History · Europe in Transition: From Feudalism to Industrialization
Chapter 15 : Transition from Feudalism to Capitalism – A Debate
Table of contents36 sections
- 1.Transition from Feudalism to Capitalism – A Debate
- 2.Introduction to the Transition Debate
- 3.Karl Marx’s Ambivalence on Transition
- 4.Key Terms
- 5.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 6.Inner-Contradiction Model
- 7.Maurice Dobb's Thesis
- 8.Regional Responses to the Feudal Crisis
- 9.Contributions of Supporters
- 10.Key Terms
- 11.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 12.The Market-Centric Explanation
- 13.Paul Sweezy’s Commercial Model
- 14.The Dobb-Sweezy Debate
- 15.Dobb's Rejoinder and Critiques of Sweezy
- 16.Immanuel Wallerstein’s World-System Perspective
- 17.Key Terms
- 18.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 19.Demographic Explanation
- 20.The Malthusian Cycle Mechanism
- 21.Critiques of the Demographic Model
- 22.Key Terms
- 23.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 24.The Class-Relations Model
- 25.Robert Brenner’s Thesis
- 26.Brenner's Comparative Analysis
- 27.Critiques of the Brenner Thesis
- 28.Key Terms
- 29.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 30.Other Perspectives
- 31.Perry Anderson’s Marxist Eclecticism
- 32.World-System and Global Approaches
- 33.Nation-State Theorists
- 34.Key Terms
- 35.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 36.Quick-Recall Box
Chapter preview
Transition from Feudalism to Capitalism – A Debate
Introduction to the Transition Debate
The 'transition debate' addresses the historical causes behind the decline of feudalism and the emergence of the capitalist mode of production that created the modern world.
- The debate features intense controversy between Marxist and non-Marxist scholars, as well as complete disagreement within the Marxist group of writers.
- There is no single Marxist theory on this transition; scholars differ fundamentally on the definitions of feudalism and capitalism, and the causes of transition.
- The debate was initiated after the Second World War by the publication of Maurice Dobb's Studies in the Development of Capitalism, which was vehemently challenged by Paul Sweezy.
- Chronological debate: Scholars dispute whether 'true' capitalism began with the maturity of merchant capitalism in the sixteenth century or with the Industrial Revolution in England in the second half of the eighteenth century.
Karl Marx’s Ambivalence on Transition
Karl Marx and Frederich Engels did not provide a generic theory of transition, as their primary focus was on the capitalist mode of production, historical materialism, and class conflict.
- Their writings on transition were episodic and incidental, found in:
- German Ideology
- Communist Manifesto
- Pre-Capitalist Economic Foundations (brief notes)
- Capital
- In the 1840s, Marx emphasized 'productive force' or 'technical determinism' as the crucial factor in social change, but later shifted his position.
Marx's Two Alternative Routes to Capitalism:
| Route | Mechanism | Marx's View |
|---|---|---|
| First Route | Corrosive effect of mercantile activity, expansion of market, and growth of cities on feudal systems. Mercantile capitalism within an autonomous urban sphere provided the initial thrust. | Turns products into commodities, but does not explain how labour power becomes a commodity. |
| Second Route | The producer becomes a merchant capitalist. Involves the separation of the vast majority of producers from the ownership of means of production, turning them into propertyless wage-labourers. | The real revolutionary path towards capitalism. Commoditified labour is the only source of capitalist surplus value. |
Marx's Chronology and Preconditions:
- Capitalism does not emerge in western Europe before the sixteenth century.
- Industrial capitalism does not emerge until the late-eighteenth century.
- Industrial…
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