Gareth Austin
@gareth-austin.bsky.social
Economic historian, especially Ghanaian/West African/African and comparative/global economic history. Professor Emeritus of Economic History (1928), University of Cambridge.
Reposted by Gareth Austin
'Honest Bob' Jenrick, a politician obviously & deliberately embracing xenophobia, does some weapons grade xenophobia & the BBC *apologises* for a Thought For The Day contributor calling it xenophobic. Licence fee payers need to know who makes these decisions & why. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
BBC apologises after Robert Jenrick accused of xenophobia
A contributor to Radio 4's Thought for the Day slot made the remark about the shadow justice secretary.
www.bbc.co.uk
August 13, 2025 at 6:12 PM
'Honest Bob' Jenrick, a politician obviously & deliberately embracing xenophobia, does some weapons grade xenophobia & the BBC *apologises* for a Thought For The Day contributor calling it xenophobic. Licence fee payers need to know who makes these decisions & why. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Just attended an excellent writers' conference exploring the paths to/causes of the Great Acceleration (of human-made environmental change, starting c. 1950), at the University of Basel, organised by Moritz von Brescius (UB) and Fredrik Albritton Jonsson (U of Chicago). Exciting stuff.
August 16, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Just attended an excellent writers' conference exploring the paths to/causes of the Great Acceleration (of human-made environmental change, starting c. 1950), at the University of Basel, organised by Moritz von Brescius (UB) and Fredrik Albritton Jonsson (U of Chicago). Exciting stuff.
Reposted by Gareth Austin
Prof Peter Mandler’s (@petermandler.bsky.social) insatiable curiosity has fuelled an extraordinary career over more than two decades at Cambridge.
As he steps back from formal teaching, the acclaimed historian reflects on a life of intellectual breadth, public advocacy—and no plans to slow down ⬇️⬇️
As he steps back from formal teaching, the acclaimed historian reflects on a life of intellectual breadth, public advocacy—and no plans to slow down ⬇️⬇️
June 16, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Prof Peter Mandler’s (@petermandler.bsky.social) insatiable curiosity has fuelled an extraordinary career over more than two decades at Cambridge.
As he steps back from formal teaching, the acclaimed historian reflects on a life of intellectual breadth, public advocacy—and no plans to slow down ⬇️⬇️
As he steps back from formal teaching, the acclaimed historian reflects on a life of intellectual breadth, public advocacy—and no plans to slow down ⬇️⬇️
Cambridge Global Economic History Seminar, Monday 9 June, 17:15 BST in the Audit Room, King's College:
John Tang (Utrecht University), "Superstition, fertility, and modernization: evidence from Japan, 1880-1980"
This talk is hybrid: for zoom link see www.hist.cam.ac.uk/event-series...
John Tang (Utrecht University), "Superstition, fertility, and modernization: evidence from Japan, 1880-1980"
This talk is hybrid: for zoom link see www.hist.cam.ac.uk/event-series...
Global Economic History | Faculty of History University of Cambridge
www.hist.cam.ac.uk
June 6, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Cambridge Global Economic History Seminar, Monday 9 June, 17:15 BST in the Audit Room, King's College:
John Tang (Utrecht University), "Superstition, fertility, and modernization: evidence from Japan, 1880-1980"
This talk is hybrid: for zoom link see www.hist.cam.ac.uk/event-series...
John Tang (Utrecht University), "Superstition, fertility, and modernization: evidence from Japan, 1880-1980"
This talk is hybrid: for zoom link see www.hist.cam.ac.uk/event-series...
Cambridge Global Economic History Seminar, 19 May:
Lisbeth Rodrigues (Porto), ‘Beyond almsgiving: The financial role of charitable institutions in early modern Portugal and its empire’. 17:15 UK time in Audit Room, King's College, Cambridge. Or online: subscribe at www.hist.cam.ac.uk/event-series...
Lisbeth Rodrigues (Porto), ‘Beyond almsgiving: The financial role of charitable institutions in early modern Portugal and its empire’. 17:15 UK time in Audit Room, King's College, Cambridge. Or online: subscribe at www.hist.cam.ac.uk/event-series...
May 19, 2025 at 12:19 AM
Cambridge Global Economic History Seminar, 19 May:
Lisbeth Rodrigues (Porto), ‘Beyond almsgiving: The financial role of charitable institutions in early modern Portugal and its empire’. 17:15 UK time in Audit Room, King's College, Cambridge. Or online: subscribe at www.hist.cam.ac.uk/event-series...
Lisbeth Rodrigues (Porto), ‘Beyond almsgiving: The financial role of charitable institutions in early modern Portugal and its empire’. 17:15 UK time in Audit Room, King's College, Cambridge. Or online: subscribe at www.hist.cam.ac.uk/event-series...
Travieso & Westland, "Resilience and decline of handicraft textiles in colonial northern Nigeria, 1911–52", Economic History Review (2024), examines the issue of deindustrialisation in what had been the leading centre of textile production in precolonial Africa. Read at doi.org/10.1111/ehr....
