The Birth of Capitalism: A Twenty-first-century Perspective (The Future of World Capitalism)

In the light of the deepening crisis of capitalism and continued non-Western capitalist accumulation, this book re-examines the debates surrounding the transition from feudalism to capitalism in Europe and elsewhere.;Preface and acknowledgements -- Introduction: problems and methods -- 1 The decline of feudalism -- 2 Experiments in capitalism: Italy, Germany, France -- 3 English capitalism -- 4 Bourgeois revolution -- 5 Political capitalism -- 6 The Industrial revolution: Marxist perspectives -- 7 Capitalism and world history -- Conclusion -- Bibliography. Cover 1 Contents 8 Preface and Acknowledgements 12 Introduction: Problems and Methods 16 Capitalist Origins and Crises 18 Economism and Eurocentrism 19 An Alternative Reading 20 Plan of the Book 22 The Argument 24 The Unity of the Marxist Method 26 Alternatives to Marxism 28 Marxism and History 30 Capitalism and World History 35 1. The Decline of Feudalism 38 Dobb's Opening Gambit 39 Dobb Versus Sweezy 42 Takahashi and Hilton 43 Class Struggle 45 The Role of Towns 46 Uneven Development 47 The New Left Takes Over 49 Japanese Feudalism 50 The Last Rampart of Feudalism 53 Brenner and the Late Medieval Crisis 55 The East-West Divide 56 The Logic of Accumulation 57 Bois Objects 58 Harman's Riposte 60 The Role of Social Differentiation 62 Dialectics of Social Relations 65 2. Experiments in Capitalism: Italy, Germany, France 67 Renaissance Italy 69 The Dominance of Merchant Capital 72 The Failure of Italian Capitalism 72 The Predatory City-State 74 German Capitalism 76 Engels and Early Bourgeois Revolution 77 History in the Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR) 80 Revolution of the Common People 82 Tom Scott's Structural Adjustment 83 France 86 Brenner's Other 86 Capitalism in France 87 Conclusion 89 3. English Capitalism 91 Dobb Versus Sweezy 92 Primitive Accumulation 94 The Really Revolutionary Way 95 Wallerstein's World System 96 Brenner's Attack on 'Neo-Smithian Marxism' 98 The Problems with Brenner 102 The Non-European Contribution to European Capitalism 104 The Causes of Under-Development 106 Primitive Accumulation in the Periphery 107 Markets and History 109 The Capitalist Farmer 112 Salvaging Brenner? 114 The Birth of Value 117 Conclusion 118 4. Bourgeois Revolution 119 Holland 120 Dutch Merchant Capitalism 123 Agrarian Capitalism 126 The Political Marxists 130 England 133 The Capitalist Farmers in Marx 136 The Middle Sort 138 France 142 The Rise in Political Economy 144 Wage Labour in France 146 The Revolutionary Crisis 148 Conclusion 148 5. Political Capitalism 150 Lords in the Making of the Modern World 152 The American and Prussian Paths 156 Combined and Uneven Development in Scotland 160 Japanese Capitalism 164 The Mercantilism of Free Trade 167 Colonialism 177 Slavery 183 Conclusion 189 6. The Industrial Revolution: Marxist Perspectives 191 Hobsbawm and the Overseas Market 194 Marx on Manufacture and Industry 196 Dobb and the Proletariat 200 The Labour Process 201 Technological Determinism 203 Thompson and the Working Class Making its Own History... 205 ...But Not in Circumstances of its Own Choosing 208 The Human Cost 211 Proto-Industrialization 214 The Industrious Revolution 217 The Scientific Revolution 221 The Effacement of the Bourgeoisie 225 Conclusion 228 7. Capitalism and World History 230 The Attack on Eurocentrism 232 Postcolonial Histories 236 The Great Divergence 243 The Asian Industrious Revolution 248 A Non-Eurocentric History 253 Harvey's Spatial Fix 254 Capitalism Versus Humanity and Nature 255 Conclusion 258 Notes 267 Bibliography 289 Index 312 In the light of the deepening crisis of capitalism and continued non-Western capitalist accumulation, Henry Heller re-examines the debates surrounding the transition from feudalism to capitalism in Europe and elsewhere. Focusing on arguments about the origin, nature, and sustainability of capitalism, Heller offers a new reading of the historical evidence and a critical interrogation of the transition debate. He advances the idea that capitalism must be understood as a political as well as an economic entity. This book breathes new life into the scholarship, taking issue with the excessively economistic approach of Robert Brenner, which has gained increasing support over the last ten years. It concludes that the future of capitalism is more threatened than ever before. The new insights in this book make it essential reading for engaged students and scholars of political economy and history. -- Book Description