Hilton Rodney Transition Feudalism Capitalism Symposium

7/25/2019 Hilton Rodney Transition Feudalism Capitalism Symposium

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THE RANSITION ROM

EUDALIS TO CAPITALISM

Symposiu

by

Paul M. weezy Maurice Dobb

H K Takahai Rodney ton

Criope Hll

SCIENCE & SOCIETY$l.50


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TE TANITION FO

FEUALI T AITAI

A Sympsiumby

Paul M weezy Marice Dbb

H. K. Tkahahi Rodney Hto

Chh

SCIECE & OIT

30 t 20 SreeNW YORK 3. N.Y.

cond Pinng 1963


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ON

PAGI A CRITIQUE by Paul M. Sweezy 1

[Sciene d Socty. rg 1950]

A REPLY by Mc Dobb 21[Siu nd Socy pg 1950

III A CONTRUTON TOTHE DISCUSSON by H. K. Tkahshi 30

Sienc and Soi F, 1952

IV A FURTHERCOMMENT by Marice Dobb 56[Scinc nd Sociy g 93

V. A REJONDER b Pau M. Swez 9Scinc Soci rg 95

VI. COMMENT by Rody Hlton 5Scince

Societ 95

VII COMMENT by Csopher H 73[Scinc Societ 953

NOTE O COBUTORSDr, Pl Swee fomerly on he s of he cooms Fac o

Havad Uvesity, 949 foded d hs se edtedMonthly Ree nd s uho of The Theo of Citisepment d of The Preent Hito.

auce obb is Lt nd Fow of Tn lge Cambrdg.

H Kohachio Takahahi is rofessor he Impril Unvsi oToko and ho of A Hito of Agan Reform yap(Toko 91).

Rodney Hton s Lect n Hso n he Unives of Bng

htophr Hll s Fow nd To n Hso of Bao CollgOxfod


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RR

FOR histoian, whatever their school of hought he issues inoledn the psent dscusson can hardy f to b teesing ad

impotant. For tho who ae not students of hstoy, however dis

cusson of the decne of feudaism d he origns o captasm maym emote and academc Yet hre are my parts o the worldto-day where sch qestios ar curent poitica sses, as is llstrated by he ely interest that has ben show in ths discssion nfor xampe, Inda nd Jap! Her the inuence of fedal srvasnd the reaton to them of captalsm nd he retardaon o deveop

mnt rgent matters o hstoynhemaking Een in Bitanor Ameica it must be cear to yone who s atal historcaly

mnded hat a study of captaist begnngs and of the way (or ways)

in which capsm merged from he sa system precedng t sreat not esenta, to a derstandng of captam todayFor te sdent o Masm ther s a specal reason why the sses

dscusd hee should caim his attention: e act that al of ema osy rated to the keyqueston of e English borgeos revlon Not oy s he bourgeos reoution for Marsts a hglyimpont consent of the Engsh evoltionaydemocratc tradon, bt its specia features explan much which mght otherwseem obsce in the deeopment of captalsm n rtan in ater

nres. On hs estion of the bourgeos reoton in Engandhe hae been consderable dierncs o opinionderences thatprobaby sti ma mong Englsh Masts despte the dscussons cent years reed to beow by Chistopher Hill who has hmsefconbted so much to bng caty ot o cosion) f one s touaze what hes dierences mont to, one ca only say breyat hey cent round mn iews s foows:

sy her s th ew that in Engand he was no centravent to whch (as w the French eouion of 1789) the name o

bourgois revoton can b gven reotion esense o a crca sht o css power and e naue o h Sta)Insead he was a whoe sres of minor strugges d pai shiftsmong whch eents ke 485 and 688 and he efom of Paament n 832 must cluded on a par wth the 7th cenry civiwa Ths sms to be a noion o Engsh 'eptonsm whichcmes e cs to hos espousd by bourgeois and si demoaic eponents of conni ad aduism

In addio to the atio pad to e n he EncRw of are cuded blow), a sa ssue o ThuhSh Jly 195) of Tokyo. was doed to ad o coga mars; alsa arce n h K Uv Rw or A. 93 edscusso has also n xtsvy rvwd n Ila j Cuu Rl (No 3-4 p40-80) nd te Czc joa Cksks Hsc (93 Vol No3. p39-0) rade may asoar to rf to arce by Pf H K si i vu HquD 93, 229. we sima Qsos Jaans soy ardiscussed wit arar refec the Me Restoao of 66


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Seondly, here is he view that poiti powe hd lrdy inessenls pssed nto the hnds of he bourgeoisie before the TudoPeod, o at least by the reg of Eizabe; ad hat the events of1640 onwds represnted e foestalling d suppession of c-evoluion stged by Cou iles agns bougeois ule.

Uness exponen of hs vew n pot to some ee event {orseres of eets) s ositutig the hnge of powe, theymust evitbly shre w the dvoates of te st vew te attesdeil of ay unque bougeos revolution n nglnd

hrdly, thee s e vew tht th etuy ngad soetyws still mat feudal in fom nd he Sate a feudal State,and ht the Cromwel revouion epreeted E bourgeosrevouion Ths ws e tepretton dved by ChstopheHil (drawing on hs owedge of e wok of the Soviet histonsof this perod)' his booet Th h Reu (Lndo,Lwrene nd Wishar 940) ad ed at he time by rvewer in e bu h

Stndng beween the st two of these d the thid s the viewadvaed by Dr Sweey in the eond of hs otributons beow:t i ts Statefom, as in ts eoom system, udo nd Suarngd represented somethg intemedate in tpe between feudalism ad aptlsm

Closely relted to issues suh s these are te uestions bout temode of prodution of the time wh whih dsussion the followngpges is miny ouped fo exmple questions bout when and howe feudl mode of poduton a poperly be sid to hve ended,ad bout te h nd e of mehnt aptl an the postonof peasnty In te vew of the preent wite ledng obsteto destanding hs been di msoneption bout the le ofmeht apa n the trnstiona misoneption whih it my noted aso ouped prominet pae in the deas of M. Noovy, whh wee disussd nd tied among Soviet hisorins some wenty o mor yers go efe to the noton hmerhant apt, s epeseted by the bg merhts of the rdngguilds ad epo ompnes, was aie the m dssoet offeudsm and ponee of idustl ptsm d tht dstntivesystem of merhn pitalism ly tween mediea feudalism nde mode ndustl revolutio As gst his, Pofessor Taahshis use of te ontrst ween bourgeois rvolution from

beow nd from bove in the ompive sudy of apitaist development i deret ounries stries me s pturly lumn

gNo oe of us ould lim at nlity hs n ed on e

ssus fo one thing, muh reser mains to done in of uesons at r he risd At the sme time few oud dent disussion hs sered, not oy to shrpen te questions wih

Se hs artic 'ovet Intpaons of Engis ntrgnum Em o Rw 1938. Compa also C. H, Hstoans on eRs Brsh Captasm, e nd o Fa 950, p307


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ruthe eseach is equed o aswe, bu to shed que a lo lunation da paces. A anyae, he en we hmlfeels a good deal cleae abot the main ssues than he foely ddFo eades who do not shae he gnea assnions o the acants, I ho may e o demonstae he ah-beakngecacy o Maxsm an hstoica mehod s wel as to u

the agaons o dogmatismo givng steeotyed answes o a o ady-made qestionwhich have bn so common Ineviabhe dscusson bing one among Maxs, has lated boh qesonand answes the gne ccps f hsral melm,sng he as a ame o eence o he solutios oed o aca oblms Bt the umae aea s to histoica acaitsef; and hat hee is no quesion o cng facs ino he Posean bd of eadymade omlae the deas o the discssonshould mae abudany clea

Febay 1954. DOB

Dr. Sweezy, n kndy consenng o e sen eint o hsconibions, asks tha t shold b made clea ha he does noeten to a exe on the eiod nde dsusson, at he svey a fom holdng xed iews on any asec of the sbjec andhat hs intenton thoghot he discussion has ben to ask qestions ah thn to ovide answes to hm


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I A CRITIQU

By SW

We live in the peiod of tansition fom cplsm o socalimjd his fct lends particua inrest to stdis of eaie rnstios

from e social sysem o another This is one reason, among mnyots, why Murce Dobb's Studis n the Dvlopment 0/ Cm' is such tmely nd impotan book Somehng like thirdof the whole volume is devotd to the decine of feudlism and the

rise of capialism. this rcle shl cone my ttenion exclusivey to ts spt of Dob's work

I) Dobb Dnition of Fdalim

Dobb denes feudasm as ing virualy idencl wh what weusuay mean by sfdom: n obgon ad on the podcer byorce and indepndenly of his ow volion to ful cean economicdemnds of oveod whehe thes demnds take te form ofervices o be rfomed o of dus o be paid in money or in kid'(p 35) In keepng wih ths denition, Dobb uss he two tems,feudlism' and sedom' s pctcay itechangeble throughout

e bookIt seems o me hat ths dnion is defecive n not idenfyig

stm of poduction. Sm serfdom can exst in syems which lely not feudal; ad een s the dominan retion of podtioefdom has t diernt times ad i dernt egons en ssocaed wih diern foms of economic ogztion Thus Engels, none of his lst leers to Mx, wroe tha i is certan th sedom dbondage are no pecliy (Spzisch medieva-feud form wed hem eveywher or nerly everywhee wh conquerors hve heand tvaed fo em by he old inhabitant1 It follos I ,ht he concept of feudlism as Dobb dees it s too genea o b

mmediaey appicble to e sudy of partcul region durng apul riod to put it othews what Dobb s lly deng i no one soci sytem but family of socia systems ll ofwhich r basd on sefdom n studyg specic hisoical problems,it is imporant to know not oly tht we re dealing with feudlism

but lso wich membe of the fmily is involvedDobbs pimay terst of coure, lies in weste uope feudal

sm sice it ws in ts region tht cpalism ws bo ad grew tomurity Hnce it seems o me h ough to indicte ery erywh he rgrds s the ma features of weste uopean feudalimd to folow this wit teortcl nalysis of the ws and tende of system wit ese picipl features I shll y to shower tt hs failure to follow is course leds to number ofdoubtful genealiios Morover, I the sme eso ccou

Lo: Rutd d K u Nw York: tto i946

-E S sn 41 f


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for Dobb' frequen praice of invoing fual ppo from a wd d pids f armet whc ae pped wee Erop and ca rely ony be eed in erm of weeEuropean experience.

