Seth Rockman
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sethrockman.bsky.social
Seth Rockman
@sethrockman.bsky.social
4.9K followers 800 following 370 posts
Historian at Brown University: https://history.brown.edu/people/seth-e-rockman Author of _Plantation Goods: A Material History of American Slavery_ Nov. 2024, https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/P/bo237040605.html
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Seth Rockman
kawulf.bsky.social
Friends, I hope you’ll share this widely. The @jcblibrary.bsky.social is hiring 2 3-yr research associates for collaborative work on religions and freedoms in the early Americas. Info is here and I’m happy to take questions offline: brown.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/staff-...
January 7, 2026 at 2:50 PM
sethrockman.bsky.social
I am grateful for this opportunity to visit Birmingham next week and very much looking forward to the conversation!
January 6, 2026 at 5:36 PM
sethrockman.bsky.social
I will never stop being furious about the desecration of our Capitol and the lack of accountability for the criminals who plotted this coup. I also think it is outrageous that we still don't know the names of all the Congresspeople who made this an "inside job." This treachery must yet be revealed.
January 6, 2026 at 2:03 PM
Reposted by Seth Rockman
johnmunro.bsky.social
Free public lecture by @sethrockman.bsky.social on slavery, capitalism, and his award winning new book.

6 PM, Friday, 16 January.
BRIG Cafe @inthewarehouse.bsky.social

Introduced by Gabrielle Hemmings (@unibirmingham.bsky.social)

See you there!
Public Lecture exploring how the production and consumption of goods shaped American slavery - University of Birmingham
A public lecture by historian Seth Rockman, whose research explores the relationships between slavery and capitalism in the making of modern America.
www.birmingham.ac.uk
January 5, 2026 at 11:58 AM
sethrockman.bsky.social
Evidence of a profoundly dysfunctional society. Not unique to Rhode Island by any means, but no less infuriating.
December 30, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Reposted by Seth Rockman
dukepress.bsky.social
As a site for both historical research and commentary, Labor: Studies in Working-Class History hopes to provide an intellectual scaffolding for understanding the roots of continuing social dilemmas. Issue 22:4 is now available. View the TOC: buff.ly/ZW0Ee2A
@laborlawchajournal.bsky.social
Black and white photo of a woman factory worker pouring liquid into a large industrial vat on the cover of Labor Studies in Working Class History
December 23, 2025 at 6:02 PM
sethrockman.bsky.social
World’s worst Hanukkah gelt
A gold chocolate coin marked Bitcoin
December 21, 2025 at 4:59 PM
sethrockman.bsky.social
Current view, leaving me so profoundly sad. My students know how much I love teaching at Brown, and my heart aches for them and for our whole community.
Brown university main green, snowy and abandoned
December 16, 2025 at 3:39 PM
sethrockman.bsky.social
Ok, are the Early Americanists hyped for this, or what?
THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE | Official Teaser | Searchlight Pictures
YouTube video by SearchlightPictures
youtu.be
December 10, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Reposted by Seth Rockman
jmadelman.bsky.social
Highly recommend this piece. The widespread, unthinking adoption of corporate AI programming undermines the purpose of education in a democratic society. www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-is-d...
The real tragedy isn’t that students use ChatGPT to do their course work. It’s that universities are teaching everyone—students, faculty, administrators—to stop thinking. We’re outsourcing discernment. Students graduate fluent in prompting, but illiterate in judgment; faculty teach but aren’t allowed the freedom to educate; and universities, eager to appear innovative, dismantle the very practices that made them worthy of the name. We are approaching educational bankruptcy: degrees without learning, teaching without understanding, institutions without purpose.
December 7, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Reposted by Seth Rockman
csmc-hamburg.bsky.social
The new volume in our book series takes you to places of dirt, sweat, and physical labour: archives. Their material features have long been neglected by scholarship. Yet, they are crucial sites of human interaction with written artefacts.
Open access!
uhh.de/csmc-archives
December 5, 2025 at 3:25 PM
sethrockman.bsky.social
Primo postdoc at Brown University, shared between the Simmons Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice and the John Carter Brown Library.

apply.interfolio.com/175378
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December 1, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Reposted by Seth Rockman
marcusrediker.bsky.social
Here is a review I wrote of Sven Beckert’s impressive new book, *Capitalism: A Global History*, for the New York Times.

