Includes bibliographical references (pages 199-207) and index.
Introduction -- Part I. Histories of the transition. The commercialization model and its legacy ; Marxist debates ; Marxist alternatives -- Part II. The origin of capitalism. Commerce or capitalism? ; The agrarian origin of capitalism -- Part III. Agrarian capitalism and beyond. Agrarian capitalism and beyond ; The origin of capitalist imperialism ; Capitalism and the nation state ; Modernity and postmodernity -- Conclusion.
"How did the dynamic economic system we know as capitalism develop among the peasants and lords of feudal Europe? In The Origin of Capitalism, a now-classic work of history, Ellen Meiksins Wood offers readers a clear and accessible introduction to the theories and debates concerning the birth of capitalism, imperialism, and the modern nation state. Capitalism is not a natural and inevitable consequence of human nature, nor simply an extension of age-old practices of trade and commerce. Rather, it is a late and localized product of very specific historical conditions, which required great transformations in social relations and in the relationship between humans and nature."--Page 4 of cover.