Ti i no o ay, o core, a Dobb no orougly familw wee European fedaA one pon (p36 .)concie ouine of mo mporan caraceric: 1 a low lveof ecnqe n wic nen of prodon are mpe andgnerally nnive and e a of prodcion argely ndviduain caracer; e divion of labour ..bng a a very prmiiveleve o devopmn; (2)oeod or vilage-commy and no for a wider marke; 3 )dmenenng farming of e lord' eae ofen on a conderable cle by compuoy labor-v' 4) poca decenrala

ion' 5 condional oldig of d by lord on ome ind of ervceenre' (6 poon by a lord o jdicia or a-udci depede ppuato Db ayem avig ee caracec a e caic' orm of edlm

b wod be e ley o miead if wee caled e weeEuropea ormT fac a euda mod o producion wano coned o i clac orm' i apparenly Dobb raon for nonalyzng i cure and endncie more coely. In my dgmn owever c an nalyi i enial if we ar o avoid confuon n or aemp o dcover e cau of e downal o eudlm n wee Erop.

(2Drawng on Dobb depon we can dene wee Europen

feudaim a an economc yem n wic efdom i e predomnarelaon of producion and n wc producion i organed in andarond e maoia a of e ord I mpoan o noce a

i denion d mp na ecmy' aece mony anacon or money cacuion.Wa do mpy i amre ar for e mo pa ocal and a longdince !radewleno neceariy aben play no deeminig role n e prpo ormeod of producionTe crucl feare of eudalm n i ni a a yem of f u Te need of e communy ar nown ad prodon i panned and organied w vew o afyng ee need T a emly mporan conence.A Ma aed in C car ...a n any giveonomc formaon of ocey were no enge vaue b eu vaue o e prodc predomina urplu labor imd

by a gvn of wa wc may be graer or e nd a h b f u b fm h nu f u f Tere in or word, non o e pure wce under capam for connual improvemen n mod pod Tecnue ad m g dw a I, p 260 Italics ade. efernces to aa are the Ke

diti)

2


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established grooves. Were s is e case, as sorc maerlismeaces ere s a vey song endeny for wole lfe of soceyo b oened oward csom and radion.

We ms no conclde owever a sc a sysem s necessrlysabe or sac One eemen of nsabily s e compeon amonge lords for and and vassals wic ogeter fom e fodaion of

powr and presige. Tis compeo s e analoge of componfor ros udr capiasm b s eecs are qe deren Igeneraes a more or ess connos sae of wafare; b e reslaninsecury of ife and possesson far from revoloizng meods o

prodcion as capais compeiion ds mely accenaes emal deendence of lord and vassal and s reinfores e bascsucure of feuda relaions Fedal warfae pses impoverses, andexass sociey b as no endency o ransform i

A second emen of insabily is o be fond in e grow ofpopaion Te scre of e manor is sc as o se lmis o enmber of prodcer can employ and e nmber of consmers ican sppor, wie e neren conservasm of e syse nbsoverall expanson Ts ds no mea, of corse a no grow s

possible oly a ends o ag beind poplaion ncrease. Yongrsns of sefs are psed o of e regar framework of fedalsciey and go o mae p e ind of vagran opaon-ivng onams or bgaage and spplyng e raw maeial for mercnary

rmies wic as so caersic of e Midde ges. Sc a srps popaon owever we conribing o nsabiy and insecriy, exercises no creaive or revooning nence on fedalsociey"

We may concde en a wese Eopean fedasm, n speof cronc nsaby and insecy, was a sysem wi a ve srongbias n favor of mainaining givn meods and reaions of prodcon ink we are jsed in sayng of wa Ma said of ndiabefore e peiod of Bis le:

'e civi wars nvasons, revo

ions coness famnes . . dd no go deeper an s srac beieve a f Dobb ad aen f acco of s ereny con

servaive ad cangeressng caracer of wese Eropean fedalsm e wod av been oged o aler e eoy wic e psforward o accon for s dsiegraion and dele n e laerMdde ges

(3) Dbbs Te t De f Fesm

Dobb sares e commoy acped explanaion of e decne of fedasm foows

It might b thougt that te vigoros coloizaon ad recaatio v-ment of th lf a hreenth centures sprovs ts agu. Ihink, howver this s t th as The coozao vn to ha b a reex of the wh of a ad oody podin,ot a mifstao o e al xansiv poer of dal y Hr Prnne Em ad a Hy Mdva Ee (NwY 1937) . 3 sec i

El B"' ed A abk f Mxm (Loo 935) p 183


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W a ofn pesnted wi e piur o a mo or lss sab conomyta was dsngad y he mpac o commre acng as an x( oeand dopng ouside th sysm ha nay ovewhms. ar vnnereion of e anson fom he od oe o h new a ds domnan asa sequences wihn h sphe o ecange eween manoiaeonomy and osid wod 'Naa economy and ean economya wo eonomc ods a ao mx, and h psen o h ae w

ae od is scien o ause om o go ino dissoion p38)Dobb ds no deny he 'otandng importane of this proce:Tha wa conneced wi e hangeha were o marked a e endof he Midde Age is evdn enoug p 38) B he nd iexplanaon inadeqae beae i ds no pro dpy enog nto ee of ade on fedalim If we eamine e probem morloly, he arges we shall d ha there sem, in fa, o be asmh evidene ha he growh of money economy r led o aninencaion of sedom as here is evdene ha wa he a

of he feda deline (p 40) n ppo of h onenon e esa onderabe body of soal daa, e oandng cae benge reudeence of Fedam n Easte Europe a he end of feen cenury-a "econd srfdom of w Fredrich Enwroe a revva of e od syem wc was assoated wit egowth of prodcion for e mare p39 On te ba of chdaa Dobb reaons ha f the ony facor a wor in wee Euroehad en e rie of rade e rsl mgh as wel have been an in

ensaon as a dinegraion of fedalsm. And from hs followha e ms ave en oher faors a wor o brng abo eaay obved

Wha wer ese faors? Dobb believes a ey an be fond nide e feda eonomy ef He ondes hat te evdene sneer

very plenif nor onve b he fe a s evdence a weposss rongly indiaes ha wa e ineieny of edasm aa yem of prodon oped wih he growng needs of he rungla for revene a was pimarily reponbe for is dne; snce

i ned for addiional revene promoed n inras n te presreon he proder o a pon where pressr ae erally n

endrabe (p 42) Te oneen of h growng pre was hain he end i led o an ehason, or aa disappearane, of helaborfore by w he yem wa norished (p 43

In oher words, acording o Dobb heory, he essenial ae ofe brakdow of fedalism wa overxploaion of he labor foreerfs deseed he lords esaes ss and hose who remaned

we oo few ad oo oveored o enable he sysem o maiainilf on he old bai wa hes developmens rer h e ieof rade, wih ford he fedal ling ca adop hos epedents commut tion

of labor svis easig demesne lands o anfamer, e-which ly led o anfomaion of podtiveaion in e counyde.

A Critique of Dbb's The

n oder o mae hi eoy ad p, Dobb m sow ha h


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feudal rlng class's growig need for reveue and the ight of erfsfrom te land can both be explaied in tes of forces opratig nside e udal syste Lt us ee how he atmpts to do his.

Firs wit gard to the lods nd,or rveue Hre Dobb cites anum of facors which he rgards as nhrnt in the euda sstmSes we hed i contempt and wer lookd upon prmary as asource o icom (p. 43 f) Th sz o th parastic class ended toexpand as a result of aura growth of noble famiis sub-eudaton ad the mulpcato o ret ins of whom had to besupportd fom the surpus labor of he srf populaion War adbrigandage swelld the expss o udal hosholds ad spreadwase nd devastao ovr land Fay as the ag o chivaadvacd th xravagances of noble housholds advacd also whi lavish fass ad costy dsplays vyig emuaio i hr

cult o magnicenia (p 45Two of thes actoisgad or th inss of he srs andwar nd brigandgesd throughou th whole prod nd ifthey becam mo intens wh h passage o tim ths rquires to epaind: t canot simply b ta for gantd as a aural atur of fudaism obb maes o atmp o pla such a tdhowve; and ven th spcial dran which h arbuts to h crsads dung te dcisive prod of feudal devlopmet s of doubul

signcance Atr al th crusaders fough e East andthey

natrally lved for th mos par o h land th sades were to acerta ex looig expdtons which brought maerial rewards totheir sponsors and paricpans and they wr in large part subtitues for rather than additos to he normal fudal warare of thetie O th whol it sems o me at these two factors providelte suppor fo Dobb's ho.

It s somwha deren howevr with the other wo factosnamely the gowh in h siz of th parasitc class and the growing

tavaganc o noble houholds Here we hav m evidceof a ed fo incasd evue Bu wheher we also have he ecsary support fo Dobbs thory is more doubl Th growth n esize of the parasitc cass was machd by a growth of the er populaion. Morover hroughout the Midde Ages thre was plty ofcltvable land o be brough nto use ece despit its xmelyovaiv aur te fudal sysem did xpad slowly but steady.Whn we a accont of th fac tha wara too its main tol from

the uppr ordrs (sice they alone wee permitd to bar

) wemay wll doubt whehr here was a sicant gowth in hesze of the parasiic class he absence of ny lear factual evideceone way or the othr we wod crtainly not justid in aibuingdecsve wght to tis fctor

On th other hand thre is no reason to doubt the alit of groing eavagace of th feudal rg cass here the evidec isplnul and it points in he sae direction ut was ths growingextravagance a end which cn explained by the natre q te

eudal tem or dos it reect somehing that was hapng outside


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he feudal sysem? I sems o me hat on genera grounds we shodexpec he aer o e he case. Even der sch a dyamic sysem ascapalism, sponaeos changes cosmer' ases are of egigibleimporance" and we shold epec hs o e re oto in a radon-bound socey ke fedaism Moreover, once we oo osdehe fuda sysem we d ampe reaso for he growig eravaganceo he edal rig class: he rapd epansio of rade rom heeeveh cey onward rogh a evercreasng qy andvaey of goods wihn s reach. Do recogzes he exsenc ofs eaon beween rade and he eeds of he eda rulig lass,u seems o me ha he passs over i aogeher OO ghy If hehad gve i he wegh i deserves he coud hardly have maanedha he growing eravagance o he rug class was de o caseseal o he fedal sysem

Le s ow u o he problem o he gh of he sers from helad There is le doub ha his was a mporan case o hecr of he fedal economy a characerzed he foureenh ceuyob assumes ha i was due o he oppresso o he ords (whch iu had is orgin n her growng nd for reveue) ad ca hsbe eaied as a process ea o he eudal sysem Bu has hemade ou a covncng caSe for hs assmpon

I hk o he ses cod o smply deser he manors, omaer how eating heir mase mgh ecome uess hey hadsomewhere o go. s e as I have argued aove h feudalsocey eds o geerae a srplus o vagra popuaio; hisvagra populaio cosuig he degs o sociey is made p oose for whom here is no room o he manors, and s hardyreaisic o sppoe ha ay consderale nmer o serfs wod delerey abandon her holdngs o descd o he oom o hesocia ladder.

hs whole prolem however aes o a enirely new aspeco

whch Dob pays sprisigly Hle aenowhen we rcal ha hegh o he sers oo pace simlneousy wih he grow of he ownsespeciay i he wel and hreeh ceries here is o doubha he rapdly deveopng ownsoering as hey did liey empoe ad improved socal s tu aced as a powerfl magneo he oppresed rurl populao. Ad he urghers emseves, nned o addona labor power ad o more soders o enhane her

T for am, um f jd am a dr aam omr av a r a lb ada al a om a d o ad bro ao brodr ao, Busns yc, w York, 93) . 73 Ndo a, amo fl aod w t Maa or of tma of rodo or ouo

od b rd a a amto o a abd faRd Ho a d of da oom or o wom obakowd dbd Prfa, a a rw a o a adqa atal roof a a aab um ofaa lf tr od fo ao ad [ orabl o

do of oro] o Qu;Jy I (Summr 9 26


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iitary stregt, made evey eort to facltate th escape of erfs from the jursdcton of ter masters. 'Ter is feqey:Mar commeed n a eter to Eges sometg qte pathetc abouthe way the burgers n e tweft centry nvite te peasats toescape to he cities Aganst ths bacgrod t moveme awayfrom he ld, wich wod othewse be icomprehesble s seento be te nara coneqece of he r of te tows. No doubt theoppression of which Dobb writes was a import factor predisposing e srs to igt but actg by tef it cod hardly aveprodced a emgratio of arge propotos.

