The Agrarian Origins of Capitalism

Abstract

The author asserts that the capitalistic system began, not in the cities, but in agriculture within England in relatively recent history. Competition, accumulation, & profit-maximization are at the heart of a market-dependent system, & it requires constant accumulation, finding new markets, & imposing its needs on new land, new "spheres of life," on humans, & on the environment. Even in the 16th century, landlords & tenants were concerned with the improvement of the land to increase productivity & profit. Market imperatives caused exploitation of farm workers & of the independent farmer & his family in order to raise productivity. Failure to increase productivity led to dispossession & take over by larger & more productive groups or individuals. The new system brought widespread dispossession & intense exploitation, & the need for colonial expansion & imperialism in search of new markets & resources. L. A. Hoffman