History’s Asheesh Kapur Siddique Publishes Book Examining the British Origins of Data-Driven Government

Asheesh Kapur Siddique, assistant professor of history, recently had his first book published by Yale University Press. "The Archive of Empire: Knowledge, Conquest, and the Making of the Early Modern British World" examines how modern data-driven government originated in the creation and use of administrative archives in the British Empire. <_o3a_p>

Siddique's book shines a light on the origins of data collection, a phenomenon that might seem very recent but actually extends back to the 1600s. Throughout the 17^th and 18^th centuries, the British relied upon networks of information to govern, expand and reconstruct their Empire. These years of data collection created expansive archives and established norms but how could British government archives be effective in understanding cultures and languages other than their own? By examining the British Empire's data collection in the Americas and South Asia, the relationship between power and information comes into clearer view.<_o3a_p>

Siddique shows how examples from history closely relate to the lives, concerns and challenges of the 21^st century.<_o3a_p>

"This brilliant, erudite, and pathbreaking study of imperial information management shows that the Enlightenment of knowledge was a powerful force that worked to free the mind, but was also a potent tool of repression," Jacob Soll, author of "Free Market: The History of an Idea," says in his endorsement of the book. "Siddique has emerged as one of the most brilliant scholars of his generation, and this book is essential to understanding our own challenges with information, public discourse, and the state and their origins in the colonial enterprise. Anyone interested in the history of economics, politics and the often bewildering modern age must read Siddique's masterwork."<_o3a_p>

A party is scheduled at Amherst Books on Tuesday, Oct. 8, from 6-7 p.m. to celebrate the book's release.<_o3a_p>