Dbbs eory of te tera causaton of te breakdon of feudalism coud stl be resced f t cold show hat e se of tetowns was a procss intea to te fedal systm But as I readDobb wold ot mantan ths He takes a eclcc postio on

he qesto of e 01 of the medeva tows but rcogzs tater grwth was geeray proportio to er mporce as trading ceers Sc trade ca in no sene be regarded as a fo offeda economy it folows that Dobb cold ardly argue that the reof uban fe was a cosequece of ternal feudal causes

o sum p ths crtqe of Dobbs teory of h dece of edaism avng negected to anays te aws and tedecies of westeEuropan fedaism e mstakes for immae treds cerai hstorca deveopmts wch in fact can oly be explaed as arsg from

C2ses etea to the system

(5 M o h Tho / the D 0 dalm

Wie d Dobbs thory of the dece of feudasm usatsfactoy on severa conts tn e as neverheess made a mporatcontrbton to te souto of he problem ost of hs specc crtcsms of tradtoa teories ar we tae; ad i seems clear tato teory wic fals to take ito accout he factors whc Dobb

stressesspecialy the growig traagce of th rlg cass de ig of he serfs from the ad-can be regarded as correctHece he followg otes nd suggestos owe mch to Dobb evewre tey depart from hs vews.

t seems to me tat Dobb has ot succeeded i shang tat part of commoy accepted heory whc hods tat the root cae of thedecne of feudasm was the growt of rade Bt he as shown atte impac of trde o te feda system is mor complicated han

Scd spndnc, p. 7

As I ague below, it was e relave absence of urban lfe n easeEue wh lft te peasanr tee a te me of e ods andbug abou e rudesene of sefdom n a egon feenenu Dobb be aled ed is 'seond serfdom n easeEope agans e vew a ade nessaly ends o bng about edsnegaon of feuda econom We an now see tat e robem s nealt much moe omex Near he nes of ade e ee on feudaeonm s strng disinenj fu awa e e tends to be use ooste Tis s an mon Queson to w we sa u ae

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has usuay en hought: the ida that trad quals 'money economyand that mony economy is a natura dssovnt of udl reations imuch too simp. Lt us attempt to xpo the reation of ade tohe uda economy mor cosey

It ems to me that the mportant conict in this onnecion s otbween 'mony conomy and Cnatura economy bt betwen prodction for the markt nd production for us W ought to ty to cover th process by which rd engendrd a m o producofor the market, and then to trce th impact of this system on e peeistnt euda system of producton or us

Ay but most primtve economy rquirs a cet amount oftrad Thus th oca viage markets nd th tinrant ped o he

Europan Dark Ages wer props rathr than rats to the feudordr they suppd essnta nds wthout ukng arg nough toac the structur o conomic ratons When trad rst began to pand n th tnth century (or prhaps vn befor) t was in thspere of ong-dstance as distingushd from pury oca xchngeo ratvey expens goods whch coud stand the vey high trnport costs of th m As ong as ths xpansion o trad rmandwin the forms of what may b cd th peddng systm i c

ncssary emaned sght But whn t ougrw h pddng stageand bgan to rsut n he stabishmnt o ocaizd tradng andtransshpmnt cntrs a quatatvy new actor was ntroducd Forthes cntrs, hough asd on longdistance exchang invitay beca gneratos of commodity production n er own gt heyhad to b provsond from th surrouding counysde; and tirhandcrafts modying a highr form of scaizatio and dvsonof aor than anythng know to th mnoa conomy not oysuppd th town popuaon itsf wth needd producs bu asoprovded commodts whch the ura popuaton coud purchsewt the proceds of saes in h town market As s procss odd, the transacons of th ongdstanc adrs, whch fdt sd from whch he tradng centrs grew ost ir uniqu mportance and proay n the majoy of cass came to occupy asecondary pac in e tow economis

W se hus how ongdsanc trade coud be a cratv orebrngng nto existnce a m of producton or xchange aongside

s be te a e be f he gwth f ae i the MiAges is i nce aate f e be f ecie f feuasGate e fact hat ae ceae w o e n.feuas was bun be iuec cea ways Tee s n sachee f a iscusn f he eass f he wth f ae; I wi yay a I n Pene's tey-whch stsses te eeg f Medteaea shn a f he weste t i e eevent ceya e eveet by te Saniavias f ceca utes f eNt Sea a e Batc via Russia he Bak Sea f e

centt be qe cvcg B ceay e es t ave accetPes the i e age a e w f ae was e ecvefact gi aut te ce f wese Euea feas

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e od fedal sysem of producon fo ue." Onc juxtaposed thesewo systes nauay gan ac upon each ohe Let us eanesome of he currens of nuene unnng o the exchange econoyo he se econoy

In he s pace, ad pehaps os mpotanty, he neceny

of the anoa oganzaton o poducon-whch pobably no oneecognized or a eas pad ay attenton to, as ong as t had no rvalwas now ceay reveaed by conast wth a or ratonal syste ofspecazaon and dvson of abo Manufacured goods cod bebough oe cheapy han hey cold be made, and hs pesse toby geneaed a pessue o sel Taken togehe, thee pessresopeated powey to bng the euda estaes whn he ob ofthe echange economy 'O wha use now, Penne asks, wee hdoesc workshops whch on ach poran ano used o antaa ew scoe sefs to anfacure xtes or arng oos, no hafas wel as they wee now ade by he arsans o he neghbongown? They were allowed o dsappear alos everywhere n heose o he welth nur

Second, he vey exstence o echange vaue as a assve eonoact tends o transom he atde o podces now becoespossbe o ek ches, no n he absd fo o a heap of peshabegoods b n the very convenent and oble for o money or cas

o oney he possesson o wealth soon becomes an end in sef nan echange econoy, and hs psychoogca ransformaon aesnot only hose who are edaey nvolved bt aso (hough dobtess to a es degee) hose who come no contact wh he echangeeconoy Hence not ony echants and ades bt aso ebes ofthe old euda socey acque wha we shoud ca oday a bsnesske atde owad economc aas Since bsnessen w havea need for more evenue, we have here a pa o he expanaton ofhe ung casss gowng need fo evenue, on whch, as we have

sen, Dobb paces so ephass n accontng o he deno feudasmhd, and aso poan n he same connecon, s he deveop

en of e ases of e feud ung cass A Prenne descrshe pocess,

in vry decon wh commrc spread, t cead he dr for he nwatcls f cnsmtn, whch brugh wt . As always haens, arscracy whd t srnd meves w he lxry or a eas thcmfor ng hr scal rank We se a nc, for nsance, y comar-

ng lf f a kn n the lvnh cenry wh a of one n twe, how he eeses nssaed y fd drss, hsehld fad abv a11, ams s ewn ths two eros.

In hs cnncn, i s imprtan recognze ha h cnas bewnh w forms f ecom is y n mans denca wi h coras be-

tween town and conry. Rural as w1 as urban prodcin for the mark

is included i xcang conomy. Hec th elave mptan ft w

forms f eConmy can never be masurd by a simpl indx l the o-poriono urban rapplatn.

82enne op Cit, .

d p. 81


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He hav what s probably th key to th fudal uing class's needfor creaed reven in the later Middl Ages.

FnalY3 th rs of th tons, which wer te cnts ad breedersof xchng conomy ond up to the servil popaton of theconysde the prospet of a frer ad tter ife hs was n

doubtdly te main caus of that ight from the d which obbrghy consdes to have n one of the decsve factos n e ecn of feudalism

No doubt th se of exchg conomy had oher ets 0 told order but I thn tat the for which have ben mntoned wescntly pvasive and powerf to ensr te bag p of eprexstng yst of prodution The supor ciny of moehghly specalzed pducton t gater gans to b mad by producng for the maret raher than for immeda use the gater

aracveness of tow lfe to t worr : thse factors mad t oya matter of tme before e new sytem onc strong nogh to standon its own feet wod win out

But th tmph of exchge economy ds not necssarly mplyth end of either srfdom or demsn-fanng Exchange economy scompatble wth savey srfdom ndpendent selfmpoyed labor orwag-labor Hstoy s ch n exampls of prodon for the martby a the nds of abor Dobb s thfore nqtonaby right nrejcng the theoy that the i of ade automatcaly bngs wi itthe iidaton of srfdom; and f srfdom s dntied w fudalsm this s of cors true x dto of feudalsm too The fact thathe advc of exchage economy actaly went hd n hand wththe decline of serfdom s somethng which has to be expaned; itcaot smply be taken for granted

In lyzng this problm we can I safey pass over uneven charatr of the dee of sefdom in west ro obbponts ot that for a m n some rgons of west uo the pogrss of trade was

accompanedby an ntenscaion

rather tana relaxation of th bonds of sefdom Ths s no dobt ad mpoat and he succeds ceag p a numr of appant paradoxes t tempory and paa veals of end shod notbe aowd to obsur the overall pitur whch is one of the steadyreplacemnt of demesne-famn sng sf labor by tnant fgsng ether ndpdent peasant abor Or (to a mch smar xtent)ed labor The al prob s t account for s ndyg ted

It sms to me tat of t compex of causs at wok two stand

ot as disively mpota n the st plac th ise of te townswhch was farly gneral houghout west rope dd a gat dealmoe ta merely oer a haven of rfg to thos sefs who d mano t also ated t poson of ho who rmaed ndProbably only a avely sma propoon of he tota r ofsfs actually packed up nd movd to te tows bt ough did tomak t pressu of te hger standds noyd t t ecvely felt t coutyside Just as wages must r n a lowwageaa whn worke have t possbiy mvng o a gwag

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aa, so concessions had o be mde to srs wen tey hd he possiiliy of moving o te towns. Such concessions were necessry ne drcon of more freedom nd e ransfotion of feuda duesno money nts

