Emily Erikson
Areas of Interest
Social Networks, Economic Development, Comparative Historical Sociology, Theory, Globalization
Bio
Emily Erikson conducts research in the fields of social networks, comparative historical sociology, organizations, theory, and economic sociology. Her focus is on the role of social networks in historical and cultural change. Her book, Between Monopoly and Free Trade: The English East India Company, (Princeton University Press, 2014) examines the impact of social networks on the fortunes of the English East India Company and by extension the relationship between Britain and Asia. Current research includes both extending existing work on the English East India Company by examining the role of the chartered companies as a site for the negotiation and coordination of the interests of capitalists and imperialists as well as new work on the difference between routine and ritual, agency and choice as expressed within social networks, and citation patterns in academic research. She is a consulting editor for the American Journal of Sociology, serves on the editorial board of Sociology Theory, sits as a council member of the Comparative Historical Section of the ASA, and is co-convenor (with Olav Sorenson) of the Social Networks Working Group.
Books
- Erikson, Emily, ed. 2015. Chartering Capitalism: Organizing Markets, States, and Publics. Political Power and Social Theory/Emerald Publishing.
- Erikson, Emily. (2014) Between Monopoly and Free Trade: The English East India Company. Princeton University Press.
- Co-winner, Allan Sharlin Memorial Award, 2015, Social Science History Association
- Co-winner, Ralph Gomory Prize, 2015, Business History Conference and Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
- Gaddis Smith International Book Prize, 2016, MacMillan Center, Yale University
- James Coleman Award for Outstanding Book, 2016, Rationality & Society Section of the American Sociological Association
Selected Articles
- Erikson, Emily and Sampsa Samila. 2015. “Social Networks and Port Traffic in Early Modern Trade,” Social Science History, Vol. 39, No. 2.
- Erikson, Emily. 2013. “Formalist and Relationalist Theory in Social Network Analysis” Sociological Theory 31 (3): 219-242
- Erikson, Emily and Joseph Parent. 2007. “Central Authority and Order” Sociological Theory 25 (3): 245-267.
- Erikson, Emily and Peter Bearman. 2006. “Malfeasance and the Foundations for Global Trade: The Structure of English Trade in the East Indies, 1601-1833” American Journal of Sociology 111 (6), pp. 195-230.
Selected Reviews and Chapters
- Erikson, Emily. Forthcoming 2017 “Networks and Network Theory: Possible Directions for Unification” Social Theory Now, Claudio Benzecry, Monika Krause, and Isaac Reed, eds. University of Chicago Press.
- Erikson, Emily. Forthcoming. “The Influence of Trade with Asia on British Economic Theory and Practice” Global Historical Sociology, edited volume, Julian Go, George Lawson, eds. Cambridge University Press.
- Erikson, Emily. 2015. “Relationalism Emergent” Review of Applying Relational Sociology and Conceptualizing Relational Sociology in Contemporary Sociology, 44(1): 3-7. DOI 10.1177/0094306114562200
- Erikson, Emily. 2014. Review of Simon Polillo’s Conservatives versus Wildcats: An Economic Sociology of Conflict. American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 119 (2): 1495-1497.
- Erikson, Emily. 2012. “Impossible Engineering” Book Review. Sociological Forum, Vol. 27 (2): pp. 552-556.
- Erikson, Emily. 2008. “The Real Network Society” Review of The Art of the Network: Strategic Interaction and Patronage in Renaissance Florence by Paul D. McLean. Historical Methods, 41 (4), pp. 163-166.
- White, Harrison and Emily Erikson. 2003. “Taboo” Oxford Encyclopedia of Economic History. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press.
Media
- Interview on The MacMillan Report, Erikson speaks about her award-winning book, ”Between Monopoly and Free Trade: The English East India Company, 1600-1757.
Courses and Seminars
Undergraduate
- SOCY 151/Hums 302/PLSC 290, Foundations of Modern Social Theory
- SOCY 167, Social Networks and Society
- SOCY 219, Economic Sociology
Graduate
- SOCY 542, Sociological Theory
- SOCY 564, Advanced Topics in Social Theory
- SOCY 573, Social Capital and Small Group Processes
- SOCY 632, Social Network Analysis
Affiliations
- Yale Institute of Network Science
- South Asian Council
- The Center for Comparative Research (CCR)
- The Center for Research on Inequalities and the Life Course (CIQLE)
- Social Network Working Group
- Transitions to Modernity Colloquium
Education
Ph.D. Columbia University, 2006