Capitalism

The Story behind the Word

Michael Sonenscher

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Hardback

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English

Princeton University Pres
01 January 2023

Politics & government; Economic systems & structures

How the history of a word sheds new light on capitalism and modern politics

What exactly is capitalism? How has the meaning of capitalism changed over time? And what’s at stake in our understanding or misunderstanding of it? In Capitalism, Michael Sonenscher examines the history behind the concept and pieces together the range of subjects bound up with the word. Sonenscher shows that many of our received ideas fail to pick up the work that the idea of capitalism is doing for us, without us even realizing it.

'Capitalism' was first coined in France in the early nineteenth century. It began as a fusion of two distinct sets of ideas. The first involved thinking about public debt and war finance. The second involved thinking about the division of labour. Sonenscher shows that thinking about the first has changed radically over time. Funding welfare has been added to funding warfare, bringing many new questions in its wake. Thinking about the second set of ideas has offered far less room for manoeuvre. The division of labour is still the division of labour and the debates and discussions that it once generated have now been largely forgotten. By exploring what lay behind the earlier distinction before it collapsed and was eroded by the passage of time, Sonenscher shows why the present range of received ideas limits our political options and the types of reform we might wish for.

'A thorough summary of the Western thinkers who most influenced today's understanding of capitalism.' –Library Journal

By: Michael Sonenscher
Imprint: Princeton University Pres
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 178mm, Width: 111mm,
ISBN: 9780691237206
ISBN 10: 0691237204
Pages: 248
Publication Date: 01 January 2023
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Michael Sonenscher is a fellow of King's College, University of Cambridge. His books include Sans-Culottes and Before the Deluge (both Princeton).

Reviews for Capitalism: The Story behind the Word

"""A thorough summary of the Western thinkers who most influenced today's understanding of capitalism."" * Library Journal * ""[A] provocative new book. . . . one that will provoke much discussion in the fields of modern intellectual thought, political economy and various stripes of global history.""---Tom F. Wright, Times Literary Supplement ""Sonenscher astutely calls our attention to the original meaning of capitaliste and its implications.""---Martyn Ross, Applied Political Theory"