In e second plce, wie e mano coud b, and in many cases

was, ue to producton for the mrk, it as fundmenally necien nd unsued o ha purpos Techniques we prmiive nddison of bor ndeveloped From n admnisrative pont of view,the manor was unwedy : in paricur tere was no clear-cut sepration of producion from consmpion, so a te costng of productswas lmos mpossibe Moreover everying on e manor ws reguated by custom ad trdion Tis apped no ony to he mehodsof culivaon ut so to e uny of work perfoed ad ts

dvson betwen necessry nd suplus our e serf d duiesut he aso d rigts Tis woe mss of cusoary rues nd regulaons constuted so mny obstces o te rational exploition ofhmn d mei rsources for pecunry gn" ooner or ernw ypes of productive rltions and new foms of orgnzton dto b found o mee te requrmets of cged economic order

s ths resonig refuted by te 4second serfdom' of te sxteetcenury and after n easte Europe on wich Dobb places so muchsress? How dd t appen tt n is cse e growt of opporni

es o rde led to a dramaic and enduring intensicion of the bondsof serfdom

he answer o tese questons wil be found, tin, in egeogrpy of e second srfdom in e fct at he phenomenonbecomes ncreasngly marked ad svere s we move eastwrd yfrom te center of te new ecnge economy A e cener, ereown ife is most ighly developed te griculural borer s an

U Dobb often seem to overook th apect of feudasm ad to asume hat

only the vllei tood to ga fom the aolto of sefdom He end toforge tat 'he enfrahemet of he peaants wa n realty the efrancsement of te ladowner who, havng hencefort to deal wh freme who were not attahed to h and could dsoe of the later bmean of smple rvocabe contact whoe bref durato enabled h tomodfy them n accodace h he ncreasng ret of te and P reeA History 0/ Euope fm the Ivl t e XV1 Cenuy (New Yor1939), p. 53.

Prenne gve e folowg graph decrpton: To the west of the Elbethe chage had no artuar consequence eyod a recrudecence of cor-ve prestato and arbtrary measur of eey knd Bu byod the rern randenurg a Slesa Austra ohema nd ungar he mostmere adantage wa taken of t e decendant o te fe colonsto he rteenth ceury were ytemaaly depved of ther lad andreduced to te poton of persoal erf (Lebegene). Te whoesale explotato of etate absorbed her holdg ad reduced em to a sevlecodton whc s cloey appromaed to hat of slaver at t waermbe to el the peron of te erf ndependely of he o Fomte mdde of te steenh cetury e whole of the rgon to he eat ofe' Elbe and he Sudeen Mountais ecame overed with Ritteguter ex-ploted b 'unke who may e ompared a regards the degree of

humatydplayed n

her treatment of ther whte aes wt e pla-er of the Wet Ine bd. 534.

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ateave to emaiig on the soi; and this gves hm, as it wea stong barganng posiion. When the uing cass s to productionfo te maket wh a vew to pecuniay gan nds t necessay tosot to new moe exble ad relatvey progressive forms of explotation On the pephey of e exchage economy on the otehnd te eative position of the andod and the agcutural laboe

is very dierent The woker caot un away becase he has nopace to go: for al practca purposs he is at the mecy of the od,who moreove has neve been subjected to the civizing poxmityof urban lfe When te expnsion of trade nstis a lst for gn intoa rung cass n this positon the esult is no the development ofnew fS of expotation but the ntenscaton of od foms M,in he folowng passage (even though he was not specicay conceedw te second serfdom in easte Euro), went to '"he oot of thema

As soon as popl wos pduton stl ovs wtn t lowr fors oslav-laor, ov labor t, ar dran nto whrlpool o an ntrnatonal ark donat y t aptals od o prodo, sao r poduts o xpor bong h prnpal ntrs, vlzorors o ovrwok ar t on t arbar horrs o slavr, srd,t'1

Dobbs heory hods that the declne of western European feudasmwas due to e oveexpoitation by te uing cass of socetys labopowe If he easoning of this secton is corect, it seems to me that t

woud be moe acate to say that the decine of weste Europeanfeudaism was due to he abiity of the uling cass to mantan contro ove and hence to ovepoit, soceys abo powe

6) Wt Cam At udlm i Wt Euop?According to Dobbs chonoog-which would probably not be

serousy disputd by yoneweste Eopean fedaism ented aperod of acute cisis in the founth cery and therafter dsnte

grated more o ess rapidly in deren egons On the ote hande cano sak of te bgnnng of te captaist perod unti thesecond haf of the sixteen century at the ealest. Ths rases thefoowng question how are we to speak of he economc sysem inthe neveing priod beeen then [ie e dsintegraton of feudalism] and the late sixteenth cenuy a perod which accoding toou dating sms to have en nether feudal no yet captaist so faras ts mode of prodution was conceed? (p. 19 his is a impont queston and we should be gae to Dobb for asg it in

ths cearcut fom.Dobbs answe to his own eson s hestant and ndecsve p. 19

21 ue e feudal mode of poducon had eached an advancedstage of disintegaon; a merchant borgeoisie had grown to weahand inuence; 'nhe urban hndcrfts and n the rse of well-todond mddligwetodo freehold fames one sees a mode of producton which had won its ndendence from Feudalsm; the maority Cp. I p 260.

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of small enans . pad a money rnt; and Ithe esaes were for hemost par armed by hred labor.' Bu Dobb qualies almost eve onof hes semens and sums up by sayng ha socal reations in heouside bewn producers d their lord ad matr rainduh o heir medieva harater, and muh of he ntegumen ateas o he feudal order rmained n other words Dobbs nswer

ake it is ha he perod was feuda afr allTh answer however s not vey satsato. he perod to

be regarded as eudal even rom he poin o view of Dobb omprehesve dntion hen at the very eas it ought o have beenharaerzd by he continued predomnane of serdom in thode. And ye there s good autho for the view thaths was presey the period durng hch srdom deined to relaey sma proporions all over weste Europe

n England [Max wrote] fdom had practicay dapeaed he atpa of e oureenth enur. Te imene majoy of te ou3onned hen and o a sill rger exent n e tn nur of repeaan roreor waeve he eudl tte under wc e rig oproer wa idd'1

seems ha Max had sevaons abou how wdespread hs developmen was on he coninen but ore the end o his lie hemust hav given hem up he end of 882 three months beforeMars death Enges wrote a paper deaing wh he Mak, the oldGeman and sysm He sen the manusp o Marx ommentighat "he pont abou he almos otal disappearanc (Zuckteten)o serdom-legally Or acually-n the heenh ad ourteennures s he mos mpoan to me caus fomery ou expressda dvergen opnon o his wo days later wrote ac:Retung the manusrip ve gd. And to hs Engels replied gad ta on he hisory o srfdom we proeed in agreemens hey say in busness

hse passages show ha i was he consdered judgmen of Mand Engels ha by he fenh centuy he subsane had largelyone ou of euda fS and ha sedom had ceased o be the dominat elation o producion hroughou wese Europe here sng in the evidenc cied by Dobb o covice me a we wouldbe usied n revesing hs judent

Dobb mgh answer ha he ds not dsagr ha he conceds ubsial disappearane o srfdom nd ha is haraceizao othis period as esnally feudal is based o he fac tha he peasanwas sill esced n his movemens nd n mny ways dependenupon he landlord What he says (pp 6566) could cosued in hs nse nd Chistopher H who s a good poso

1 , p 788 eleced oepodee p 8 Be/wec M-E-L Insute ed., V, p 94 is leer

no clued e eleed oepodece

ee oepodece p 41113


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o know Dobb's meing, lends suppor o this intepretaion. According o Hil:

Mr Dobb's deiton of feudalsm enales him to make lea wat ralEngand n te tent and siteenth cenies was ik. He jets he viewhc dentes feudalsm wt labou seces and attibutes fundamentalsgcane to te aboition o serdom n Engand M Dobb shows ta

peasants ayn a money ent (he oeeming maoity of e steententury Engis ounysde) may e dendent in numeous othe ays one landod unde wom ey e . Catast reatons n agricutuew sradn n sxteenh-centuy Enand, ut oe most e cone dominant eation of eoitaton as stl euda The imantthng is nt he e om o te latons eween od and pesan butthe economc contt of s latios:

It ems to me hat to srtch the concep of feudism in this wayis to deprive it o the quality of denieness which s essential t

scentic usflness. If the fact tha tenns a exploited by d innumerous ways dependent on, dlords is the hlmark of eudalism,we shod have o concude or xampe that certain gons of heUned Sates a today feda Such a descripton may be jusedfor jousc pposes; bu f we were to go on from there adconclude that he economic ystem uder which ths regons of henited Sates live today is in fdamenta rscts idencal with theeconomic system of he European Middle Ages, we shod be e o

the way o serious conusion I think he same appies houghobviously in less extreme degre if we assme a fundamental dentybetween the economc sysem of Englnd n he sixtenh centuryand he eonomic sysem o Engand in the thiteenth cenuy Andy to call them "both by the sme nme, or even to refrain frmgiving them dierent names, is inevitaby to invite such assump-on.

How then sha we charcerie he perod between he end ofeudaism and th gg of captalism? I think Dobb is on therght rack when he says ha the wo hudredodd yeas which eparated Edward III frm zath wer certainly trnsiona in characer and ha s true, and of oustanding impoance for any properundersandng of ths ransion ha the disinegraion of he eudalmod of prducion had already reached an advanced sage hcapitalst mode o producton developed and that this dsntegratodid not proced in y close associaion with he growth of the newmode of prduction wihin he womb of the old (p 20). Ths ems

o me to be enly corrct ad beeve tha f Dobb had followed itup he would have rrived at a satisfactory souion of pobem

We usully thn of nstion from one soci sysem to nothes prss in which wo systems dirly cofro each other ndgh i ou for suprmy. Such pross of course, ds o exclud possibility of trnsional fO but these tnsiion fos hought of as mixts of element frm two sysems which ryig or mstey. I is obvious, for exmple h the nsitio om

w Q II r, ,


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apalm o oalm poeg alog om e a ee;a a o o mae a e eae o o aum aeae ao m ave ma

So a a e ao om am o apalm oeoweve a eou eo A ogog aem y Dompaze, eualm wee op wa aa mo

o aual a eoe apam wa o oow a eveg po wa o a mpl me o am a apam poma em we neith eal nor apa

T o l dld dsuss l a mp all e m w peva w op g e e a e u peapa ommopo o a a wa e gow o ommo pouo w m ealm a somewa la, a wo o uo a aal omp ppae

e go o gow o apalm ao om am o apam o a ge pe po ao ao om apam o oamu ma p o wo pa w p aa pom ae o aa epaal.

mg og a aaao o ao omuam o apam o w e aoa Maav k o o a o o make xp a

po w ae mp vewAlo [M wrote1 we ome aoss he begis o capas

do as ea as e foueeh o ftee ey soaday ean ows of he Medteaea e aas ea dates rom se e. Weeve t aeas e aboo of sedom has o eeeeted d e hhes deeome of e mdde aes te exsee ofsoee ows has o bee o e wane

aga

e ao o ommodes s e sa ot o aa Commoddo ad deeoed ommody ao tre, fom the historc

= I s o eessa o sY a te eod o- or osfea seommo odto ad edasm ae ma ese oes Ote ohe and, aasm s se a om of od rodto ado s reaso e qaao 'eaas ms be e made

I od be aed hat e es ame fo e sstem wod e 'smeo do s ts s a weesabsed oe Maa tem me oee u h eTm s wa m ead

o eessay ofso Sme ommod odo s sa dedas a em of deede rodes ow e_ ow meas of roo ad sasy e was b mas o ma eae ahorea osto s se o a me o easos : or eame abes s to e e oem o eae ae s smest om;a e arf te a of asses ad the aoso h meas of do eaast ood rodo owee, e mos mota of he meas o doe adwasae owed a ass of odes, ad s a s eo o feeae e ssem sa fm e sa e o sme ommoo


23/84

pco"diion under wch t ases Wod ade and te word maket oup in e sen cenry e mode lie sy of apta"

Suc stamns, I thin unmstaay imply a view of t ranston fom fudaism to capitalsm such as I a suggsd.

