What are our ethical responsibilities as HPE scholars?

Timeline showing the total number of slaves embarked by year from the SlaveVoyages.org dataset

Edited by Emily Sellars from contributions by the Broadstreet editorial team “As we learn from new data and new methods, it is paramount that we keep the truth of [enslaved people’s] essential humanity at the forefront of our efforts…It is possible, after all, to disturb a grave without ever touching the soil.” -Jamelle Bouie, “We … Continue reading What are our ethical responsibilities as HPE scholars?

HPE Job Market Candidates 2021, Round 3

We’re excited to feature another excellent group of 2021 job market candidates working on Historical Political Economy (for our earlier job market posts, please see here and here). Take a look at some of the impressive papers and projects being done by these up-and-coming scholars. Please read, cite, share, and promote this work. if you’re … Continue reading HPE Job Market Candidates 2021, Round 3

When State Building Backfires

Engraving by Francisco Mora. In José María Morelos, el Siervo de la Nación, 1957, Sociedad de Amigos del Libro Mexicano.

By Francisco Garfias and Emily Sellars This month, the Mexican government is celebrating its 200th anniversary of independence from Spain. The nation’s independence was won after a protracted conflict sparked by an event celebrated across the country every year on this date (September 15th): Miguel Hidalgo’s Cry of Dolores in 1810. Hidalgo’s uprising heralded the … Continue reading When State Building Backfires

Adventures with an (Almost) Amazing Dataset

This post is about an amazing dataset that looks reliable at first glance but has some serious issues when you look closer.[1] The individual errors are small, subtle, and hard to spot. When added together, though, they can cause big problems for HPE researchers. Before I get into the details about the specific dataset—why so … Continue reading Adventures with an (Almost) Amazing Dataset

Policy, History, and Mexico-U.S. Migration

Not unlike his predecessor, Joe Biden began his presidency with a series of executive actions on immigration and border security, including halting construction of the border wall, preserving DACA protections, pausing deportations (or attempting to), ending the “Muslim ban” on travel, and ending new enrollment in the Migrant Protection Protocols policy (i.e., the “remain in … Continue reading Policy, History, and Mexico-U.S. Migration

The Creation and Survival of Unreliable Data: Mexico’s 1921 Census

Those who have been following the ongoing political developments over the 2020 Census in the United States (not to mention recent posts on Broadstreet) will need no reminder that the process of counting the national population is complicated and political. Beyond the consequences for apportionment and federal transfers, the official census figures that emerge from … Continue reading The Creation and Survival of Unreliable Data: Mexico’s 1921 Census

Physical Geography and Historical Political Economy

By many measures, Mexico City is in a terrible location. Wedged between volcanic mountains in a highland basin on top of a filled lakebed, the geography of the city leaves it vulnerable to earthquakes and volcanoes, as well as to cycles of flooding and drought. Once called the “most polluted city in the word,” its … Continue reading Physical Geography and Historical Political Economy