Men of Capital: Scarcity and Economy in Mandate Palestine

In Men of Capital, Sherene Seikaly examines British-ruled Palestine in the 1930s and 1940s through the lens of economy, class construction, and capital accumulation. The work explores how Palestinian businessmen and British colonial officials utilized economic concepts to shape territory, the nation, the home, and the body. By analyzing Palestinian business periodicals, records, and correspondence, the author reveals how capital accumulation was central to the conception of the ideal social man. The book also traces how British colonial institutions regulated wartime austerity regimes, mapping basic goods shortages to broader material disparities among Palestinians and European Jews, demonstrating that the economic was central to social management.