W shoud b carfu not o pus s n of asoning aou heansion fom feudaism captasm oO fa n paicua, smso me ha wod b gong too far o cassfy p-capitas commody produon as a socia ssm u gee1, on a par w fudaism capitasm and socaism Th was no ay domnan aion opoducon to p s samp on sysm as a wo hr w stsrong sgs of sfdom and goos bgnnings of wagao uhe foms of ao reation which wre mos common in t satsicanse we ptty cay unta and incapae of poding asisof a a soca odr is ods spciay of t eaion tw

andods and wokng nans paying a mony rn (the ohmig majory of t sxtent-cntur Engs countryside' accodngto Chsoph Hi) Max anayzd s ation wih grat a in acapr cad he Gnsis of Capas ound Rn: and nsstdhat coud propey undood ony as a tansitiona fom

e ansomaon o en n nd no money rent, akng lace st soadcaly, en on a moe o ess naonal sae equres a cnsdeabe deveopmen o conerce, o cy induses, o te roducton o ommodes eera, and wt em o e crclaon o money . Money ent as a

onveed om o en in knd and as an anonst o en n knd is e ason ad a he same me e o o te dssouon o e ype o nden hh e have onsdeed so a namey ound ent as e noma oo supus vaue and o he unpad suplus abo whh ows o he oner oe means o poducion . . . In s uh devlomnt mony rn mustead ehr o the ansomaon o and into ndependen psans'popery, o no h om oespondn o he capas mode o producon) s o rn pad by e aptaist nanS

Moroer hs s not t oJy typ of usa eation n th ecapiaist commodypoduing conomy Do has sown in a e

:I Capta. I p. 787 and 16 I have anslad ths assae ane. Te Mrand A\en tanson s naccue and oms e emphass w aas n e oa

I have, o cuse, lected hes aua uoaons om Max or econseness and cay B obvously soatd Quoaons can nehe pvenor dspve he pon The eade ho ss o mae up hs on mdabou Mas ew o he tansion m eudm o apasm w haveo sudy aeuly a least e olown pats o Capial: I Pa j andIll c. and

I some espes he receny ubshed manuscts whh Ma wr

dun e we o 187-8 in repaaon o e Ctque / PticaEconomy are ev more valuale w h on hs deas about tenaue o he ransion m eudasm o capasm : se Gdi dKiik de poiishen OJomi (Rotwf), MaxEnesLein nsute (Moscow, 1939 esecaly te seon ented Fomen die de aastsen Podon voheren whc bens I. p. 7 An adeuate examnaon o ths soue howev, woud eue a on ace bse; and can only say ere ha my own npeaon o Ma, wchwas uly omd beor e GudH bcame avaabe o me was coned by hs new maea

Capit HI, c 47, 926 Canes have bn made n e Uneatansaon

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umnatng secton of s capter on th growth of te proletrat'how unstabe an economy o smal producers can be n face of hedsntegratng eects o producton for e markt, espcaly a dstntmaret ess t njoys some speca advantages whc lends tstengt or speca measues are taen to give protecton to ts poorer

and weaer memers (p 25)W ar I n, ustd n concudng hat whe pe-captast

ommody producton was nthr feuda nor captalst, t was JUSt ast a vabe sytm n ts ow rght. It was srong enough to undermne and dsntgate udalsm, but t was too weak to deveop anndpendent sruce o ts own : a t could accompsh n a postvesens was to ppare te ground or e vctorous advance of captasm n the seenteen and egtenh cnures.

7) A Rm on t CtlIn geneal I agree fuy wt Dobbs nayss of te rs of cap

tasm. It sems to me tat s treaent o ts problem s exceptonaly cear and nnatng : I woud be lned to rate t te hghpont of t whoe voume But tere ar two teses clearly regrdedby Dobb mse as mportnt wch sem to me to qur crcaleamnaton. Te st conces the orgn o the ndustra captstn te fu sense o th term; t scond concerns t process o

ogal acculatonDobb ces Mar" capter on Mercant Capta III c. 2) n

suppo of te vw tat ndusr capal deveops n two man ways. ollowng s te ey passage om Dobb :

Acording to e rs'te reay voluonay wa scon of therduces hemlves accumulated cata and took to rade and n course ofme begn o organze oducon on a caitas bass fe fm e handcraf rescons of he glds Accordng o he seond a secon of eesng merchan cass began to e osesson decy of producon;

tery 'seig hstoically as a mode of ranso: ut becmig evenuayan obsace o a al caalis mode of roducon ad den(ng) wih tedevelomen of he later%

Dob puts much strss on he rst of hese meods On 12S htes

Whe the growg terest show by secons of merhan caa onong oduconi develong wha may be emed a deeeyonrved sysem of exloaon trou radereared e way for thsa oucome [e, he sujecio of roducon o genune atas nl] ad may n a few cases have reached t s al sge generaly seemss Max ned ou o ave assoaed w te rse om he ranks ofe ducers emelves of a caast elemet, ha-manuacrer aUmerhan whch egan o surdae and o orge tos ve rank frmwhh t had so rcenty rs 128)

.

Do folows te Moore and Avelg ransaton seang of 'rimiveacumulaon. s is ly o e mseadg owever nce he sno that e ocess rmve i e usual sense of the tem ou t may ad usualy s, u ha t s not receded revous as f accmuaton Hence ogna or mar s a beer rendeing of spnglchn hs cone Do 13 The ea quoes are from Capto. I 393 f

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Agan : onig o te sn cnuy wesed h b o a

mran sf the cnr ravy : s rdomnac o a cass mrcan-moyrs rom raks o cram m amoe yoman o e lar coman r a Max dcbed ase 'eay euary way 134).

And aer, after a enthy analysis o he aiure of apitas producon despie early and promising begngs o deveop n certanareas o the contnent Dobb says

Wn n a compara sdy caU dopmnMax cnon a a s ae rs a ca ndra caassrm ranks rdce tmles s a cdn o any ro.ar tra o rodco o acqure a cnl por(161)

It s noeworthy however, ha Dobb admis ha 'he deails oths proess are rom cear, and here s itte vdence tha earsdirecy upon t (p 34). n fa, so e edence even of an ndict haater eems o be avaabe ha one reewer fe onsaned o remark ha woud have ben desab o nd moreevdence o the vew, derved rom 1ar hat he reay reouonay transfoation o producon and he breang o he oro omerchan apa over producion, was accompishd by men omigfm the rans of fomer rasmen

I thin however tha he rea roube here s not so much a a fevidence or my par, I doubt if evdence o th requred k\ exssas a msadng o Ma Le us reprodue he enre passage n whhMarx speas o he ray evouonay way

ras rom h da mode rdcn ak wo road rdcer bcm a mrca and caals coadstnco m acural aral ecomy ad uld-crcd dcs o mdlw ndry T e reay rolar way Or h mrcan kson a dc way o dcon W way erv scaly

as a mode ansonnsanc t E cor o e seveeencenury, wo brns wars al0 y ma dndy awr undr s cr by s wol o thm ad buyn cl m res ca by sl d mc r oew o t mdo dc b ar ee ad s a ems

As ady sn Mx ds no say anything abou apalrsng fm he rans of the handraft produs s o ouue e ha he epesson ud by Mar-he poduer omes merchn and apaistmgh have hat impiaon; bu mgh

euay we men tha he prduer, whaer hs baground, so as both a merhn and empoyer of wageabor t seems ome that he whoe one g to show ha he ae he moreaonabe ntepreton What Ma was ontrasng, I beee, wh unhng of fuledged apst eneprss wh he so

Perz Zagorini SCIENE & SOCETY, xn (Sprg. 1948). p 280f.

393.

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devopmnt o h putng-out sysm. Th s no ndicaton h was concnd about poducrs' sng om h anks Moovr,whn h dos da xpciy wh hs pob n h st vou oft wha h says s qu impossbl to conc w Dobb'snptaton o abovquod passag

e geess e idus cpils ' [Mr wre] dd pceed nsch grd y s e re Dbess my sm gudm, d ye me idepede s s r even wge-brersfred eseves sm pss d (by grduy exedgexp ger d rrespdg cum) bwps e sispce s mehd crepded wise wihe mmerc equemes he ew wd mke he re scvee e ed e eeh cery creed

hs a th opning maks o a chapt nitd Gnss o h

Inusta Capiast; most o th st o th chapt is dvotd o dcbng th mhods o ad and pund by whch ag amous ocata w ough togh much mo apdy an hs snai'spac. And whi Ma say vy about th acual mthods bywhch ths accatons ound h way ino ndusty, s hadycdb hat h wold hav assgnd an mpoant o n h pocsst th poduc sn om h anks.

w intpt Max o man ha ay rvouiona way

was o hos h dsposab capita o auch udgd capaisntpiss wihou going hough h ntmda sags o puttng-out systm w sha hnk, hav li dcuy n dng awal o vdnc o suppo hs connon N has shown conclusvly (o cous whou any nc a a o Max) a whah cals th st ndusa vouton n Engand abou 540 o 640was vy agy chaactizd by pcsly hs kind o nvsn nsuch nw ndusis as mning maugy, bwng suga nng,soap, a gass and samakng" And th poo ha was aay vouonay way was povidd by h rsus o Englandsst ndusa vouon : conomic supmacy ov a va naonsand h st bougos poca rvouon.

now to h scond o Dobb's hss on th s o capiasmwhch ss o m o rqu cca xanaton H I can bb.

