• Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar

New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

  • Email
  • RSS
  • Adirondacks & NNY
  • Capital-Saratoga
  • Mohawk Valley
  • Hudson Valley & Catskills
  • NYC & Long Island
  • Western NY
  • History
  • Nature & Environment
  • Arts & Culture
  • Outdoor Recreation
  • Food & Farms
  • Subscribe
  • Support
  • Submit
  • About
  • New Books
  • Events
  • Podcasts

Corporations that Built British Colonialism

May 25, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

empire encorporatedAcross four centuries, from Ireland to India, British colonialism was above all the business of corporations. Corporations conceived, promoted, financed, and governed overseas expansion, making claims over territory and peoples while ensuring that British and colonial society were invested in their ventures.

Breaking from traditional histories in which corporations take a supporting role by doing the dirty work of sovereign states in exchange for commercial monopolies, Philip Stern argues that corporations took the lead in global expansion and administration. Its legacies continue to raise questions about corporate power that are just as relevant today as they were 400 years ago.

Challenging conventional wisdom about where power is held on a global scale, Stern complicates the supposedly firm distinction between private enterprise and the state, offering a new history of the British Empire, as well as a new history of the corporation.

The Massachusetts Historical Society will host “Empire, Incorporated: The Corporations That Built British Colonialism,” a program with Philip Stern of Duke University, on Monday, June 5th.

This program will begin at 6 pm and will be held both in person at the Massachusetts Historical Society, and virtually. Admission is $10 for in person attendance, free for virtual. For more information or to register, click here.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Filed Under: Events, History Tagged With: Massachusetts Historical Society

About Editorial Staff

Stories written under the Editorial Staff byline are drawn from press releases and other notices. Submit your news to New York Almanack here.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Help Support The Almanack

Subscribe to New York Almanack

Subscribe! Follow the New York Almanack each day via E-mail, RSS, Twitter or Facebook updates.

Recent Comments

  • Michele Cogley on Albany’s Anneke Jans Bogardus, Indecent Exposure, Trinity Church & The Bowery
  • Bob Hest on Adirondack Railroad Passenger Train Originating in Tupper Lake
  • Beth on Adirondack Railroad Passenger Train Originating in Tupper Lake
  • Kathleen Quinby on Cremona to Central Park: Stradivari & Nahan Franko’s Legacy
  • Editorial Staff on Adirondack Railroad Passenger Train Originating in Tupper Lake
  • Big Burly on Adirondack Railroad Passenger Train Originating in Tupper Lake
  • Bob Hest on Adirondack Railroad Passenger Train Originating in Tupper Lake
  • Luis R on Manhattan Street Names Tied to Slavery Listed from A to Z
  • Robert Luthart on ATV Minimum Age Bill Passes Both Houses
  • Bob Meyer on Equal Justice for All *

Recent New York Books

Without Concealment, Without Compromise
Washington’s Marines
Major General Israel Putnam hero of the American Revolution
v is for victory
The Motorcycle Industry in New York State
Unfriendly to Liberty
weeds of the northeast
Putting Out the Planetary Fire: An Introduction to Climate Action and Advocacy
Seneca Ray Stoddard An Intimate Portrait of an Adirondack Legend
rebels at sea

Secondary Sidebar

Mohawk Valley Trading Company Honey, Honey Comb, Buckwheat Honey, Beeswax Candles, Maple Syrup, Maple Sugar
preservation league