Lecture | Seminar
Eurasian Capital and Environmental Change. Tax Farming and Portfolio Capitalism in the Dutch-colonial Indian Ocean World, 1750-1820
- Luc Bulten
- Date
- Tuesday 15 December 2026
- Time
- Serie
- Economic and Social History Brown Bag Seminars 2026-2027
- Address
-
Johan Huizinga
Doelensteeg 16
2311 VL Leiden - Room
- Conference room 2.60
I am currently designing a project which aims to investigate a range of Dutch-colonial archives across Asia to identify Asian entrepreneurs who engaged with colonial institutions through the practice of tax farming. Its central hypothesis is that tax farming operated at the intersection of European and Asian capital, and had a profound impact on the intensification of agriculture, thereby transforming both social and environmental landscapes. By examining this colonial institution from an Asia-centred perspective, the project will seek to theorise how interactions at the micro level contributed to macro level processes, including the expansion of global trade, the growth of manufacturing and markets, and environmental change.
Economic and Social History Brown Bag Seminars
The Brown Bag Seminars provide researchers with an opportunity to receive constructive feedback on work in progress, unpublished papers and new research ideas. To encourage the presentation of new material, papers that have already been presented at conferences are generally not considered suitable. Speakers are invited to present ongoing research, preliminary findings or new directions in their current projects. Postdoctoral researchers and PhD candidates are particularly encouraged to share their work.
There is no requirement to circulate a paper in advance. Presentations typically last between 20 and 35 minutes, allowing ample time for discussion. Everyone is welcome to attend these seminars. Depending on the venue, participants are welcome to bring their own lunch.