Erikson Wins SSHA Book Award

Department News
Faculty Awards and Recognition
November 17, 2015

Professor Emily Erikson has won the 2015 Allan Sharlin Memorial Award for her book Between Monopoly and Free Trade: The English East India Company, 1600-1757. The annual award is presented by the Social Science History Association (SSHA) for an outstanding book in social science history published in the previous year. Erikson uses network theory and archival research to demonstrate the innovative nature of the East India Company, despite its status as a monopoly. The book adds to the discipline’s understanding of the economic rise of the western world. One of the SSHA judges said of Between Monopoly and Free Trade: “What most impressed me about this book was the methodological rigor of the author…her quantitative analysis of ships’ voyages…provides an excellent how-to demonstration for young scholars looking to do similar types of work….Her writing skills are superb, and the book is very well structured.” Erikson shared the award with Mara Loveman, from UC Berkeley, for her book National Colors: Racial Classification and the State in Latin America. Previous winners of the award include Theda Skocpol, Rogers Smith, George Steinmetz, and Susan Pederson.