About this Event
When Companies Rule: Corporate Power from the East India Company to Silicon Valley
Maha Rafi Atal, in conversation with Nelson Cummins, Henry Bell and Kelly Kollman.
Corporations have never been more powerful. They shape our politics, our economies, and our daily lives in ways that can feel both overwhelming and new. In fact, businesses have been political actors for four hundred years, from the East India Company to Amazon. In this event to mark the publication of When Companies Rule, author Maha Rafi Atal joins three local voices to explore the deep history of corporate power, and what it means for workers and communities today.
Maha Rafi Atal is Adam Smith Senior Lecturer in Political Economy at the University of Glasgow and author of When Companies Rule (Columbia University Press, 2026). She is joined by Nelson Cummins, Curator of Legacies of Slavery and Empire at Glasgow Museums; Henry Bell, poet, author of Red Threads: A History of the People's Flag, and co-founder of Radical Glasgow tours; and Kelly Kollman, Professor of Politics at the University of Glasgow and expert on corporate social responsibility and business power.
What's on offer?
The author of When Companies Rule, Maha Rafi Atal, will discuss her new book and the history and future of corporate power with guest contributors.
What's it about?
When Companies Rule: Corporate Power from the East India Company to Silicon Valley is a new history of corporate power published by Columbia University Press in November 2026. It argues that corporations have been shaping politics, economies and daily life for four hundred years — and that understanding this history is essential to holding powerful companies to account today.
Who's leading the event?
Leading the event is the author of When Companies Rule, Maha Rafi Atal, along with Nelson Cummins (Curator of Legacies of Slavery and Empire, Glasgow Museums), Henry Bell (poet, author of Red Threads: A History of the People's Flag, and founder of Radical Glasgow tours), and Kelly Kollman (Professor of Politics, University of Glasgow).
Open to
Anyone is welcome.
Of particular interest to
Those who want to understand how corporations got so powerful, and what can be done about it.
Event venue & nearby stays
The Mitchell Library, North Street, Glasgow, United Kingdom
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