The Origin of Capitalism: A Longer View (Second Edition) [Paperback]

Ellen Meiksins Wood (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2002

The author reminds us that capitalism is not a natural and inevitable consequence of human nature, nor is it simply an extension of age-old practices of trade and commerce.

In this original and provocative book Ellen Meiksins Wood reminds us that capitalism is not a natural and inevitable consequence of human nature, nor is it simply an extension of age-old practices of trade and commerce. Rather, it is a late and localized product of very specific historical conditions, which required great transformations in social relations and in the human interaction with nature.

This new edition is substantially revised and expanded, with extensive new material on imperialism, anti-Eurocentric history, capitalism and the nation-state, and the differences between capitalism and non-capitalist commerce. The author traces links between the origin of capitalism and contemporary conditions such as 'globalization', ecological degradation, and the current agricultural crisis.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“This extremely valuable book offers an insightful tour of the historical debates surrounding the transition from feudalism to capitalism ... a must read for anyone with even the remotest interest in the origins of capitalism, or economic thought in general, from undergraduates through professionals.” (Choice )

“The writing is so supple and accessible, and the argument so persuasive, it's like watching a cloudy mixture of ideas being turned into a clear solution.” (Adrienne Rich )

“[A] brilliant book ... Into the central thread of her argument, Ellen Meiksins Wood has woven a wonderfully rich texture of comment on the arguments and debates that preceded her ... not just a valuable new interpretation of an old history, it carries important lessons for our own times.” (The Spokesman )

About the Author

Ellen Meiksins Wood, for many years Professor of Political Science at York University, Toronto, is the author of a number of books, including Democracy Against Capitalism and, with Verso, The Pristine Culture of Capitalism, The Origin of Capitalism, Peasant-Citizen and Slave, Empire of Capital, Citizens to Lords, and Liberty & Property.

Product Details

• Paperback: 213 pages
• Publisher: Verso; Revised edition (July 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1859843921
• ISBN-13: 978-1859843925
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #52,546 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the better antidotes to the right-wing colonisation of the intellect, July 13, 2006

By 

Prof H (Newcastle upon Tyne, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Origin of Capitalism: A Longer View (Second Edition) (Paperback)

In the midst of the noisy and empty-headed celebrations of bourgeois values and free-market economics currently echoing around shady right-wing think-tanks and obsequious university departments, Meiksins Wood provides us with a salutory reminder that freedom in the context of the capitalist market is an illusion. We are in fact free to do only - and precisely - what the market demands. This potted history of the rise of a market dependency that is anything but an inevitable product of fixed human nature or evolutionary progress, followed up skilfully in her sequel 'Empire of Capital', is splendidly written in a clear, breezy style that the lay person should have no trouble following. In an intellectual world currently saturated with stale and repetitive free-market mumbo-jumbo, Meiksins Wood reminds us that some of us are still capable of mobilising critical intelligence.

17 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Whence Primitive Accumulation?, July 13, 2005

By 

Leon Robinson - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Origin of Capitalism: A Longer View (Second Edition) (Paperback)

This is an academic work: Wood's theses about capitalism, its historical specificity, and its genesis are put forward in terms of disagreements with other historians and thinkers. This isn't bad in and of itself, but it does present a barrier to the interested reader who isn't a specialist.

Wood locates the beginning of capitalism in England with the imposition of land rents on peasants for their living accomodiations. For her, this both created a class whose only economic resource was their labor power and gave the landholding non-nobles a chunk of capital to valorize. In terse but Marxian terms, this was *THE* act of primitive accumulation. I'm not qualified to judge this as an historical claim, but it does point out a definite discontinuity between feudal and capitalist production. Yet Woods dwells overmuch on capitalism as markets, and not as a regime of production. There has always been trade, and even trade such as we could not countenance today: for example, trade in human beings. But trade is not capitalism, and so a thesis of the advent of capitalism as the marketization of what was previously sacrosant seems tenuous.

It's entirely possible that these are my misunderstandings, and not Wood's intentions. When she puts aside her debates with other scholars, she writes in a direct and fluid style. I hope she will write an account of her research and theses on this topic for a non-scholarly audience. The subject deserves it.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and Thought Provoking, June 27, 2007

By 

Brian A. Powell "npbb_bap" (Mountain View, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Origin of Capitalism: A Longer View (Second Edition) (Paperback)

This work could be rated higher. It is a very academic treatise and not easily accessible to the lay reader. I found it to be a refreshing examination and restating of historical facts and one small step towards discovering the truth behind the origins of our current society and culture. The ideas and analyses are a concise critique of free enterprise myths as to the origins of capitalism and short comings in Marxist theory.