Mother of Capital

How Rent Gave Birth to Modernity

Matthew Costa

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English

Pluto Press
20 December 2025

Marxism & Communism; Economic theory & philosophy; Political economy; Economic systems & structures; Economic history

Rent, or unearned income, is a pervasive concept in contemporary economics. Economists of all stripes see today's global economy as riddled with harmful rents, but most deny these are intrinsic to capitalism, and insist they can be eliminated with the right policies. It begs the question, why is rent theory so critical of the present but so optimistic about the future?

In Mother of Capital, Matthew Costa delves into the intellectual and social history of rent to solve this puzzle. Centring rent as the engine of capitalism's historical emergence in medieval Europe, he offers a groundbreaking, systematic history of rent and rent theory. The book also traces the history of resistance to rent from below, and unearths a neglected body of critical rent theory.

Weaving complex strands of social and intellectual history into a vivid, lively, and original explanation of how the society we live in came to be, Costa makes a bold intervention into contemporary debates about the origins and future of capitalism, the nature of social change, and of history itself.

By: Matthew Costa
Imprint: Pluto Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 216mm, Width: 140mm, Spine: 22mm
ISBN: 9780745350547
ISBN 10: 0745350542
Pages: 320
Publication Date: 20 December 2025
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Introduction: Rent and the Engine of History Part 1: Tributary Rent and Its Critique 1. The tributary rent relation 2. Tributary tendencies and contradictions 3. Ideology, resistance and critique Part 2: Rent, Mother of Capital 4. From tributary to capitalist rent 5. Resistance and critique in transition Part 3: Rent Under Capitalism 6. The politics of Capitalist Rent 7. The economics of capitalist rent 8. Resistance to rent under capitalism Part 4: Rent and the Critique of Capital 9. The critical social theorists 10. The critique of differential rent 11. Capitalist rent as proletarianization 12. Rent and capitalist domination 13. Rent and the critique of ideology 14. Proletarian imaginaries 15. Deproletarianization Conclusion: Capital, Mother of What?

Matthew Costa is an Australian political economist. He has been a sessional lecturer and honorary associate in the Department of Political Economy at the University of Sydney. Alongside his academic work, he has served in economic and advisory roles in the Australian public sector for over a decade. He is currently a Director at New South Wales Treasury, and was previously an economic policy advisor in Australia's Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. He lives in New South Wales.

Reviews for Mother of Capital: How Rent Gave Birth to Modernity

'Sorting out, as Marx put it, this 'shitty rent business', has been a long and winding road. It is fantastic to see Matthew Costa’s book on the topic of rent theory, which will vivify new rounds of debate' -- Adam David Morton, Professor in Political Economy, University of Sydney