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Capitalism Is Not What You Think

Capitalism Is Not What You Think

CONFLICTED

March 19, 20261h 9m

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Show Notes

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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