<em>The Economic History Review</em> | EHS Journal | Wiley Online Library
The Sokoto Caliphate of northern Nigeria was the workshop of West Africa in the pre-colonial nineteenth century, producing famous blue-black cloth that reached many markets south of the Sahara as wel...
doi.org
April 5, 2025 at 11:16 PM
Travieso & Westland, "Resilience and decline of handicraft textiles in colonial northern Nigeria, 1911–52", Economic History Review (2024), examines the issue of deindustrialisation in what had been the leading centre of textile production in precolonial Africa. Read at doi.org/10.1111/ehr....
Congrats to Emiliano Travieso & Tom Westland for winning the Economic History Society's prize for best article in the Economic History Review (2024) by authors within 5 years of PhD. "What happened to the workshop of West Africa?"
<em>The Economic History Review</em> | EHS Journal | Wiley Online Library
The Sokoto Caliphate of northern Nigeria was the workshop of West Africa in the pre-colonial nineteenth century, producing famous blue-black cloth that reached many markets south of the Sahara as wel...
doi.org
April 5, 2025 at 11:13 PM
Congrats to Emiliano Travieso & Tom Westland for winning the Economic History Society's prize for best article in the Economic History Review (2024) by authors within 5 years of PhD. "What happened to the workshop of West Africa?"
Reposted by Gareth Austin
🎙️ PODCAST | Listen to @camhistory.bsky.social’s Hank Gonzalez talk to David Runciman on the History of Ideas Podcast.
🎧 Find out more about the Haitian Revolution: the first time in history a slave revolt resulted in an independent free state ⬇️
🎧 Find out more about the Haitian Revolution: the first time in history a slave revolt resulted in an independent free state ⬇️
NEW EPISODE OUT NOW!
Today’s episode is about a very different revolution from any we’ve discussed so far: David talks to historian Hank Gonzalez about the Haitian Revolution, which for the first time in history saw a slave revolt result in an independent free state.
Find us at...🎧 ppfideas.com
Today’s episode is about a very different revolution from any we’ve discussed so far: David talks to historian Hank Gonzalez about the Haitian Revolution, which for the first time in history saw a slave revolt result in an independent free state.
Find us at...🎧 ppfideas.com
March 18, 2025 at 1:50 PM
🎙️ PODCAST | Listen to @camhistory.bsky.social’s Hank Gonzalez talk to David Runciman on the History of Ideas Podcast.
🎧 Find out more about the Haitian Revolution: the first time in history a slave revolt resulted in an independent free state ⬇️
🎧 Find out more about the Haitian Revolution: the first time in history a slave revolt resulted in an independent free state ⬇️
The Zoom link for Tinashe Nyamunda's presentation on Monday 17:15 GMT will be sent to subscribers to the Global Economic History Seminar e-list 48 hours in advance. For the link to subscribe, go to www.hist.cam.ac.uk/event-series...
Global Economic History | Faculty of History University of Cambridge
www.hist.cam.ac.uk
March 14, 2025 at 6:30 PM
The Zoom link for Tinashe Nyamunda's presentation on Monday 17:15 GMT will be sent to subscribers to the Global Economic History Seminar e-list 48 hours in advance. For the link to subscribe, go to www.hist.cam.ac.uk/event-series...
The excellent Zimbabwean financial historian Tinashe Nyamunda (now U of Glasgow) is presenting to the Global Economic History Seminar on Monday 17th, 17:15 GMT, in the Audit Room, King's College, Cambridge, on the financial origins of the Anglo-Boer War. Also on Zoom
March 14, 2025 at 6:28 PM
The excellent Zimbabwean financial historian Tinashe Nyamunda (now U of Glasgow) is presenting to the Global Economic History Seminar on Monday 17th, 17:15 GMT, in the Audit Room, King's College, Cambridge, on the financial origins of the Anglo-Boer War. Also on Zoom
Reposted by Gareth Austin
It will output to an ugly default LaTeX/Word doc when I need to submit it to a journal but I can also write the paper with my own beautiful bespoke template that compiles essentially instantly.
January 26, 2025 at 4:12 PM
It will output to an ugly default LaTeX/Word doc when I need to submit it to a journal but I can also write the paper with my own beautiful bespoke template that compiles essentially instantly.
Reposted by Gareth Austin
Richard Reid's The African Revolution is a panoramic global history of Africa in the age of imperialism.
Out now. Learn more about this monumental work of history: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
Out now. Learn more about this monumental work of history: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
January 28, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Richard Reid's The African Revolution is a panoramic global history of Africa in the age of imperialism.
Out now. Learn more about this monumental work of history: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
Out now. Learn more about this monumental work of history: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
Reposted by Gareth Austin
Lots of discussions about mining and metals in Africa exaggerate their importance and this is a particularly obvious example. 10% of something is not enough to corner a market!
January 28, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Lots of discussions about mining and metals in Africa exaggerate their importance and this is a particularly obvious example. 10% of something is not enough to corner a market!
