Introducing Capitalism: A Graphic Guide PDF
Preview Introducing Capitalism: A Graphic Guide
Published by Icon Books Ltd, Omnibus Business Centre, 39–41 North Road, London N7 9DP email: [email protected] www.introducingbooks.com ISBN: 978-184831-765-9 Text and illustrations copyright © 2013 Icon Books Ltd The author and artist have asserted their moral rights. Edited by Duncan Heath No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, or by any means, without prior permission in writing from the publisher Contents Cover Title Page Copyright Capital and Capitalism Capitalism vs. Feudalism The Crusades The Knights Templar Dissolution of the Templars Opening up the Trade Routes Expansionism The Birthplace of Capitalism The Dutch East India Company English Pirates The Power of Private Investment Hobbes, the First Capitalist Thinker The Power of the Individual The State of Nature Leviathan, and the Social Contract Natural Reason and Private Property Labour = Ownership? Locke and Civil Government Locke and Colonialism The Wealth of Nations Self-interest The Invisible Hand Specialization of Skills Free Trade The Scottish Enlightenment The Slave Trade The Rothschilds Industrialization The Opium Wars The Rise of Social Sciences David Ricardo The Cost of Labour The Workers’ Straitjacket John Stuart Mill Utilitarianism The Pleasures of Freedom Rules of Nature and Society Distribution of Wealth Supply and Demand Humane Capitalism? Life in the Slums The Great Famine Movements for Reform The Chartists The Birth of Socialism Control of the Means of Production Bakunin and Anarchism Marx, the anti-Utopian Marx and Hegel Resolving the Contradictions Thesis–Antithesis–Synthesis The End of History? Historical Materialism The History of Class Struggles Das Kapital Value = Human Labour Surplus Value Marx’s Prediction Capitalism Without Imperialism The Rise of the US and Germany The Production Line The “Empires of Trade” The Roaring Twenties The Crash and the Great Depression The New Deal Keynes and Liberal Economics A Healthy Circulation The Cycles of Capitalism Beating Inflation Fighting Depression State Capitalism “Economic Miracles” The Marshall Plan Monetarism vs. Keynesianism How to Ensure Rising Consumption? Cultural Effects of Capitalism Max Weber and the Protestant Spirit Catholic and Protestant Ethics The Rise of Rationality Making Organizations Work for People Neo-Marxism and the Frankfurt School The Adoration of the New Unmasking Consumer Culture Adorno and the Media The Construction of Consciousness Seeing Beyond the System The Situationists Debord and the Spectacle Every Choice a Pseudo-choice Right-wing Critiques of Capitalism Knowing Your Place Liberty and Difference Nozick and Right-wing Libertarianism Taxation as Forced Labour? Fukuyama and the End of History Directional History The Struggle for Recognition Challenging the Free Market The Developing World: Free Trade …? … or State Capitalism? Islam and Capitalism Sharia Banking Bursting the Bubble Further Reading History Weber and Marx Neo-Marxism Conservatism Contemporary Commentary Acknowledgements About the Author Index Capital and Capitalism Capitalism is the name of a family of economic systems based on the private ownership of the means of production and trading goods for profit. Capitalist economies tend to be characterized by free competition and industrialization, although capitalism without industry is not a contradiction in terms. Broadly speaking, capitalist systems give a central role to the accumulation of resources that can be used for further production. These resources, known as “capital”, give capitalism its name. capitalism is not just about short-term profit, but sees reinvestment as the principal source of even greater profits in the future. capitalism vs. feudalism modern capitalism began in the middle ages with the rise of the merchant class. merchants, rich on trade, began to break down the rigid feudal system in which you were usually born into your social, economic and political status. Once it had taken hold in Europe, capitalism spread around the world like wildfire, the driving force behind business, prosperity, empire and exploitation. As capitalism is an economic system based on trade, private ownership, and currency, its development is bound up with the history of trade and banking. but back in 10th-century europe, neither trade nor banking amounted to much. the ancient trade routes and much of the sea was taken over by the muslim kingdoms, and europe was concentrating on pulling out of the dark ages and supplying food for everybody. The food-supplying landowners became the nobility. The feudal economic system they constructed was based on a careful balance between small land units and a stable level of production. Feudalism aims for stability, and this makes it diametrically opposed to capitalism with its search for ever-growing markets.
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