Beckert&#;s Empire of Cotton and the Telos Problem
The publication of Sven Beckert’s Empire of Cotton is probably among the most significant events in twenty-first century US historiography. Empire of Cotton won the Bancroft Prize, and was a finalist for a Pulitzer. Its research is so impressive, and its scale so vast, that it is impossible not to admire its accomplishments.
At the same time, we can probably agree that it is not a sign of a healthy historical community when good books&#;even great books&#;are simply lauded: arguments processed, comps lists updated, surveys restructured. A good book is good, to my mind, to the degree that it provokes passionate argument––even if we find ourselves, ultimately, in agreement with its premises.
I begin, then, with an affirmation of the praise that Empire of Cotton has received. I urge readers who have not yet had a chance to work through it to make that a priority. But I follow up that affirmation with a confession of a certain anxious response to a footnote, early in the text, and a further confession that this anxiety never abated as I read Empire of Cotton
buy atarax online no prescription pharmacy
. I would like,
The World Socialist Web Site recently spoke to James Oakes, Distinguished Professor of History and Graduate School Humanities Professor at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York,on the New York Times’ Project. Oakesis the author of two books which have won the prestigious Lincoln Prize: The Radical and the Republican: Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and the Triumph of anti-slavery Politics (); and Freedom National: The Destruction of Slavery in the United States, – (). His most recent book is The Scorpion’s Sting: anti-slavery and the Coming of the Civil War ().
Q. Can you discuss some of the recent literature on slavery and capitalism, which argues that chattel slavery was, and is, the decisive feature of capitalism, especially American capitalism? I am thinking in particular of the recent books by Sven Beckert, Ed Baptist and Walter Johnson. This seems to inform the contribution to the Project by Matthew Desmond.
A. Collectively their work has prompted some very strong criticism from scholars in the field. My concern is that by avoiding some of the basic analytical questions, most of the scholars have backed into a neo-liberal e
That’s Not Your Story: Faith Ringgold Publishing on Cloth
Faith Ringgold’s artistic career, which now spans more than five decades, includes activism, writing, as well as performance art and the creation of paintings, political posters and quilts. Born in Harlem, New York, in , Ringgold is an African-American artist who has been acknowledged in the context of the United States by art historian Julia Bryan-Wilson as “one of the earliest feminists to incorporate textiles into her practice.”1 Her published writing includes numerous children’s books and a memoir, We Flew Over the Bridge (). Despite enjoying considerable acclaim, Ringgold’s own acknowledgement that “I can’t get through the world without recognizing that race and sex influence everything I do in my life” presents us with the intersectional politics that have long impacted her career.2 In this writing I move away from some of the more well-rehearsed aspects of Ringgold’s career as an activist,3 painter,4 and performance artist,5 to focus on one specific aspect of her artistic practice: the relationship between text and textile found in Ringgold’s storytelling quilts, and the events that led her to use text
Unweaving Sven Beckert&#;s "Empire of Cotton: A Global History"
Pause for a moment while reading this review and check out the inside collar of your shirt or blouse. There's a good chance that the garment you're wearing is not only made out of cotton but was made in a country other than the one you're living in: Bangladesh, Cambodia, Vietnam, Guatemala, or somewhere else with appropriately low wages. Cotton, in short, is so much a part of our daily lives that its ubiquity as an industrial good and its central role in global trade are invisible. In an age of smart phones and Dreamliners, it's easy to forget how humble cotton remains one of the most valuable and widely traded goods on the planet.
It's easy, too, to forget that this plant has a history that is in large part the history of global capitalism–easy, that is, until the recent publication of Sven Beckert'sEmpire of Cotton, published in late by Random House. Beckert, originally from Germany and the co-director of Harvard University's Weatherhead Initiative on Global History, was already well-known to many American colleagues as a historian of capitalism. His The Monied Metropolis was a key early work in a
Biographies you may also like
Travel commercial with william shatner biography LOS ANGELES (AP) — William Shatner is back as a shrewd, unflappable travel expert in his latest TV commercial for an online company. But in real life, even Shatner can’t .
Merrill osmond biography Discover Merrill Osmond's inspiring life story: age, net worth, career highlights, family, and legacy. A music icon with decades of achievements!
Paul zimmer exclamation point biography of donald Paul Edwin Zimmer has 18 books on Goodreads with ratings. Paul Edwin Zimmer’s most popular book is Return to Avalon.
Mike tyson history biography of arvind Michael Gerard "Mike" Tyson is a retired American professional boxer. Tyson is a former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and holds the record as the youngest boxer to Missing: arvind.
Pics of howard sterns daughters today Howard Stern’s marriage to his first wife, Alison Berns, produced three beautiful daughters, namely Emily Beth, Deborah Jennifer, and Ashley Jade. His divorce from the mother of his daughters affected his children a .
Aric improta biography In May, I was invited to lead a percussion performance with Rockin’ , a musical collective that performs in stadiums all over the world, playing the most famous rock songs with a band of .