Early capitalisms and the textile sector (1650-1850)

05 March 2025, Villa Salviati, Florence, Italy Workshop jointly organised by Léa Meyer (Université de Genève) and Freek Loves (EUI), with contributions from the The Fabric of Profit (Université de Genève) and CAPASIA - The Asian Origins of Global Capitalism (EUI) research projects. Early capitalisms and the textile sector (1650-1850)

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

ComEnv24 programme released

The finalised programme for the CAPASIA conference ‘Commodities and Environments in Early Modern Global Asia, 1400–1800’ taking place from 13-15 November 2024 has been released. You can view and download the programme on the updated conference page: Conference: “Commodities and Environments in Early Modern Global Asia, 1400–1800”13-15

Situating the European Factory in the Early Modern Bazaar

One of the most influential theorizations of the relationship between Asian and European merchant capital in the Indian Ocean is Rajat Kanta Ray’s model of the “bazaar economy” (Ray, “Asian Capital in the Age of European Domination: The Rise of the Bazaar, 1800-1914,” Modern Asian Studies 29/3 (1995)

Free Trade, the Abolition of Monopoly, and the Dissolution of East India Company Factories in India and Canton, 1813-1833

In 1813, and again in 1833, the East India Company (EIC) successfully lobbied to have its charter extended by twenty years. Yet each victory came at a heavy cost: whereas in 1813 the company lost its trading monopoly, in 1833 it forfeited all semblance of its commercial operations. While 1833