How did the dynamic economic system we know as capitalism develop among the peasants and lords of feudal Europe?
Ellen Meiksins Wood (1942-2016), for many years Professor of Political Science at York University, Toronto, was the author of many books, including Democracy Against Capitalism, The Pristine Culture of Capitalism, The Origin of Capitalism, Peasant-Citizen and Slave, Citizens to Lords, Empire of Capital and Liberty and Property.
The Origin of Capitalism was one of those 'Aha!' moments. Wood was
an extraordinarily rigorous and imaginative thinker, someone who
breathed life into Marxist political theory and made it speak-not
to just to me but to many others-at multiple levels: historical,
theoretical, political.
*Jacobin*
The writing is so supple and accessible, and the argument so
persuasive, it's like watching a cloudy mixture of ideas being
turned into a clear solution.
*Adrienne Rich*
This extremely valuable book offers an insightful tour of the
historical debates surrounding the transition from feudalism to
capitalism . a must-read for anyone with even the remotest interest
in the origins of capitalism, or economic thought in general, from
undergraduates through professionals.
*Choice*
Brilliant book . Into the central thread of her argument, Ellen
Meiksins Wood has woven a wonderfully rich texture of comment on
the arguments and debates that preceded her . not just a valuable
new interpretation of an old history, it carries important lessons
for our own times.
*Spokesman*
Ellen showed so many of us what it means to be a committed
intellectual - that it is possible to be intensely moral and
relentlessly analytical; to be passionate but still work with a
cool attention to detail; to be profoundly rooted in a movement but
maintain one's independent judgment.
*Jacobin*
True to her roots as the child of Jewish socialist refugees from
Latvia, Ellen proudly positioned herself on the side of the poor
and the oppressed, celebrating those who have fought for a more
democratic and egalitarian society.
*The Guardian*
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