My chapter in Capitalism: Histories, edited by Robert G. Ingram and James M. Vaughn (Boydell Press, 2025) is titled
"Capitalism in Africa: Two Histories, 1650s-1940s". Compares the partly similar, partly contrasting cases of South Africa and British West Africa (esp. Nigeria & Ghana).
"Capitalism in Africa: Two Histories, 1650s-1940s". Compares the partly similar, partly contrasting cases of South Africa and British West Africa (esp. Nigeria & Ghana).
January 24, 2025 at 10:38 PM
My chapter in Capitalism: Histories, edited by Robert G. Ingram and James M. Vaughn (Boydell Press, 2025) is titled
"Capitalism in Africa: Two Histories, 1650s-1940s". Compares the partly similar, partly contrasting cases of South Africa and British West Africa (esp. Nigeria & Ghana).
"Capitalism in Africa: Two Histories, 1650s-1940s". Compares the partly similar, partly contrasting cases of South Africa and British West Africa (esp. Nigeria & Ghana).
Capitalism: Histories, edited by Robert G. Ingram & James M. Vaughan. Just published by Boydell Press. Contributors G. Austin, R. Austen, P. Coclanis, T. Dennison, A. Evans, E. Griffin, R.G. Ingram, A. Karak, J. Majewski, M. Metzler, K. Pomeranz, M. Ramseyer, T. Roy, Horus T'an
January 24, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Capitalism: Histories, edited by Robert G. Ingram & James M. Vaughan. Just published by Boydell Press. Contributors G. Austin, R. Austen, P. Coclanis, T. Dennison, A. Evans, E. Griffin, R.G. Ingram, A. Karak, J. Majewski, M. Metzler, K. Pomeranz, M. Ramseyer, T. Roy, Horus T'an
Reposted by Gareth Austin
Resounding rebuttal of Trump's energy policy from a piece of work at the Daily Telegraph.
January 24, 2025 at 10:35 AM
Resounding rebuttal of Trump's energy policy from a piece of work at the Daily Telegraph.
Honoured to be talking to Kaoru Sugihara's Seminar on Global Economic and Environmental History on Wednesday (15 Jan) in Kyoto: "Tropical Africa and the 'Long Acceleration'". RINH, 13:30-15:30 Japan time (venue: Research Institute for Humanity and Nature).
January 12, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Honoured to be talking to Kaoru Sugihara's Seminar on Global Economic and Environmental History on Wednesday (15 Jan) in Kyoto: "Tropical Africa and the 'Long Acceleration'". RINH, 13:30-15:30 Japan time (venue: Research Institute for Humanity and Nature).
The changing international economic order of the 1980s
Just completed a fascinating workshop (10-11 Jan 2025), organised by the tireless Prof Shigeru Akita on the beautiful Japanese island of Awaji. The subject is the international economic order of the 1980s.
Just completed a fascinating workshop (10-11 Jan 2025), organised by the tireless Prof Shigeru Akita on the beautiful Japanese island of Awaji. The subject is the international economic order of the 1980s.
World Economic History Congress 2025
wehc2025.com
January 11, 2025 at 4:02 PM
The changing international economic order of the 1980s
Just completed a fascinating workshop (10-11 Jan 2025), organised by the tireless Prof Shigeru Akita on the beautiful Japanese island of Awaji. The subject is the international economic order of the 1980s.
Just completed a fascinating workshop (10-11 Jan 2025), organised by the tireless Prof Shigeru Akita on the beautiful Japanese island of Awaji. The subject is the international economic order of the 1980s.
Reposted by Gareth Austin
Is African Economic History Experiencing a Revival? Katherine Frederick, Dácil Juif and @felixmzs.bsky.social give us their answer in our blog: ihrthegreatspurt.wordpress.com/2024/11/25/t...
Is African Economic History Experiencing a Revival? A Bibliometric Analysis of the 21st century
Economists and historians have long studied living standards in Massachusetts. An article by Luis Felipe Zegarra Basurco employs linear programming to estimate laborers’ welfare ratios in Bos…
ihrthegreatspurt.wordpress.com
November 28, 2024 at 9:42 AM
Is African Economic History Experiencing a Revival? Katherine Frederick, Dácil Juif and @felixmzs.bsky.social give us their answer in our blog: ihrthegreatspurt.wordpress.com/2024/11/25/t...
Reposted by Gareth Austin
I have a little paper out in the latest issue of the Industrial History Review (a special issue on new frontiers in African economic history) that looks at spatial variation in living standards and purchasing power in French West Africa around 1950. revistes.ub.edu/index.php/Hi...
Spatial inequality in living standards and the urban premium in late colonial French West Africa
| Revista de Historia Industrial — Industrial History Review
revistes.ub.edu
November 15, 2024 at 4:41 PM
I have a little paper out in the latest issue of the Industrial History Review (a special issue on new frontiers in African economic history) that looks at spatial variation in living standards and purchasing power in French West Africa around 1950. revistes.ub.edu/index.php/Hi...