Columbia Studies in the History of U.S. Capitalism

How did feminism in corporate America come to represent the individual success of the executive woman and not the collective success of the secretary? Allison Elias argues that feminist goals of advancing equal opportunity and promoting meritocracy unintentionally undercut the status and prospects of so-called “pink-collar” workers.

Justene Hill Edwards illuminates the inner workings of the slaves’ economy and the strategies that enslaved people used to participate in the market. Focusing on South Carolina from the colonial period to the Civil War, she examines how the capitalist development of slavery influenced the economic lives of enslaved people.

Today, the federal government underwrites a financial system built around mortgage lending. In The Dead Pledge, Judge Glock reveals the surprising origins of this entanglement in forgotten economic ideas and policies that held sway from the early twentieth century through the Great Depression.

This book brings together for the first time distinguished and rising scholars to consider the utility of the concept of racial capitalism across historical settings. By theorizing and testing racial capitalism in different circumstances, this book shows its analytical and political power for today’s scholars and activists.

Focusing on Baltimore’s wealthiest, whitest neighborhoods, Paige Glotzer offers a new understanding of the deeper roots of suburban segregation. She argues that the mid-twentieth-century policies that favored exclusionary housing were the culmination of a long-term effort by developers to use racism to structure suburban real estate markets.

Alex Sayf Cummings reveals the significance of North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park to the emergence of the high-tech economy in a postindustrial United States. Brain Magnet pinpoints how it sheds new light on the origins of today’s urban landscape, in which innovation is lauded as the engine of economic growth against a backdrop of inequality.

City of Workers, City of Struggle brings together essays by leading historians of New York and a wealth of illustrations, offering rich descriptions of work, life, and political struggle. It recounts how workers have built formal and informal groups not only to advance their own interests but also to pursue a vision of what the city should be.

David K. Johnson tells the story of the physique magazine produced by and for gay men to show how gay commerce was not a byproduct of the gay-rights movement but an important catalyst for it. He offers a vivid look into the lives of physique entrepreneurs and their customers, presenting a wealth of illustrations.

Shennette Garrett-Scott explores black financial innovation and its transformative impact on U.S. capitalism through the story of the St. Luke Bank in Richmond, Virginia: the first and only bank run by black women. Banking on Freedom offers an unparalleled account of how black women carved out economic, social, and political power.

Elizabeth Herbin-Triant investigates early-twentieth-century campaigns for residential segregation laws in North Carolina to show how the version of white supremacy supported by middle-class white people differed from that supported by the elites. Class divides halted Jim Crow from mandating separate neighborhoods for black and white southerners.

American Capitalism presents cutting-edge research that makes capitalism a subject of historical inquiry. Venturing new angles on finance, debt, and credit; women's rights; slavery and political economy; labor; the racialization of capitalism; and the production of knowledge, it demonstrates the breadth and scope of the new history of capitalism.

In Creditworthy, Josh Lauer explores the evolution of credit reporting from from an industry that relied on personal knowledge to the modern consumer data industry. He highlights the role that commercial surveillance has played in monitoring Americans' economic lives. p.p1

From Head Shops to Whole Foods writes a new history of social movements and capitalism by showing how activists embraced small businesses. Joshua Clark Davis uncovers the historical roots of contemporary interest in ethical consumption while exploring how today’s companies have adopted the language—but not the mission—of social change.

From Revolutionary Era bank notes to the 2008 financial collapse, Capital of Capital explores how New York City gave rise to a banking industry that in turn made the American and world economies. Capital of Capital also examines the frequently contentious evolution of the banking business, its role in making New York City an international economic center, and its influence on America's politics, society, and culture.

Based on a major exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York, Capital of Capital features the key leaders of banking, including Alexander Hamilton and J. P. Morgan, as well as its critics, such as Louis Brandeis and the Occupy Wall Street protesters. The book also covers the major events and controversies that have shaped the history of banking and includes a fascinating array of primary materials ranging from antebellum bank notes and ledgers to early credit cards and advertisements. Lavishly illustrated, Capital of Capital provides a multifaceted, original understanding of the profound impact of banking on the life of New York City and the world's economy.