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From Feudalism to Industrial Capital

In: State, Capital and Labour

Author

Listed:
  • Gill Ursell

    (Trinity and All Saints College)

  • Paul Blyton

    (UWIST)

Abstract

Capitalism, said Marx, constitutes a radical change in the relations of interdependence. What he had in mind was, in one respect, the creation of landless labourers reliant on wages for survival and, in another, the political ascendance of those in command of productive, wealth-generating capacities. Speaking generally of the impact of capitalism on labouring people, Marx understood it as a process away from the personalised relations of subordination which characterised feudalism towards the alienation of labour power from its human source, and its commodification for sale on the market. Under the ethos of capitalist market relations, the seller of labour should logically be free both to contract (that is, to select and negotiate with the purchaser on equal terms) and to associate (so as to improve the commodity’s price by controlling its supply). According to this logic the transition from feudalism to capitalism should be a transition in constitutional-legal terms from status to contract relations.

Suggested Citation

  • Gill Ursell & Paul Blyton, 1988. "From Feudalism to Industrial Capital," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: State, Capital and Labour, chapter 3, pages 52-76, Palgrave Macmillan.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palchp:978-1-349-19514-5_3
    DOI: 10.1007/978-1-349-19514-5_3
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