Capitalism Is Not What You Think

In this Conflicted Conversation, Thomas speaks to Harvard professor Sven Beckert about his new book Capitalism: A Global History (amzn.eu/d/09dmbAP1).

Sven explains:

• Why the history of capitalism matters for understanding the present

• How most histories of capitalism are too Eurocentric

• How merchant communities in the medieval Muslim world and other regions laid the foundations of capitalism

• How European merchants learned from and interacted with merchants in the Muslim world

• Trust networks in global trade, including family, religious, and city-based merchant networks

• How capitalism and state power grew together

• European divergence: why Europe became central to capitalism

• Effects of Ottoman control and European geopolitical weakness on Atlantic expansion

• Role of conquest, slavery, and colonial expansion in building capitalist societies

• Tension between capitalism’s drive for unlimited growth and nature’s limits

• Challenges to neoliberalism from the left and the populist right

Find Sven on Bluesky: @svenbeckert.bsky.social

Visit Sven’s personal website: svenbeckert.com

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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

This episode was produced and edited by Thomas Small.

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