Madeline Woker

Postdoctoral Fellow in International and Public Affairs

Biography 

Madeline is a Postdoctoral Fellow in International and Public Affairs at the Watson Institute. She obtained her PhD in History from Columbia University in September 2020. She holds an MPhil in Modern European History from the University of Cambridge and she is also a graduate of the London School of Economics and Sciences Po Paris.

Research 

My research interests lie at the intersection of the history of empires and colonialism, the history of economic life and political history. I am currently writing a book about the politics of taxation and inequality in the French colonial empire between 1900 and the 1950s. I also write for a larger audience about the history of international taxation and the afterlives of empire and colonialism.

Publications

“E. R. A. Seligman, initiator of global progressive public finance”, Journal of Global History, Volume 13, Issue 3, November 2018, pp. 352-373

Teaching 

I have taught classes on the history of capitalism, France and its empire, the French Revolution and American history surveys.

Talks & Media

“Global Taxation Is a Mess. Here’s How to Start Fixing It.” The Nation, December 20, 2019

“Quantitative Literacy for historians: who’s afraid of numbers?” (with Nicholas Mulder), Perspectives on History, Guest Blog, May 18, 2016