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.

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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