Events
Cosponsor
- Blinken European Institute
Mercantilism is a strange being with an awkward past. The concept ironically owes a far greater debt to its foremost critic, Adam Smith, than to any of its supposed advocates. And, while most recent scholarship agrees that the Wealth of Nations painted a deceptively coherent portrait of 17th-century political economy and the commercial regulations these ideas supposedly engendered, Smith’s interpretation of a “mercantile system” has survived, informing the way we conceive both of early modern history as well as the nature of modern economy and politics.
This conference continues the discussion of recent contributions to the study of mercantilism in its traditional context and period. In addition, it seeks to explore how the notion of “mercantilism” itself has shaped not only our understanding of the early modern era but the political and economic cultures of the modern world, from Smith to Keynes.
Program
time9:30am - 10:00pm EST
Break 1
time10:00am - 11:30am EST
The Rise of Commercial Society and Political Economy--Mercantilism
Chair
Partha Chatterjee
Professor of Anthropology
Columbia University
Lars Magnusson
Professor of Economic History
Uppsala University
Steven Pincus
Bradford Durfee Professor of History
Yale University
Philip J. Stern
Associate Professor of History
Duke University
Carl Wennerlind
Associate Professor of History
Barnard College
time11:30am - 12:00pm EST
Commercial Cultures and Ideas Before Mercantilism
Martha Howell
Miriam Champion Professor of History
Columbia University
time12:00pm - 2:00pm EST
Break 2
time2:00pm - 3:00pm EST
Empire, Science, and Commerce--Neomercantilism?
Chair
Kathleen Wilson
Professor of History
State University of New York, Stony Brook
Margaret Schabas
Professor of Philosophy
The University of British Columbia
Timothy Alborn
Professor of History
Prasannan Parthasarathi
Professor and Director of Graduate Studies
Boston College
time3:30pm - 4:00pm EST
Break 3
time4:00pm - 5:30pm EST
Modern Capitalism and the Modern State--The Continued Relevance of Mercantilism?
Chair
Anupama Rao
Associate Professor of History
Barnard College
Fred Block
Research Professor in the Department of Sociology
University of California at Davis
Bradley W. Bateman
President
Randolph College
Timothy Shenk
Jacob K. Javits Fellow in History
Columbia University
time5:30pm - 6:30pm EST
Concluding Comments and General Discussion
Victoria de Grazia
Moore Collegiate Professor of History
Columbia University
Participants
- Timothy Alborn Professor of History
- Bradley W. Bateman President Randolph College
- Fred Block Research Professor in the Department of Sociology University of California at Davis
- Victoria de Grazia Moore Collegiate Professor of History Columbia University
- Martha Howell Miriam Champion Professor of History Columbia University
- Lars Magnusson Professor of Economic History Uppsala University
- Prasannan Parthasarathi Professor and Director of Graduate Studies Boston College
- Steven Pincus Bradford Durfee Professor of History Yale University
- Margaret Schabas Professor of Philosophy The University of British Columbia
- Philip J. Stern Associate Professor of History Duke University
- Carl Wennerlind Associate Professor of History Barnard College
- Timothy Shenk Jacob K. Javits Fellow in History Columbia University
- Kathleen Wilson Professor of History State University of New York, Stony Brook
- Anupama Rao Associate Professor of History Barnard College
- Partha Chatterjee Professor of Anthropology Columbia University