Female agency in global trading companies

Over two centuries the English and Dutch companies (EIC and VOC respectively) established far-flung empires with thousands of employees globally. Though women rarely worked directly for the companies, they were important nodes in the networks that shaped corporations. The project, Women and the company: Female agency in global trading companies, 1600-1800, revisits women’s multiple roles and aims to present a more inclusive image of early global capitalism and labour.