O'Connell Initiative

O’Connell Initiative on the Global History of Capitalism

The O’Connell Initiative for the Global History of Capitalism is a forum for intellectual exploration. It brings together scholars of every aspect of capitalism, from its earliest medieval manifestations to its twenty-first-century consequences across the globe. It supports groundbreaking research and teaching on global capitalism and engages with the public through lectures, debates, and workshops.

The O’Connell Initiative in the Global History of Capitalism is supported by generous gifts from Fordham alumnus Robert J. O’Connell, FCRH '65.

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O'Connell Initiative News Coverage

Historian: Tax Havens Fostered by Ex-Spies, Generals, and Diplomats

Unless one has plenty of money that needs to be quietly stashed away, few people have good things to say about offshore tax havens. In a lecture chronicling their history, Vanessa Ogle, Ph.D., an associate professor of history at the University of California at Berkeley, was no less forgiving. Her straightforward, just-the-facts delivery parsed the …

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Conference to Explore 20th Century Capitalism

On Thursday, March 8, at 6 p.m., the Department of History will kick off a three-day conference sponsored by the O’Connell Initiative on Global Capitalism, with a keynote address by Vanessa Ogle, Ph.D., associate professor of history at the University of California at Berkeley. The event will be held at the Lincoln Center campus in …

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Scholar Connects Capitalism’s Birth to International Trade

To understand modern day capitalism, simply go back in time 414 years and head to Bantam, a port city on the island of Java in what is now Indonesia. It is there, said Timothy Brook, Ph.D., that international legal frameworks that make capitalism possible were first hashed out by traders from the Netherlands, England, Portugal, …

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History of Capitalism Explored at Lecture

Calling the growth of capitalism “one of the most important historical processes of the past 500 years,” an eminent historian challenged some current views on this charged topic and called for a far better understanding of its history. “Capitalism, so it seems, is as familiar as it is unknown,” said Sven Beckert, PhD, a Harvard history …

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