Capitalism and Its Critics
A Battle of Ideas in the Modern World
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Penguin Books Ltd
Publishing:12th May '26
£16.99
This title is due to be published on 12th May, and will be despatched as soon as possible.
This paperback is available in another edition too:
- Hardback£35.00(9780241457009)
At a time when we are faced with fundamental questions about the sustainability and morality of the economic system, Capitalism and Its Critics provides a kaleidoscopic history of global capitalism, from colonialism and the Industrial Revolution to the ecological crisis and artificial intelligence.
John Cassidy tells the story through the eyes of the system’s critics across the globe: from eighteenth-century weavers who rebelled against early factory automation to Eric Williams's paradigm-changing work on slavery and capitalism, to the Latin American dependistas, the international Wages for Housework campaign of the 1970s, and the modern degrowth movement; from familiar figures like Smith, Marx, Luxemburg, Keynes, Polanyi to the lesser-known voices such as William Thompson, the Irish proto-socialist whose work influenced Marx; Flora Tristan, the French proponent of a universal labour union; John Hobson, the original theorist of imperialism; and J. C. Kumarappa, the Indian exponent of Gandhian economics.
Blending biography, panoramic history, and lively exploration of economic theories, Capitalism and Its Critics illuminates the deep roots of many of the most urgent issues of our time.
Fascinating and informative ... This is intellectual history at its best. Essential reading for anyone who wonders how the modern world wandered off course -- Simon Johnson, winner of the 2024 Nobel Prize for Economics and co-author of Power and Progress
A marvellously lucid overview of capitalism’s critics, written in good old-fashioned expository prose -- Pratinav Anil * Guardian *
An impressive history of arguments about capitalism, from the industrial age to our time. Clear and accessible, it is an invaluable touchstone for current debates about economic renewal in our post-globalization moment -- Michael J. Sandel, author of The Tyranny of Merit
Capitalism and its Critics [is an] unexpectedly lively romp through the two-and-a-half-century history of capitalism ... a zombie tale in which the mystery is why capitalism, having so many ill-wishers and so many chronic health problems, keeps rising anew from each crisis – be it the 1930s Great Depression or 2008 financial crisis – even stronger and more resilient. Cassidy ... offers gripping analyses of socialist communes, slavery, imperialism and monetarism; he takes us to the heart of such topical questions as whether tariffs are folly, as laissez-faire orthodoxy suggests, or essential to making America great again, as Donald Trump insists -- Stuart Jeffries * Telegraph *
Cassidy makes the history of capitalism digestible by weaving together, in each chapter, the biography of each of his subjects with their key critique of capitalism, thus humanising otherwise dry debates about economic theory * The Times *
ISBN: 9780141993539
Dimensions: 198mm x 129mm x 35mm
Weight: 500g
624 pages