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/b...
How Capitalism Took Over the World
www.nytimes.com
November 26, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Reposted by Seth Rockman
stjohnsox.bsky.social
We were honoured to welcome Secretary @hillaryclinton.bsky.social to St John's this week, in collaboration with @oxhistoryfaculty.bsky.social, for two days of events celebrating the Hillary Rodham Clinton Chair of Women’s History, held by Professor Sarah Knott.

www.sjc.ox.ac.uk/discover/new...
Hillary Clinton speaking at dinner at St John's College, with President Professor Lady Sue Black Hillary Clinton, Sue Black and Sarah Knott in conversation before the inaugural lecture Panellists for 'The Politics of Care' - Emily Jones, Kirsten Swinth, Sarah Knott, Ai-jen Poo and Hillary Clinton Sarah Knott and Hillary Clinton during the panel discussion
November 26, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Reposted by Seth Rockman
hamiltoncain.bsky.social
I had the pleasure and privilege of reviewing @svenbeckert.bsky.social's landmark "Capitalism: A Global History" for @bostonglobe.com. Out tomorrow from @penguinpress.bsky.social. Thanks to @katekilla.bsky.social for the opportunity. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/24/a...
Is everything you ever learned about capitalism wrong? - The Boston Globe
While scholars have illuminated bits and pieces of this immense narrative, Beckert’s massive volume brings it together with impeccable authority and perspicacity.
www.bostonglobe.com
November 24, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Reposted by Seth Rockman
iansociologo.bsky.social
Re-upping this story on how Tulane has affirmative action admissions criteria for male applicants. Edward Blum has not launched any lawsuits against them yet to my knowledge.

www.nytimes.com/2023/09/08/m...
December 15, 2024 at 7:12 PM
Reposted by Seth Rockman
sethrockman.bsky.social
A two-year LABOR HISTORY postdoc @brownhist.bsky.social and @watsonschoolbrown.bsky.social

Possible foci: migration/displacement/ human trafficking; automation/technology/processes of global integration; or gender/sexuality/politics of reproductive labor

Please apply!
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November 18, 2025 at 8:12 PM
sethrockman.bsky.social
There is a pleasure in being reminded that we were all young once. The 1976 footage at the 2:40 mark here is sweet.

youtu.be/BjAjbImHPE4?...
The 2025 Irving Kristol Award | Annual Dinner Introductory Video for Gordon Wood
YouTube video by American Enterprise Institute
youtu.be
November 19, 2025 at 4:57 AM
sethrockman.bsky.social
A two-year LABOR HISTORY postdoc @brownhist.bsky.social and @watsonschoolbrown.bsky.social

Possible foci: migration/displacement/ human trafficking; automation/technology/processes of global integration; or gender/sexuality/politics of reproductive labor

Please apply!
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apply.interfolio.com
November 18, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Reposted by Seth Rockman
publicbooks.bsky.social
New at PB: Stephanie Wong interviews Seth Rockman (@sethrockman.bsky.social) about his latest book, "Plantation Goods: A Material History of American Slavery (@uchicagopress.bsky.social) and his experience learning to work on a late 18th-century loom.
Cloth and Complicity: Seth Rockman on Plantations, Textiles, and the Art of Weaving - Public Books
“But I had found a set of instructions in the archives of one of New England's leading manufacturers of low-end woollen cloth for enslaved wearers.”
www.publicbooks.org
November 18, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Reposted by Seth Rockman
adamrothman.bsky.social
Of all my posts, this is the one that I wish would be shared widely. I hope people will donate to Bryan's legal defense, but even if you don't, it's important to be aware of the human rights horrors that are going on around us on a daily basis.
adamrothman.bsky.social Adam Rothman aced his cognitive test @adamrothman.bsky.social · Nov 17
Please help Bryan, a decent and hardworking person who was just kidnapped off the street in DC. He has been in this country since he was a child. He has a business and a family. He does not deserve such shameful cruelty. Please share.
www.gofundme.com/f/help-bryan...
Donate to Help Bryan Fight for His Freedom, organized by Kira Tewalt
Help Bryan Fight for His Freedom My name is Kira, and I’m asking for your help on… Kira Tewalt needs your support for Help Bryan Fight for His Freedom
www.gofundme.com
November 17, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Reposted by Seth Rockman
misterabk.bsky.social
Can none of these millionaires sex criminals write in full sentences? Have you heard of paragraphs? Punctuation? No wonder ChatGPT sounds like a genius to these clowns.
November 13, 2025 at 12:34 AM
Reposted by Seth Rockman
sethrockman.bsky.social
Wonderful conversation with @kawulf.bsky.social and Leslie Harris at @brownhist.bsky.social about Lineage, Karin’s wonderful new @oxfordunipress.bsky.social book!
Karin Wulf talking with Leslie Harris at a table with microphones
November 11, 2025 at 10:07 PM
Reposted by Seth Rockman
secondnaturemb.bsky.social
Happy Exploding Whale Day for those who celebrate :)
jlkavanaugh.bsky.social Dr. Jeffrey Kavanaugh 🇨🇦 @jlkavanaugh.bsky.social · Nov 12
55 years ago today, the Oregon State Highway Division had a whale of a problem on its hands. How it solved it is the stuff of legends.

In other words: Happy Exploding Whale Day!
The Exploding Whale: An infamous moment in Oregon history creates a strangely beloved icon
YouTube video by KATU News
youtu.be
November 12, 2025 at 5:42 PM
sethrockman.bsky.social
Wonderful conversation with @kawulf.bsky.social and Leslie Harris at @brownhist.bsky.social about Lineage, Karin’s wonderful new @oxfordunipress.bsky.social book!
Karin Wulf talking with Leslie Harris at a table with microphones
November 11, 2025 at 10:07 PM