Johan Mathew

Johan Mathew is an Associate Professor of History at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, specializing in Global and Economic History with a focus on the Indian Ocean. He has been at Rutgers since 2016 and previously held a joint appointment in History and Economics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His research examines illicit commerce and its role in shaping modern capitalism.

• Ph.D., Harvard University
• Diploma in Arabic, School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London)
• B.A., Princeton University

His work bridges cultural and social history with political economy, emphasizing transnational networks in the Indian Ocean. Current research explores the consumption of narcotics in the Global South and its relationship to industrial capitalism.

• Ralph Gomory Prize (Business History Conference)
• Roger Owen Book Award (Middle East Studies Association)
• Middle East Political Economy Prize
• First Monograph Prize in Economic and Social History (Economic History Society)
• Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Grant

He teaches courses such as World History 1500 to the Present, Piracy: A Global History, and Global History: Capitalism and its Discontents. His ongoing project, Opiates of the Masses: A Biography of Humanity in the Time of Capital, investigates how narcotics mediate human experiences of pain and pleasure under capitalism.