#  Sven Beckert Wins 2015 Philip Taft Labor History Prize 

 





July 21, 2015

 

 

The 2015 [Taft Prize in Labor and Working-Class History](http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/taftaward), by a joint committee of LAWCHA and the Cornell ILR School, has been been awarded to [Sven Beckert](/people/sven-beckert) for his book *Empire of Cotton: A Global History* \[Knopf\]. *\*Committee members: **Jefferson Cowie** (Chair, Cornell), **Ileen DeVault** (Cornell), **Thavolia Glymph** (Duke), **Seth Rockman** (Brown), and **Dorothy Sue Cobble** (Rutgers).*

*"The Committee found the book to be a major work with immense range that will help to define and expand the field of labor history. Empirically rich and exhaustively researched, Beckert successfully places the history of slaves, millworkers, and share croppers into the broad terrain of the history of capitalism as it was shaped by the demand for one of its most important and lucrative commodities, cotton. Linking Indian Weavers to African slavery to American plantations to European consumers, Beckert masterfully bridges the global transformations of the cotton economy with local history..."*

Please join the Department of History at Harvard in congratulating [Professor Beckert](/people/sven-beckert) on this achievement.

*\*Quotes from the press release of **Jefferson Cowie**, Chair, Philip Taft Labor History Prize Committee, Cornell University.*



 

 

 



 

 

 Share on:- [     Facebook ](#)
- [     Twitter ](#)
- [     Linkedin ](#)