue of Osiris, 33 - add\_circle do\_not\_disturb\_on Abstract - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/O/bo34250784.html) The historical relationship between science and capitalism has long stood as a central question in science studies, at least since its foundations in the 1930s. Taking inspiration from the recent surge of scholarly interest in the “history of capitalism,”... - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/O/bo34250784.html) Stefan Link. 2018. “[The Charismatic Corporation: Finance, Administration, and Shop Floor Management under Henry Ford](/publications/charismatic-corporation-finance-administration-and-shop-floor)”. Business History Review, 92, 1, Pp. 85-115 Stefan Link. 2018. “[The Charismatic Corporation: Finance, Administration, and Shop Floor Management under Henry Ford](/publications/charismatic-corporation-finance-administration-and-shop-floor)”. Business History Review, 92, 1, Pp. 85-115 - add\_circle do\_not\_disturb\_on Abstract - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/business-history-review/article/charismatic-corporation-finance-administration-and-shop-floor-management-under-henry-ford/BE6F1228C81A5ACB7208076EAA72DBDC) After assuming sole ownership of the Ford Motor Company in 1919, Henry Ford transformed his business into a mission-driven organization that prioritized improvements in production and engineering over investment returns. At the same time, the company... - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/business-history-review/article/charismatic-corporation-finance-administration-and-shop-floor-management-under-henry-ford/BE6F1228C81A5ACB7208076EAA72DBDC) Stefan Link. 2018. “[How Might 21st-Century De-Globalization Unfold? Some Historical Reflections](/publications/how-might-21st-century-de-globalization-unfold-some-historical)”. New Global Studies, 12, 3, Pp. 343-65 Stefan Link. 2018. “[How Might 21st-Century De-Globalization Unfold? Some Historical Reflections](/publications/how-might-21st-century-de-globalization-unfold-some-historical)”. New Global Studies, 12, 3, Pp. 343-65 - add\_circle do\_not\_disturb\_on Abstract - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/ngs.2018.12.issue-3/ngs-2018-0024/ngs-2018-0024.xml?format=INT) Is the world headed for a repeat of the de-globalization of the interwar period? Stefan Link challenges some widespread assumptions about the history of globalization and suggests that this time really is different. - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/ngs.2018.12.issue-3/ngs-2018-0024/ngs-2018-0024.xml?format=INT) ### 2017 Sven Beckert. 2017. “[American Danger: United States Empire, Eurafrica, and the Territorialization of Industrial Capitalism, 1870–1950](/publications/american-danger-united-states-empire-eurafrica-and-territorialization)”. The American Historical Review, 122, 4, Pp. 1137–1170 Sven Beckert. 2017. “[American Danger: United States Empire, Eurafrica, and the Territorialization of Industrial Capitalism, 1870–1950](/publications/american-danger-united-states-empire-eurafrica-and-territorialization)”. The American Historical Review, 122, 4, Pp. 1137–1170 - add\_circle do\_not\_disturb\_on Abstract - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://academic.oup.com/ahr/article-abstract/122/4/1137/4320241?redirectedFrom=fulltext) During the last third of the nineteenth century, a debate emerged in a number of European countries on the “American danger.” Responding to the rapid rise of the United States as the world’s most important economy, some European observers feared their... - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://academic.oup.com/ahr/article-abstract/122/4/1137/4320241?redirectedFrom=fulltext) Eli Cook. 2017. [The Pricing of Progress: Economic Indicators and the Capitalization of American Life](/publications/pricing-progress-economic-indicators-and-capitalization-american-life). Cambridge: Harvard University Press Eli Cook. 2017. [The Pricing of Progress: Economic Indicators and the Capitalization of American Life](/publications/pricing-progress-economic-indicators-and-capitalization-american-life). Cambridge: Harvard University Press - add\_circle do\_not\_disturb\_on Abstract - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674976283) How did Americans come to quantify their society’s progress and well-being in units of money? In today’s GDP-run world, prices are the standard measure of not only our goods and commodities but our environment, our communities, our nation, even our self... - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674976283) Vanessa Ogle. 2017. “[Archipelago Capitalism: Tax Havens, Offshore Money, and the State, 1950s-1970s](/publications/archipelago-capitalism-tax-havens-offshore-money-and-state-1950s)”. The American Historical Review, 122, 5, Pp. 1431-58 Vanessa Ogle. 2017. “[Archipelago Capitalism: Tax Havens, Offshore Money, and the State, 1950s-1970s](/publications/archipelago-capitalism-tax-havens-offshore-money-and-state-1950s)”. The American Historical Review, 122, 5, Pp. 1431-58 - add\_circle do\_not\_disturb\_on Abstract This article traces the emergence of an archipelago-like landscape of distinct legal and economic spaces throughout the long midcentury. Consisting of tax havens, offshore financial markets, flags of convenience, and economic free zones, this archipelago... ### 2015 Sven Beckert. 2015. [Empire of Cotton: A Global History](/publications/empire-cotton-global-history) Sven Beckert. 2015. [Empire of Cotton: A Global History](/publications/empire-cotton-global-history) - add\_circle do\_not\_disturb\_on Abstract - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/10461/empire-of-cotton-by-sven-beckert/9780375713965/) **WINNER OF THE BANCROFT PRIZEPULITZER PRIZE FINALISTWinner of the Alfred and Fay Chandler Book Award** The empire of cotton was, from the beginning, a fulcrum of constant global struggle between slaves and planters, merchants and statesmen, workers and... - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/10461/empire-of-cotton-by-sven-beckert/9780375713965/) ### 2014 Christine Desan. 2014. [Making Money: Coin, Currency, and the Coming of Capitalism](/publications/making-money-coin-currency-and-coming-capitalism). Oxford University Press Christine Desan. 2014. [Making Money: Coin, Currency, and the Coming of Capitalism](/publications/making-money-coin-currency-and-coming-capitalism). Oxford University Press - add\_circle do\_not\_disturb\_on Abstract - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198709572.001.0001/acprof-9780198709572) Money travels the modern world in disguise. It looks like a convention of human exchange – a commodity like gold or a medium like language. But its history reveals that money is a very different matter. It is an institution engineered by political... - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198709572.001.0001/acprof-9780198709572) ### 2011 Louis Hyman. 2011. [Debtor Nation: The History of America in Red Ink](/publications/debtor-nation-history-america-red-ink). Princeton: Princeton University Press Louis Hyman. 2011. [Debtor Nation: The History of America in Red Ink](/publications/debtor-nation-history-america-red-ink). Princeton: Princeton University Press - add\_circle do\_not\_disturb\_on Abstract - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://www.amazon.com/Debtor-Nation-History-America-Politics/dp/0691156166/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1550267777&sr=8-1&keywords=debtor+nation) Before the twentieth century, personal debt resided on the fringes of the American economy, the province of small-time criminals and struggling merchants. By the end of the century, however, the most profitable corporations and banks in the country lent... - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://www.amazon.com/Debtor-Nation-History-America-Politics/dp/0691156166/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1550267777&sr=8-1&keywords=debtor+nation) ### 2010 William J. Rankin. 2010. “[The Epistemology of the Suburbs: Knowledge, Production, and Corporate Laboratory Design](/publications/epistemology-suburbs-knowledge-production-and-corporate-laboratory)”. Critical Inquiry, 36, 4, Pp. 771-806 William J. Rankin. 2010. “[The Epistemology of the Suburbs: Knowledge, Production, and Corporate Laboratory Design](/publications/epistemology-suburbs-knowledge-production-and-corporate-laboratory)”. Critical Inquiry, 36, 4, Pp. 771-806