Announcing a New Forum: Histories Of Global Capitalism
August 24, 2020
New forum will explore how capitalism has changed across time and space.
In recent years scholars from across the disciplines have been interrogating capitalism’s histories with renewed vigor. Ranging from the institutional and structural to the social, cultural, and purely rhetorical, studies have examined a variety of key actors and scales, from entrepreneurs, workers, firms, and industries to nation-states, regions, and global networks and systems. A growing number of research projects have problematized longstanding notions about the rationality of markets, the role of the state, and the boundaries between humans and nature. Enriched by a diversity of subjects and methods, this scholarly community shares a foundational commitment to exploring how capitalism and its associated ideas and practices have changed across time and space.
The Histories of Global Capitalism Forum seeks to build on these advances while striving for greater inclusivity. While capitalism is recognized as foundational to the making of the modern world, the vantage points of the United States and Europe continue to be privileged. Developments in the Global South (Asia, Africa, and Latin America) are rarely given equal weight or studied on their own terms.
The Forum provides a space for conversations about new research, bringing together emerging and established scholars with a strongly global focus. Building on strengths in several University of Maryland departments and schools (history, business, economics, and public policy), we invite colleagues and friends from the University, the wider Washington, DC region, and beyond to join us in an annual series of talks in varying formats.
Our inaugural event, an interdisciplinary panel discussion on “Capitalism and the COVID-19 Crisis,” will take place virtually on Thursday, December 3, 2020 at 3.30 PM.
Co-Organizers:
Mircea Raianu, Department of History
David Sicilia, Department of History
Affiliates:
Rajshree Agarwal, Robert H. Smith School of Business
Serguey Braguinsky, Robert H. Smith School of Business
Patrick Chung, Department of History
Zachary Dorner, University Honors Program
Claire Dunning, School of Public Policy
David Freund, Department of History
Brent Goldfarb, Robert H. Smith School of Business
Julie Greene, Department of History
David A. Kirsch, Robert H. Smith School of Business
Quincy T. Mills, Department of History
Marian Moser Jones, School of Public Health
John Wallis, Department of Economics
Colleen Woods, Department of History
Thomas Zeller, Department of History
Please contact Mircea Raianu (mraianu@umd.edu) or David Sicilia (dsicilia@umd.edu) if you wish to be added to our mailing list.