Mackillop, Human Capital and Empire: Scotland, Ireland, Wales and British Imperialism in Asia, c. 1690–c. 1820

David Wilson

Research output: Contribution to journalBook/Film/Article review

Abstract

In this momentous work, Andrew Mackillop offers the most significant and wide-ranging study to date surrounding the relationship of Scotland, Ireland, and Wales with Asia during the long eighteenth century. Focusing on Scots, Irish, and Welsh connections with the English East India Company (EIC), Mackillop convincingly argues that the comparatively ‘finance-“poor”’ (p. 25) provincial societies of the British and Irish Isles utilised human mobility and social capital as highly productive pathways into global empire and expansion. By looking beyond simply financial capital, Mackillop demonstrates that the movement of metropolitan provincials within (and beyond) the company’s hemisphere in Asia formed an alternative, yet crucial, investment and development strategy, resulting in a mode of wealth exchange in which human capital was deployed to achieve financial return. Through comparative analysis of the divergent trajectories of Scottish, Irish, and Welsh participation in Britain’s pre-1815 eastern empire, Mackillop systematically charts the full cycle of human mobility from mobilisation to realisation. This is a meticulously researched study that provides a deeply original and compelling examination of the under-appreciated role of human capital in shaping European colonialism and global expansion.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)535-537
Number of pages3
JournalScottish Historical Review
Volume103
Issue number3
Early online date30 Nov 2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 31 Dec 2024

Keywords

  • human capital
  • financial capital
  • Scottish history

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