The Robin/Beckert debate on the “transition” to capitalism (opens in new tab)

Robin and Beckert (wink, wink)I haven’t finished Sven Beckert's Capitalism: A Global History yet (long semester and still grading), so my thoughts on this are still unfinished. Corey Robin, in his review for The Nation, argues that while the book is an ambitious and impressively researched work, it is ultimately hobbled by deep conceptual confusion and internal contradictions.Beckert's central thesis is that capitalism "was born global," and he traces its origins back to long-distance merchan...