Dobb ss h pocss o ogna accumuaon as nvovng woqui dsinc phass p 17 Fs, h sng boUgosi acqus

a bagain pcs o n h mos avoab cas o nohng gh chuch lands und Hny VIII crai ass ad cas owa n hs phas, wa s not ony ansd o h bougost s aso concnad n w hands Scond, and a, coms azaion phas Dobb wis ha

ess impce h e rs phe f he ces cm wse secd d cpeg hse by whh Te bjecs f rigin c

s Ibl., p 822P J. U Nef IdY d GVemen n ce d ld J54(6

Pdep 1 espec 1 d 3


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ai wee eaize a ea n a) in e ke pia ca ineen i inia cin-a ae f he gina jec accmai i e wh he ee ac ig n eence c maiy facy ng ie a maeia anabe . 18

So far as can e, Dobb oers no eviden at l o he exisence

of his reazaion phase Nor s his surprsing because t sems o mequay cear tha there ar no asons to sppoe ha such a phasemus have ested or acuay did est As Dobb himse makesperfecty pan he ases acquired ad concenated n fwer handsdurng e acqusion phase were of varous inds inuding anddebtcams and precous meas : n oter words frzen and iquidases ae. He recogzes oo, ta hs was te perod during whichthe bourose deveoped bankng and crd machnery for ungs frozen ass (especay the pubic deb) nto q asses Underte crmstces t s mpossibe o see why the borgeosie shoudbe under any compson o se in order to reaze capita or ndusra invesmen Furher t is mpossibe to what cass cod buyasets from he bourgeosie n order to suppy i wth lqd funds.Nauray ths does no mean tat ndvda membes of h bogeoise coud no or did not se ases o oer memrs o e samecass or to memrs of oer casses in order o acqre funds forndusra invesment bu here was surey no oter ass o which

he borgeose as a whoe coud sel asse n hs perod of capiasdeveopmenAcuay Dobb asde from asseing he necessity and mporance

o e realizaon phae makes vey itte o it. When t comes downto anysng he necessary pre-condos for ndsria invesment, heshows ha he reqired compemen to acqsiion on the pa o thebourgeoisie was not azaion by t bourgeose bu the brea-po te od system of producion and especay dspossesson of enoughad worers o on a cass wing to wor for wages Ths is ceray corec and can ony gre hat Dobb's riteraed saemensabot the impotanc o he raizaon phae may serve o divert heatenion of some reader from his ecet aent of he essentprobems of the riod o orga acumuao

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II A PLY MA

Paul Swzy's ai on trasition from feudalism to capiaism

raises in a lar and smuaing maner a numbr o impotant ssues,discussion of whi an only be benia o an undesanding boof isoria dvlopmn and o Marism as a metod of sdyingha dvopmnt. May I sat at t oust hat I personally welomehis onribuion o su discussion s a disinguished aleng tofurher tought and sudy? Wih a good dea o wat says elno disagreement In som paes wer e dissnts rom wa I avsaid th diren betwn us is o o empasis and o fomuation

But in on or o pas a mor fundamena dieren ovr metodand anaysis sms o mrg; nd her I fe ha his interpreationis misading

() Firs I m not qui ear wher weezy rjes my denion o feudaism or mry onsiders i o b iomple This dniion as he says rss on a virua ideiaion of eudalism wifdom-if by e aer is mean no merey t foman of

obigaory seices, bu poiaion of h produr by virtue of direpoiog ompusion: I h mns hat fudaism hus dedovrs somehing wider han h mdiva fon of Euopan onomyand mbras a wid vari of ps whi in any fur sudy offudism dv arfu aaysis I radiy age Bu rerngo a 'systm of produon h sems o b saying somhing ohrha his and o b orasing a systm of produion wih a modof produon in Maxs us of hi What pisey a sysm ofproduon is nnded o ovr I am no ar Bu wha oows indias ha h is itndd o inud he rations bwn hproduer nd his mark. h ar even ins ha hs raons ofxhng by onas wih rations of prodution ar h fosof aenion in wy inraion of h hisoa pross. Hregards h rui feaur of feudaim for mpe as bing ai is a sysem of produc0 f u.

f is is so n I w hav a fudamn issu ben us. dnion whh I was usg in my Studies was advidy in msof h raio of produion harars of fudism nmeyh aios bn dir produr nd his ovord iv aiohip onsising h di xraon of h suusbour of produ by he ruing ass was ondiiond of ou by

Sweezy sggests hat such a wding of he em is unsatsfacor sineelemens of dect poltio-legal complson over labo my fod atwidey sepaaed eriods of histo nlding mode mes Wee schelemens pedominate, ey wold on his denion constiue e fom of

economy in qestion feudal; b ey ae mely idental and sbodinae he pesene no moe ses to do so ds the ndnalexistene of hied waglao suce to onsie a acula soiet capialis mos of he 'conguos cases whh Swee has in mind mpuso laou is pey incidta no tpical.


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a certain level of developmet o he productive orces. Mehods oproduco were reatvely prmitive ad (so ar as the producers'ow subsistece, at leas was coceed) were of he ype o whchMarx spoke as the pey mode of production i which the producers possesson of hs meas o producto as an indivdua producigut Ths I regard as e cruca characterstic; ad when diertecoomc fos have ths characeristic como, ths coon eeme which they share s o greaer signcace ha oer respectsn wich hey may der eg he reao o producio o themaret. Adiedy his produco-relaonsp is tsef capable oconsderabe vaatio accordig o the for whch the compulsoraco of he suplus product aes : eg., direc abour sevces orhe appropriato o rbue eher i knd or in moey But te ds

inctio bewee hese dos ot correspod to hat betwee westerEuropa feudalism' whch Swezy hnks that I soud have disguhed ad cocerated upo and eudaism easte Europealhough i Asiaic eudasm e bua relaionship woud seemto have predomaed and to have gve his ts disncve mpress.While here were mpoat dereces udoubtedly beween codtos i weste ad ease urope here were aso skg simlates as regards e on i whch upaid suplus abor waspumped out of the direc producers1 and t s my le ha he de

sire o epresen weste Euopea eudaism as a disicve esad to endow aoe wh the e of feudal' s a produc of bourgeos hstors ad of eir edecy to cocerate upon jurdcalcharacerstics ad ee

(2) Regadng he coservatve ad ageresisg character owese Europe3 eudalism' whc eeded some eeal oe to dsodge i, and whch I accused o eglecng I remai raher sceptc. ue o couse that by coas wi capialis ecoomy feudal

socey was etremey stable ad irt Bu hs is ot to say haeudaism had o tedecy wi t to hange o say so would beo mae t an ecepo to e geera Mars law o developme ha ecoomc socety s moved by ts ow iteral cotradicos Aually he eudal od wiessed cosderabe chges techque ad he late etues o eudlm shwed mared d

See Maxs anaysis of 'Lar Rent Ren n Kd and Money Ret:Capa I wuld paticuay draw anion to h passag n hcourse f Maxs tatmnt of ths subjt in wh e sas Te specec frm i wh npaid suus aur s pumped u o t diectroduces deterines te reation of es and ued, as it grws imdateyout roducin itsf and eacs upon t as a dteng eemen It s "aways te drect eation of he owers f h conditons of pduc-tion t e dect pduce wc eveas e nermost sret e iddnfdatn of e en oia cnstruon . . . Te fr f ths raoet rules and ued naturay respd away wit a dnte stagi e developmet f te meos of abr a f is pucive scialpwe Tis does not prevet h ame conomic basis fm sowng nnt vaiatins and graatins in it aparan evn thoug its pncipa

conditons are evrre te sam Capa p 919 My Gibs Fd Oe (ndon 49) p. 5-7 2 f.

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ferenes from hos of eary feudsm. Moeover, would seem tob o o wese Europe bu o he Eas ha we hae o look forhe mos sabe forms ; paular, o Asac forms of rbuarysrfdom And s o b oed ha was of e form whe surplusabou s appropaed va dues in kndnd of his form speicaly-ha Mar spoke as 'quie suiabe for comg he bass of saoary ondons of sociey such as we see in Asa

Sweezy quaes hs samen by sayng ha e feuda sysem so ecessarily sa AU he clams s ha such moeme as ocurshas no endency o ansfon i! Bu despie hs qualaon, hemplicao remans a uder fudalism class suggle ca pay norouonary roe. I occurs o me ha he may e a couso ahe roo of hs dea of eouonary and ransfomng endenesNo one s suggesng ha cass srugge of peasans agans ords gies

rse n any smpe and direc way, o capialism Wha hs ds s omodf he depndene of he pey mode of produion upon feudaoerlordshp and evenuay o sha oos e smal produe fromfeuda poaon I s hen from he pey mode of poducon nhe dege o wch seues dpendene of aon ad sociadierenao u deeops whn i) ha capalism is o Ths a dmea pon o which we shal eur

(3 In he course of supporing hs own hesis ha n eallysale feudalism ould ony dsegrad by he impa of an exea foe5rade and mares Swezy pens my own ew asbeing ha he dece of feudasm was so he wor of alfoes and ha he gowh of rade had ohng o do wi he poesHe sems o se as a uesio of iea onc o xeaforces hs ses me as much oo smped, even mchaca apeseaion I se i as an co of he wo aough w prmay emphass, s ue, upon he ea conradcions sine hese

woud ee operae n y case f on a qu diern mesale, ad snce hey dem he paiar fom ad dreon ofe ees whh ea iuees xe I am y o meas dyng ha he growh of marke owns and of rade payed an mporrole aclerang he dsegaio of he old mode of poduioWha am asseg s ha ade eersd s nuece o e enha i aceuaed e nea concs wn he od mode of producon For emple he gowh of ade as I poned ou n mySudis n seera paces, eg p 6062 d 23 f.) aeeraed hprocss of soal dereniaion wihn he pey mode of produconcrang a kuk class on he o had ad a semipeara, ohe oher Agan, as Sweey emphasizs, owns aed asmages ofuge sefs am no muh conceed o ague whee s ghof fs was due more o e aracion of hse urban magnes ad

Capila III, 924 Hs en o 'sor eoens w n n onl

d s asn fro ss xl e ss as n n oub

s s s ew23


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alteaivey in some pats of Europe to the ure of free land) or tthe repusive force of fuda exploitation. Evidetly t was a matterof both, vaying degres at dient times ad paces But hespecc eect whch such ght had was due to the specic chaacteo the reatonshp tw sef and euda eploite'

