Profile
The past offers tools for understanding our present circumstances. And, I believe, history can guide us in navigating the future, for making the choices that are necessary to create a fair and sustainable economy that supports the well-being of all.
Why is wealth concentrated so heavily among white households in the United States? 听Why Wealth Is White听answers this question by charting the furtive, decades-long听campaign by white supremacists in Congress to shore up the racial wealth gap -- and the power of white wealth -- with tax breaks for investors and investment.
My other current manuscript-in-progess, What Was Venture Capital?,听challenges our myths about venture capital by exploring their origins.听听The concept first emerged in reaction to the New Deal.听听Over the next half-century, beliefs about the centrality of venture capital for innovation, jobs, and growth shaped economic policy and corporate behavior and transformed the American financial system. 听Concerns about venture capital 鈥 voiced from all across the political spectrum 听鈥 gradually re-oriented American political culture in a neoliberal direction, in favor of investors and the wealthy.听听The result was the听less innovative听and far more unequal economy that we live with today.
I advance critical histories of capitalism with my scholarship, teaching, editoral work, publically-engaged writings, and through support of curatorial practice. 听In 2019, the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center at Parsons School of Design exhibited a site-specific installation of the , which grew out of my teaching collaboration with the artist collective FICTILIS at Eugene Lang College. 听I advised the Museum of the City of New York on their听, which won an Annual Excellence in Exhibition Award from the American Alliance of Museums听in 2018. 听I've served as a听听and听a consultant to documentary films. My writings for public audiences have been published in听,听,听,听and听. 听My media appearances include听,听,听, and听, while my work has been featured in outlets including听,听,听,听,听,听,听,听and听
One of my favorite aspects of academic life is lending my support to other scholars and writers. I am fortunate to do as an advisor to MA and PhD candidates (in history, politics, sociology, and economics),听a member of the Editorial Board of听, a co-editor of the book series听听published by Columbia University Press, a founding co-editor of the journal听听published by University of Pennsylvania Press, and a founding co-Director of the at 麻豆传媒色情片.
Over the years, my work has received funding support from (among others)听, the (Princeton, NJ), the (New York, NY).
Degrees Held
BA, Princeton University, 1997
PhD, Yale University, 2007
Recent Publications
Books
Why Wealth Is White (manuscript-in-progess)
What Was Venture Captial? (manuscript-in-progress)
听(Harvard University Press, 2011): winner of the听Vincent DeSantis Prize for the Best Book on the Gilded Age and Progressive Era
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Selected Other Writings
"?" [special forum on neoliberalism],听Dissent听(Fall 2023)
,听Southern Cultures (Winter 2022)
"'Keep Something for the Risk-Takers': How the Democrats Rebuilt Structural Racism and Hastened the Great Polarization, 1964-1987," 听in ed. Joseph E. Stiglitz and Rudiger von Armin,听The Great Polarization: Economics, Institutions, and Policies in the Age of Inequality听(Columbia University Press, 2022)
听Washington Post听(July 15, 2021)
鈥溾澨Capitalism: A Journal of History and Economics vol 1, no. 1 (Fall 2019)
鈥淲hat听Was听The Great Bull Market?: Value, Valuation, and Financial History鈥 in ed. Sven Beckert and Christine Desan,听(New York: Columbia University Press, 2018)
听" [special forum on neoliberalism],听Dissent听(January 22, 2018)
","听Washington Post (October 31, 2017)
鈥溙Dissent听(April 18, 2017)
鈥,鈥澨Museum of the City of New York, November 2016
鈥,鈥澨Public Seminar, April 17, 2014
鈥,鈥澨Public Seminar, April 9, 2014
"Solving the 鈥楧ebt Question鈥,鈥澨New Labor Forum听vol. 22 no. 1 (Spring 2013), co-authored with Louis Hyman
鈥溾楾he Free and Open People鈥檚 Market鈥: Political Ideology and Retail Brokerage at the New York Stock Exchange, 1913-1933,鈥澨Journal of American History听vol. 96 no. 1 (June 2009): 44-71.
Research Interests
History of capitalism, race and capitalism, 20th century American history, financial history, labor history, neoliberalism, conservatism, consumer culture, women's and gender history, inequality, art history and material culture
Awards And Honors
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Arnhold Forum Fellow, Henry H. Arnhold Forum on Global Challenges, "Understanding White Supremacy: U.S. and Global Perspectives," Provost's Office, 麻豆传媒色情片, 2022-24
Faculty Opportunity Award, Eugene Lang College for the Liberal Arts, 麻豆传媒色情片, 2017, 2022-24
New Arizona Fellow, New America, 2019-2020
Member, Institute for Advanced Studies, Princeton, NJ, 2019-2020
Faculty Research Grant, Provost's Office, 麻豆传媒色情片, 2019-2020
Civic Liberal Arts Grant, Eugene Lang College for the Liberal Arts at the 麻豆传媒色情片, 2018
Visiting Scholar, Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University, 2014-2016
Grant Recipient, National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute on American Material Culture, Bard Graduate Center, July 2013
Vincent DeSantis Prize for the Best Book on the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, Society for Historians of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, 2013
Russell Sage Foundation Visiting Scholar, New York City, 2009-2010
Interdisciplinary Seminar Grant, Tobin Project, 2009-2010
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