Capitalism: The Reemergence Of A Historical Concept

Description

Capitalism has been a controversial concept. In the second half of the 20th century, many historians have either not used the concept at all, or only in passing. Many regarded the term as too broad, holistic and vague or too value-loaded, ideological and polemic. This volume brings together leading scholars to explore why the term has recently experienced a comeback and assess how useful the term can be in application to social and economic history. The contributors discuss whether and how the history of capitalism enables us to ask new questions, further explore unexhausted sources and discover new connections between previously unrelated phenomena. The chapters address case studies drawn from around the world, giving attention to Europe, Africa and beyond. This is a timely reassessment of a crucial concept, which will be of great interest to scholars and students of economic history. Cover page ......Page 1 Halftitle page ......Page 2 Title page ......Page 4 Copyright page ......Page 5 Dedication ......Page 6 Contents......Page 8 Notes on Contributors......Page 9 1 Introduction......Page 12 Notes......Page 18 Part One Aspects and Dimensions......Page 22 2 Economic and Financial Crises......Page 24 Economic and financial crises since the mid-nineteenth century......Page 25 The historiography of economic and financial crises......Page 29 Crises and capitalism......Page 33 Notes......Page 38 3 Work and Labor Relations......Page 44 The classical interpretation of capitalism with regard to work and labor, shared by liberal, conservative, and Marxist authors......Page 45 Re-definitions of capitalism with regard to work and labor......Page 47 Approaches and scientific networks of re-defining capitalism and labor......Page 48 Labor relations between regulation, remuneration, coercion, and independence......Page 49 From a sequence of stages to synchronicity......Page 59 The transfer of values from labor to capital......Page 62 Wage labor and capitalism: A privileged relationship?......Page 67 Capturing the value......Page 69 In search of the “historical subject”......Page 71 Notes......Page 75 Introduction......Page 82 How do consumers and consumption fit into the history of capitalism?......Page 84 How hyper-consumerism contributes to understanding the history of the present......Page 91 The rise and crisis of Europe’s mass-middle consumer regime......Page 96 “Made in Italy” as European bellwether......Page 99 The euro-moment......Page 102 Scenes from the future......Page 106 Notes......Page 111 The zigzags of business history about capitalism......Page 118 The lights of business history on capitalism......Page 123 What would change in the field of business history if the concept of capitalism was used more intensively?......Page 127 Conclusion......Page 134 Notes......Page 137 6 Finance Capitalism......Page 144 The trajectory of terms......Page 147 Historical origins......Page 149 Credit creation......Page 156 The reinvention of finance and globalization......Page 160 Notes......Page 171 Africanist historiography and the concept of capitalism......Page 176 Africa in a capitalist world......Page 178 Colonialism and forms of labor......Page 181 Decolonization and the “labor question”......Page 184 Conclusion......Page 187 Notes......Page 189 8 Capitalism as an Essential Concept to Understand Modernity......Page 198 Notes......Page 214 Part Two Comments and Conclusions......Page 216 9 The Return of Capitalism as a Concept......Page 218 1. Complexities of “capitalism”......Page 221 2. Distinguishing the histories of markets and capitalism......Page 225 3. Paid and unpaid work......Page 226 4. While “capitalism” was out of fashion, relevant work continued......Page 229 5. Present concerns and the agenda for the study of capitalism......Page 232 Conclusion......Page 236 Notes......Page 237 10 The New History of Capitalism......Page 246 Notes......Page 259 11 Final Thoughts......Page 262 Definitions......Page 266 Periods and types......Page 269 Patterns and trends......Page 271 Conclusion......Page 272 Notes......Page 273 Selected Bibliography......Page 278 Index......Page 286