Emily Erikson

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.