Events

Conference: Nodes of Early Modern Capitalism II

Fabrizio Borchi

Sep 16, 2023 — 1 min read

21-22 Sep 2023, Florence:

'World cities' and 'global cities' have received considerable attention in studies of contemporary globalisation and the twentieth-century rise of financial capitalism. More recently, work on 'special economic zones' and the concept of 'archipelago capitalism' (referring to tax havens) suggest that the early modern history of capitalism needs to go beyond land and labour control to include the links between commerce and urbanism that emerged in the early modern period.

While early modern historians have investigated merchant trading networks to address the differing ways in which connectivity transformed relationships between regions, the role of urban nodes – what used to be called 'trading ports', 'emporia' and 'commercial hubs' - in pre-modern capitalist development remains little studied.

It is precisely these 'Nodes of Early Modern Capitalism' that this conference – a follow-up to workshop held in September 2021 - will investigate, from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries.

The forbidden fruit of paradise? The ‘discovery’ of the coco de mer, Seychelles' treasured national symbol

Tourists holidaying in the paradise islands of the Seychelles often like to be photographed holding a giant nut or seed, the coco de mer. This double coconut, known as the coco de mer, is the national symbol of the Seychelles, and an endangered species, that successive governments have been trying

Longing for the lost Inde Francaise: Ananda Ranga Pillai, the comptoir of Pondichery and French colonial nostalgia

In 1870, a French colonial administrator in Pondichery, Francois-Nicolas Laude, published a brief history of the 1748 siege of the French enclave by British troops during the First Carnatic War (1740-1748), entitled Dupleix. Le Siège de Pondichéry en 1748. Extrait des Mémoires inédits de Rangapoullé, divan de la compagnie des

Conference ‘Commodities and Environments in Early Modern Global Asia'

On 13-15 November 2024, CAPASIA organised the conference ‘Commodities and Environments in Early Modern Global Asia, 1400–1800’ in Florence. The conference examined the relationship between environments and commodities, focusing on the environmental impacts of commodity extraction, production, and trade during this period. Click here for a link to the

Opening exhibition 'Commodities and Environments'

On 19 November 2024, the President of the European University Institute, Patrizia Nanz, inaugurated the exhibition 'Commodities and Environments: Florence and the Indo-Atlantic Worlds, 1500-1800' at the Biblioteca Riccardiana, in Florence together with the director of the library Roberta Masini and the CAPASIA PI Giorgio Riello. The exhibition

21-22 Sep 2023, Florence:

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The forbidden fruit of paradise? The ‘discovery’ of the coco de mer, Seychelles' treasured national symbol

Longing for the lost Inde Francaise: Ananda Ranga Pillai, the comptoir of Pondichery and French colonial nostalgia

Conference ‘Commodities and Environments in Early Modern Global Asia'

Opening exhibition 'Commodities and Environments'