Global capitalism and how the world became rich

Jennifer Bair is associate dean for social sciences and a sociologist of globalization at the University of Virginia, with interests in trade and the political economy of development, and the relationship between gender and work. Her research centers on the comparative study of export-led development, and she has conducted fieldwork in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Bangladesh. Her publications include “Global capitalism and commodity chains: looking back, going forward” (Competition and Change), “On difference and capital: gender and the globalization of production” (Signs), “From varieties of capitalism to varieties of activism: The anti-sweatshop movement in comparative perspective” (Social Problems, co-authored with Florence Palpacuer), and “The legacies of partial possession: From agrarian struggle to neoliberal restructuring in Mexico and Colombia” (International Journal of Comparative Sociology, co-authored with Phil Hough).

Fahad Ahmad Bishara, associate professor in UVA's department of history, specializes in the economic and legal history of the Indian Ocean and Islamic world. His book, A Sea of Debt: Law and Economic Life in the Western Indian Ocean, 1780-1950 (Cambridge University Press, 2017) is a legal history of economic life in the Western Indian Ocean, told through the story of the Arab and Indian settlement and commercialization of East Africa during the 19th century. He has an interest in questions of scale and narration in historical writing (particularly in global history, transregional history, and microhistory) and the questions they raise for how we write about more abstract concepts like law and capitalism.

Mark Koyama is associate professor of economics at George Mason University and a Mercatus Center senior scholar. He earned his PhD in economics from the University of Oxford and previously lectured at the University of York and the Political Theory Project at Brown University. He is interested in how historical institutions functioned, the relationship between culture and economic performance, and the emergence of religious freedom and the rule of law in Europe between 1500 and 1800. He is the author of two books: Persecution and Toleration: The Long Road to Religious Freedom (CUP: 2019) with Noel Johnson and How the World Became Rich (Polity, 2022) with Jared Rubin. 

Jared Rubin is an economic historian and professor of economics at Chapman University. He is the co-author of How the World Became Rich (Polity, 2022) with Mark Koyama.

Rubin is interested in the political and religious economies of the Middle East and Western Europe, and his research focuses on historical relationships between political and religious institutions and their role in economic development. His book Rulers, Religion, and Riches: Why the West Got Rich and the Middle East Did Not (Cambridge University Press, 2017) explores the role that Islam and Christianity played in the long-run “reversal of fortunes” between the economies of the Middle East and Western Europe. Rubin’s work has appeared in journals such as Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economics & Statistics, Economic Journal, and Management Science. He is the co-director of Chapman University’s Institute for the Study of Religion, Economics, and Society (IRES) and the President of the Association for the Study of Religion, Economics, and Culture (ASREC). 

Robert Bruner, the Miller Center's Compton Visiting Professor of World Politics, is University Professor at the University of Virginia, distinguished professor of business administration, and dean emeritus of the Darden School of Business. He has also held visiting appointments at Columbia University, INSEAD in France, and IESE in Spain. He has a forthcoming visiting appointment at Harvard. He is the author, co-author, or editor of more than 20 books on finance, management, and teaching. A faculty member since 1982 and winner of leading teaching awards at the University of Virginia and within the Commonwealth of Virginia, he teaches and conducts research in finance and management.