Hence do ot agee that m caed upon to show that theeudal rulng casss growng ned for venue and the ght o srfsrom he d can bo b expaed n terms of forcs opatng inside the euda system, o that he rse of tows was a pssite to e eudal system! (athough to some etent I beeve ate lae is tre, and that, pciy caus eudsm was fa ombg a puely aural economy, t encouaged towns to cate o tsneed o ong-dstance trade At e same tme I thnk that Swzys wong i assetng that th is ecessarily coelation etween

feuda dintgatio and nearness to ctes of trade n my SudI cited seval pieces o evidence to ebut the smplied view whchhas ben popuried by the ulga theorsts of money ecoomy Othese wl epat here only wo t ws prcly n he backwardnoh d west of ngand that sefdom in the om o diect abosrvices dsappead earst, and n the more advanced southeast,wth ts town makets ad rade routes, that labou scs wee moststubbo ei suviva Smiary, in may pas of eastern uropentensicato o edom n the ftenth and sxteeth centuries was

associated wih e grow o trade, d he correaton was, not between naess to makets and udal disintegration (as Sweeclams) but beween neaess to makets and strngthenng o srfdom (f my Studi p 3842 These acts are metoed by SweeyYet is ds ot pret hm from maintanng hat it was ony onthe periphey o the echge economy hat feuda atio weproof aganst dssoluton

he act hat te system o production on whch Sweey focussattention s more coneed with he sphee o exchge hn wheatios of production is ndicated by a ather suprsing omsso nhis treamet e owhere pays moe han ncdental attenon owhat has aways semed to me ucial cosdeaton: nmely hatthe transto from ccve etraon of surlus labour by estateownes to e use o free hrd labour must ha depended upon eexstence of cheap abour or hr (e, o proletaan or sm-proletarian elements This I beieve to have been a more fundamentalacor h pomiy o markets n determng whether he old

socia rlations surved o wer dissoved O cou, thee was interacton ween hs acto and the gow o rade: i pacuar (asI have lady menoned) he eect o latter upon he process osocal ereniaon whn the ptt mode o roduton ut this

Indenay, agre ntrly with e imporant consideraon wSezy sresses ha a no so mu he magud o th ght eton hh as sgia bu ha e ea of i (acmpanid prhapy no moe han a mall movement) migh uce o o e ord inomakng conessons seiosly eakng to eudaim

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facto must, suely have played a decsive role in detemiing pei eect which ade had n dent places nd at dentpeiods? Possbly Sweezy plays don tis acto case he too obvios to sss; o possbly cau he is g o he leasngo ams o a money nt as the mmedae sccesso o abovces. Ths lae consideaon bngs s o hs qeson : 'Whatce ae edaim in Eope?

4 I enly agee wh Swezy in egadng economic sociey inweste Eo btween the oteenth entuy and the end o thesxeenh s ng complex and transional, in te snse hat he oldwas in proess o apd disinegaon nd new economc oms wsmultneousy appeaing. also age wh hm n ng that dung tis iod the py mode o poducon was n pocess o emnci

patng tl om udal exploitaton, but was no ye sbjcd atlest in any sgnicnt deg) to capitalist laons o poducion,whch we eventually to destoy it Moeov egad the ecognion o his ac as ial to any ue ndestandng o he passag omedalsm to caplsm. But Swezy gs ute t his He sas t as nsol n a sen whch xcludes the possbit o s stling eudal (even i a eudal economy at n advanced stage o disolution). Thee sems to me to be pont in dong is only i onewishes to spa o t as a disnct mode o poducon s gswhch is neite udal no capitalist. This is to my mind an impossble pocedu and Sweezy ages in not wshng to go a as s.n e nal picue, theoe e wo ntes ae appanly etsuspnded ucomotaby in te mament betwen havn and ean the pocess o histoical developmen they have o be classied ashomeless hybids While tis sot o nswe might adquateenogh in a pely evolutionay view o hsocal developmet houghccessive sysems o stages, I suggest ta it wl not do o a

ionay view o hsoical deve1opmnt-a view o histo as a succession o class sysems, wit socal evoluon (in th sen o a nse o powe om one class to anohe as te ucial mechansm ohsocal ansomation.

The cucial qesion whch Swezy has appaently ald o as (o he has he woud sem to have buked e nswe to it s ths whatwas the uling class o ths peod? Sice as Swezy hmsel cognses thee was not yet develod capalst poduion it cannothave en a capitalst class I one nswes that i was someing

inteedate tween euda and capitalst n te sha o a bogeosie which had not yt nvesed its captl i e development o abougeois mode o poducton, ten one s n te oovsybog omechan capism a mhant bougeose omed the ugcass, then he sate mst have ben some nd o bogeos state.And i t stae was a bogeos stat aeady no only in th sxteenth cen but even at gn o he teenth what constited h essential ssue o the seveneenth centu civil wa

nno (accong to his view have n bogeos evolution.5


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We a left wh some sch spposion as e one advaced n a peliminay discussion of te maer some years ag : hat itwas a stug-ge agns an aemped u-evolin saged y Cwn nCor agans an ed e:tent bogeos sae pwer.' Moeove,we faced wh e aeaive o ee denyng ha hee was nyccal socal momen descale as e oges evoon o

of seng o hs ogeos evolon n some ealer cenry a oefoe e dawn of he d age

s is a aer wic as occpied a good deal f dscssnamong Mais isoians n Engand n e as ew years The ageqen he nare e ase saes of is epoc was alsoe sjec discssin amon Sove israns s fre he wa we eec e aernaves s menoned we are e w e vew(wc I eieve e e ig one) a rng cass was sl

fedal and a e sae was s he plical insrmen f s leAnd i is s so e s ling class ms ae depended fo is ncome n svvig meods of expoig he pey md prodcn e snce ade had come o cpy a leading plae e economy hs ing cass ad sel an nees n ade as alsa many a medieval moasey n he eyday fedaism) dok cean secins o e mercan ogesie (specally he epmercans) ino economic parnesip and n polical alance whse whence aose many f he gres of e new do aisocacy)Hence ae dssoling fom o eda epoiaon e peio cenraled sae pw ad many dieences from e feda eploiain o earlie cenes; nd admiedly n many plaes efedal negmen was weang vey headar re aso fedalepliain e pey mde of prodcon nly arely he cassica fom o diec ao serices and ad assmed pedomnnlyhe f of money en B as ong as polica consain and epesses of manoal csom sll ed eonomc reaonshp as

ced he cse ve ey ge as of he Engsh cnside) nd a fee mae n and was asen as well as fee aomoiiy) e fo of s poan cn e sad o ave shed fedal oven if hs was a degeneae and apdly disngaing fo

n his connecon I wd daw aenn o e fac a n hepassage ao mney en wch weezy os fom Ma aitaIII ch 47) he money en of whch Mar s ere speang s no ye

capials gnd en wh he fame as an ndependen enan payng a conacal en s sll y manifes mpcaion a fom offeud en even f a dsslng fm mney n as a conveed foof en n nd and as n anagn o ren n nd s the t f rnd a t < ime he n 01 dui of he ype of gnden whch we have consdeed so a . ale n he sme secn Max say : he ass of is n e sme s ha fe n n nd om w sa he de pdce s

T P F in te coue of a disusi on Christpr Hl be Tn Rn 1 640, n me Lo Mn

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possessor ofth land . and h haso promfor his landord . frced surplus .bor nd this fod suplus labo s now din mony oband by th sa of th surplus product' (p. 926)

() On he two na poins of Sweezy's cicism I wil ry o beref. Of he outstnding roe played a the dan of capiaism ycapalsts who had been spawned by the pettymode of production Isugges tha thee s abundant evidence, whatever e proper interpretaon may be of hat cucia passage from Marxs dscusson of themater (and I sl thnk it bars the nerpreaon customarly pacedpon it) Sme of hs evidence I quoted in my s ch. 4) Thss doubtess a mater deseing of more research than it has hadhthero But the mportance of te risng smal and mdde urgeoise of his peiod has already been shown by awney for one

here s accumulating evdence ha he signcance of kl enerprise in the vage cn hardy be overestimated. here are sign ofhm a a qe early date, te bo of e per 'ce din the sixnth cenury pioneering new nd mproved mehods of enclosed faing on a fary extensive scale. Hisoians of this periodhave recenty pointed out a a distncive feature of Engsh evelopmen in he udor age was e ease wth which hese kyeomen famers rose o ecome minor gentry purchasng manors andjoning h rans of the sqiarchy It may wel e as Kosminsyhas suggesed) hat they payed a eadng roe evn in the PeasantsRevot in 38 Undouedy they prosped greay as empoers oflabour) from the faing rea wages of the udor Inaon; and smallergentry and rising klks wer organisers of he county cloth ndustyon an extnsve scale Evidently they we a mos mportan drvingforce n the bourgeos revoluion of he sevenenh ceny providngin paricuar the snews of Cromwel's New Mode Ay Moeoverhe fact tha hey were s I eieve a ey o understandng the cass

agnments o te ogs vluo: paricl e eso ymerchan capal far from always playing a progessive roe, asoften found aled wih feudal reaction

Smiay, n the urn craf glds here were many enepreneursof a smiar ype who oo to rade and empoyed poorer crafsmenon he putng-out sysem. I have suggested and f I mmber righyhe suggeson oignally cme from nwin ha hese developmenswe rsponsible for he movemens o e oseed among he gds ae end of he seen cenuy and he egnng of he veneenth :in paricuar for e se of he new Suar corporaons So far as onecn was hey ceray i was he Wry clohers who wererm upporers of he English rvoluon ad no he rch paeessuch as tose of whom ef has aled may of whom were royssnce hey sl dended prvilege nd dervd her prvlege fromcour nence I co see how he moce of hs le of de

e assage e wc Sweez qus efg t t evece aeas c " eas t he dts e css' a t

xsce ts cast e w ae7


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a meaning in speakig of one statm of he bougeoise (imbuedwh a dese to buy labou powe : i.e., to nvest i poducon) seingrea estate o bonds to othe ata of e bougeosie which s have atase fo acqig wealth in ese foms. It is of couse possible that

a e invesments needed to nance he indusia voution cfom e CUent income of the new captans of indusy of he peiod he Dabys ales Wilkisons Wdgwoods ad Radces. ns case nothing emains to be said. Pevious bougeois encmentn the fons we have mentioned can e ignoed as a faco i heancng of industia gowh This howeve seems prma faci ikey am no awae hat much wok has been done on he soucesfom which such constucoa pojects as the ealy canas ad r-ays in Engand wee fced We ow that may of the newentepeneus wee handicapd fo ack of capital and that muchof the capita fo the expadng cotton industy in the eay eeenh centuy came fom tee mechants hat he cedit systemas not yet adequatey deveod to meet the needs of deeopingindty is shown by the mushoom gowh of the nstabe 'counybaks in the eay nineteenh centy peciy to his gap. Itsems an hypohesis wohy of invesigao that i he eighteehenty thee was a good dea of seing of bonds and ea estate to

such pesons as eied East ndian nabos by men who hen o subseuenty used he poceeds to invest i he epandin ndusy adcommece of the ime; ad hat it was by some such oute by apocess having wo t ges hat he weah acquid om cooiaoot feized he idusia voution

