Alka Raman

‘Power of the purse, and spine’ in this week’s ‘The Economist’

This term, we’re going from ‘calico craze’ to ‘china mania’ in our quest to unpack technological change.

I had the great pleasure yesterday of giving a public lecture at the Oriental Rugs and Textiles Society on the theme of Indian chintz and calico printing in Europe and was overjoyed by the enthusiastic and lively discussions on madder, indigo and all things dyes and their techniques!

The editorial board of the @rhi-ihr.bsky.social wishes you happy holidays and a very happy new year! We are grateful to our editors, authors, and referees, for a very good year 2025. We look forward to 2026 for more workshops, and new issues engaging with industrial and economic history!

We had the @echistsoc.bsky.social Women’s Committee’s Annual Workshop yesterday @ucl.ac.uk Thanks to all the presenters and participants for their collegiality and shared interest in making women visible in history! Special thanks to @camilladekoning.bsky.social for the great organisation!

What comprised useful market knowledge enabling British merchants to sell cotton textiles in overseas markets? Alexander Appleton examines the coordination of market intelligence for successful cotton trading 👇

What did innovation in the production of salt look like in the British Caribbean during the late 18th and early 19th centuries? Kimberley Thomas unpacks what the shift from slavery to freedom in salt production entailed 👇

How might we assess the little divergence between India and Japan through the lens of access to raw cotton? Aditi Dixit comparatively examines the role of the state and industrial growth 👇

How does a physical space become a site for global economic history? @alibennett.bsky.social unpacks the significance of African ivory in the Port of London 👇

Few days left to register for the EHS Women’s Committee’s annual workshop. Details 👇 or follow the link ehs.org.uk/event/womens...

🍾 We are proud to announce “Introduction: New Perspectives in Global Economic History” by @alkaraman.bsky.social (@ucl.ac.uk ), author of the piece and editor of the special issue on global economic history in @rhi-ihr.bsky.social .

Read it open access 👉 doi.org/10.1344/rhi-...

It was a great pleasure and fantastic experience working on this Special Issue!

The first volume of the Special Issue on Global Economic History @rhi-ihr.bsky.social is now out! It features 4 new articles on 4 commodities in global economic history - salt, ivory, raw cotton, and finished cotton goods - all open access. It was a great experience editing this volume!

Congratulation Ali!

Looking forward to reading it! 😀

Last evening was truly special, meeting with dear friends and colleagues to celebrate the launch of @edmond-smith.bsky.social new book, ‘Ruthless: A New History of Britain’s Rise to Wealth and Power’

Still buzzing after the talk by @sushmajansari.bsky.social about her experience of community curation and the making of the exhibition ‘Ancient India, Living Traditions’ @britishmuseum.bsky.social @uclhistory.bsky.social

Yes please, as that would make for *really* interesting reading!

A great programme on the theme of ‘Women and Enterprise’ for the annual workshop of the EHS Women’s Committee @echistsoc.bsky.social @ehswomcom.bsky.social The workshop will be held in-person @uclhistory.bsky.social see registration details 👇

Thank you to the experts for sharing their insights and to the audience for their questions that led to interesting discussions!

We’ve just finished a most useful @ehswomcom.bsky.social training session with @eicathomefinn.bsky.social, Ramon Ramon-Munoz @rhi-ihr.bsky.social and Michael Watson @universitypress.cambridge.org on early career years in academia & grants/postdocs processes & publishing academic articles/books.

Reminder: online training event for academic publishing and applying for grants, on 10th Oct, organised by the @ehswomcom.bsky.social The event will be particularly useful for ECRs, registration info👇

Many thanks to Darshan Shah and the team from Weavers’ Studio, Kolkata. ‘Textiles from Bengal’ would not be possible without them.

The highlight of the day - textile objects, demonstrating extraordinary skill and expertise in textile making and adornment in Bengal.

Mary Schoeser, Meha Priyadarshini and I also presented at the ‘Textiles from Bengal’ event. Thanks to the audience for the fantastic engagement!

Rosemary Crill, John Styles and Karolina Hutkova presenting at ‘Textiles from Bengal: A Shared Legacy’

It’s about to begin! Setting up for ‘Textiles from Bengal’

Children & Young People's Voices Research Project - UK Covid-19 Inquiry The independent public inquiry to examine the Covid-19 pandemic in the UK

Children and the Covid-19 pandemic. UK report is out, and includes a child-friendly version.

Want to know more about publishing your work and applying for research grants? The @ehswomcom.bsky.social is organising an online training session on 10th Oct. Save the date! ⬇️

It's that time of year again, annual elections for election to Council of the National Trust. Lots of candidates to choose from.

Read carefully and vote wisely if you don't want the direction of travel to be backward.