About this Event
Conventional stories about the rise of capitalism often begin with a familiar set of Western, Eurocentric narratives. In Capitalism: A Global History, however, historian Sven Beckert offers a sweeping reinterpretation, presenting capitalism as a dynamic and constantly evolving system shaped by global connections, conflicts, and transformations. In this conversation, Beckert will discuss the arguments of his new book and reflect on what it means to write the history of capitalism on a truly global scale, stressing the importance of thinking about capitalism on the broadest possible canvas while also reminding us why a historical perspective remains essential for understanding capitalism today. The book has already been widely praised for its scope and ambition. Historian Marcus Rediker, writing in , described it as a work “of generational importance.”
Doors will open at 6:30 pm and will close promptly at 7:00 pm with the beginning of the event.
Sven Beckert is one of the leading historians of global capitalism. He has played a critical role in shaping the field of the study of capitalism in a global historical context over the past two decades. Beckert is the Laird Bell Professor of History at Harvard and one of the co-founders of Harvard University's Weatherhead Initiative in Global History. His book Empire of Cotton won the Bancroft Prize, was a finalist for the Pulitzer, and was listed by New York Times as one ten best books of 2015. His most recent book, Capitalism: A Global History has been listed among the best books of 2025 by the New York Times, The Financial Times, and the NZZ, among others. Beckert is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Diana S. Kim is Associate Professor at Georgetown University in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. She is the award-winning author of Empires of Vice: The Rise of Opium Prohibition across Southeast Asia (Princeton University Press 2020), and is currently writing a new book on global untouchability. Her scholarship crosses disciplinary boundaries between political science and history, addressing topics in transnational politics, colonialism and empire, and illicit economies with area expertise in Southeast and East Asia. Kim is a Silvers Grant recipient with the New York Review of Books and former Member at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and a U.S.-Korea NextGen Scholar with the Center of Strategic and International Studies. She received her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Chicago and was a Postdoctoral Prize Fellow in Economics, History, and Politics and Harvard University.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
German Historical Institute, 1607 New Hampshire Ave NW, Washington, D.C, United States
USD 0.00