Even if hee was no signicant amount of ansfe of assets tat my 'secod phase ma not atogehe ack usticaion It mayave signicance if admedy a somewha deet one as deot

ng a peiod i which hee had bee a shft fo he bougeoisie as ahoe fom an eae pfeence fo hodg a eate o vauabeobjects o bonds to a pefence fo isg i meas of poduionnd abou-owe Een if o consdeabe volume of sing of hefoe acay took pace h shift may nevehes hav had aage iuence on he pces of such ass ad o ecoomic andsa

tes

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III A CONTRIBUTION TO THE DISCUSSION

By H K THASHI

(aaed y Hey F. fr e Japaee f Eoom

vw [Kza kky] k Ap 195 V I N 2 p 18-6

Mae D' h Dlopm 1 Caalsm d rae ay pr p ed p a coe ae f a pre w we a e depy ereede pe f w a ew ad ge age f e cee f ey a ae p w ye ad ake f e pve f peed ecc ad a ra Te c f

D s y ae Ara e a M Sweezy adD ejder y dag eay aure d laf e qe dpue gve Japee a a ppruafer ag ee aed dg e yea f e a war evaaee a eve f ecc y Epe d Aerca day

D s, we ced e devepe f Egcapa pay adeae ae Fre d Ge wrg eany we a pae a e Eg wk. Tere ded ny a a e cpreee

wedge f cparave apa rre a ea acrae rca aw. l ce ce ere df e pre Wee Ep; wd pear rdce e pree d e ra fa f feda rgaza Jap ad er Aa ure r f e fra f capere Te Swezy-D cery f prcpaed rcy yra w e ae awaree f pre every cnrycud ay e fda f cpave advace ee de

D s d Swezy crc a w geer ccepa de f fedal d ap wc ar ere f ergy ve ed f a ay.S Swee a ge a cear ad expc de f feda

w e d w pry wa e cde r y cawver e fr eda cap ae a cage e de f prd d feda d capa age f cc e ra caegre. Araa cpree f feda prepp a cec derdg f cp rl caegry D reg ada cp crr g rge ra k f

1 ' stio m Feudaism to Cpsm: SCIENC & SOJETYV XV N 1950 34-17

Repy p. 1-16; bve 20-2

Mrx A Cntbtn t Cq f Pa Enmy (Chgo) "Iduc: p 30 f30


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n o fud oomy h rlatios bw diecpoducs (tss d pst clivaos) ad ir fedl lods. Tsppoc cczed fdlsm as od of prodo; t s cato Do's deto of fedis, d geeal cocids wit tecocp of fdom It s obgio lad o e prodce y forcd ddty of s ow \ol0 ll crai cooic dmads of ovlod w es dds ak fo of scsto pefod o of ds to b aid i oy o kid . Tscorci foc my a liary sreg possssd y fdl sprio o of com ackd y som kd of jdcial poced,o t force of aw: s dsciptio coicides essec wi cco gi Vo I of Cp cpr o Gss Cpiist Grod R Ts sot of fdl sfdom'coasts w Catalism i h:n r the btter he laorr, te pac, . s o loger a eeet rouer s dvor from ismas o proto rom th y pig hs o sste t the seo e is relaihp to the O"er o he measo poto o mlos m s a re oraa oe . . t aeo e la s r ot to oose s masr a to ae mastrsj ae s ot r a olao, oter a that mpos a cotrac o src o cort ork or pam to a masr

Swzy citcs Dos dico of fdis wt fdom.

H cis eer i wic Egs says i is crt ta fdom dodge a o a peciary pz edev-fdal fo w dt ywer or y w wr coqos t ldcultitd fo tm y t od ts Sweey des t srfdo is specic istocal cgoy H ds ot ower dcwat i s t csts e specil xiscfo of ao powepop o feds s a od of podco

My ow opo wod e as foows W w cosd

ct t fdal ad mod orgos ods of podcto st cf sages coomc soy th st tg to tk toccout st lwys b he soc exstence-form of labor powr,wc s t sc t dcs fcto t os ods of podco Now cy sc fos types) of o sysrfdom nd free wge lbor; d is srely eroneos to dvorcefdom fo fuds s gl cocpo qston of on fom fds to cptsm s not my on of s

foo fos of coomc d soc stutos sc4 Do, Sts t p 35 . Oragain, 'Inal pvous [i.e, pr-aptals] orms te landownr. no th

catalst, appars as th mmdia apppraor o ors' suplus labor Ren appars ashe geral orm of slus abor npad labor. Hreth appropaton of is splus abor s not mediad by e

c

h n

gaswhe aptls s ass s e le o o pa o s

ty

ot o pa, cedc slavy srfdom or a relato o poltca de-pdenc: Marx, Theorie uber den MehrwerlJ ed. Kautsky, Vol I(Sr, 110) VI, p 45l.

Do Swds. p 36 Max-Engls. Selected Corresponee (Nw York, nd) p 41 f., cited

Sz ao p 1 C b 1 2q a o p -


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pbem must be he cange n e scil exisece-fm f brpwe.

Aug e pesns' lc f fdm, s ss uy swedvs d gdis ccdig eg sge f feudecmic deelpme, sedm is ccesc esecfrm

f b pwe e feudl mde f pduc, s Dbb pusi, expi f e pduce by viue f dic picIegcmpusn Sweezy vn dvocd sfdm fm feudsm degleed e ccescy feud exsecefm f b pwed sk e essnce f feudlsm elsewe feudl sciey, s pi, mes f e ms p c d g-dsc de, we ecssy plys deemg ole e pupss meds f pduc Te cucl fue f

feudsm is ss s i s sysem f r r eSweey ds sse me cmmy-ecnmy did exs i feud scey He ds sy C cmmdy pducnd feudism e muuly exclusve cnceps 0 Bu i s smpe psn esse f feudlsm s sysem f pducin fuse' s cdcy pduc f he me Excngvlue (cmmdies) d mey dee fm cp) led ediuvi exisc/ s i we cud es d pn n vusids f sc si sucus es ey sges ms f e pducs f b g ssfyg e eeds f e pducsemseves d d bcme cmmites, d s excge-vueds eney c e sc pducpcess; sil scmmdiy pdu d ccui does e pce eefe eques s s giv scil sucue is wee cmmdes nd mney e ps, bu e w se cmmdiese pduced w mey eves s medum pducie pducs f e cie Rm fud eed ci

s svepduced cmmdies, d e feud nd-wescus f e pducs f fced b f feud dues d eeed ccui s sef-pduced cdes Agee e e smple cmmdes pducd by e idepede sfsucie pess ss, d e cpils cmmdes bsd wge lb, d s f u s e sme w cp cpism s iscl cegy ve feud bsis pdus f lb culd e e cmmdiy fm f e mes f

pduci we cmbed w

ic pduces" F ss sysem f pdu f e me' c dee scisc pducve eis ef, css es Swecey misss p we, i e pssge g e de f feudism, e dy mes eud gud- ecceed embdime f e gsc seigeups lasip d ys pcp sess syem f pdun f se

'Rply: abov p 2 Cf Ma Cp Vol II (ago, 1909), p918

Citique ao p 2 and S n 22 Cp Vo 1 (icago 906), p 182j Vol I Chcago 1909 p 696O Cp Vo 1 394

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or 'ystm of prodution for e market, i. on te relaions oaining etween produers and their markes, on exhange relationshipsrathr tan produtive relationships. His posiion seems to a soof irulaionism

We shoud prefer o start from he foloing eses : Te ontra

diton beeen feudalism and apialsm is not he onradiioneeen system of production for use and system of produtionfor e maret, ut hat eeen feudl land-propey serfdomand an indurial apialageIaor system e rst tems of eapr are modes of exploitation and propery relatonsip, e laeres are existenefoms of laor poer d ene of its soialreprodution. t is possile o simplify is as the ontradition offeudal land property and industrial apital n feudalism, sine t

iediate produers appear in omaon ih he means of prodution and ene laor poer ano ake te fo of a oodi, the appropriation surplus laor y te feudal lords akesplae dety, y exraeonomi oerion itout mediatonof e eonomi as of ommodity exange n apitalism, otmerely are e poduts of aor turned ino omodities, u laorpoer iself eomes a oodity n is stage of development etem of oerion disappears and the a of value olds ue overhe entie et of he eonomy he fundamenta proesses of tepassage from feudalism o apialism are terefor : e ange inhe soial fom of exstene of laor poer onsising in te paraion of the means of produion from the diret produers; tege in he soial mode of reproduion of laor poer (iomes to e same ting) and te polarization of te dire prues or e dissoiaton of he peastry

Dos analysis stared dietly from feual land propert adserfdom emseves But for example, hen e are analyzing he

onept of 'apial, e anot star diretly from apitl iself Ase ellon opening passage of apt says, e ealh of hoesoieies in i he apilist mode of produon previls prsents itef as n immense auuaion of ommodites" nd tesgle omodiies appear as he elemenar fom of is elhTus just as he sudy of apitl sarts i anlysis of he ommodity, and goes ono showhe development of he caegories Com-modit Money Cpital, so likewse whe anysing feudal

I cf al, Vol 1 p. 82 And also Vol. (Oicago 190 p 6'Industrl cpil s e oly fo of exsnce of cpitl in which noonl the approprition of surlus value or sulus poduc but also iscreaton is fucon of capitl. eefore t ives to producon is pi-tst chracer ts exsece ncludes at of ass atagonisms etwcapitaits ad loers To e exn ht t assumes col over soalprducon, he echnique d social ognzaon of he lbor press eelutiized nd with em he economc and istorcal pe of soce.e oher clsses of pial whih apper befoe ndusrial capil mdpst or dclinig condtons of socl produci re no o subodned

o i nd suer changes n he mechanism of i functons corspondgo i bu move on i as a bss lve nd de sand and fll wh hisbsis

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land property obvousy the method cnot be rstrcted to a merhstorcl nrraon, but must go on to dea wh he nre of heaws of fedl sociey. Tht is stng from he smpes and mostabstract catgories nd dvncng systemaclly we y reachhe most concrete nd complex ctegory fedal lnd-owneship

Then takng the nverse logicl pth the inia ctegories now aper as containing a weath of spictions ad eaionshps1What w the eementry fo cell or nt of socey basedon the fed mode o producton? What categoes wil occupy hers place n he nayss o feuda ad proey Tntatvey theeementry nt should be set as the u (vgate m; then teGm ([] communiy cmmunu u shold be kenas the inteedte sep; nd we shod end by deveoping n orderlyfshion the highest ctegoy of ed ad propery Guh

schfl, mno u) A Cnrutn t th Ctqu f Ptc Ecnmy (cgo, 1904),p 9 f.S e Ru vTgt) is a ol peasat sare Wrtnht, Lmpecht als) cmposd o a H (a po o gd wh a house on t) a ceapy pace o aabe and Fur and a pa i he common lanAmnd; o ougy, 'and enough o suppo e easan an s Wa). It s he naua ojec y whh he peasan ansmse (or abo powe epduces tself) Is economc eazaon, n thasense te Ru' geneal fo s he commny o commual coec

tve reons: he Fuzwg o ntTnt mmunutaT (G efeve), tud cct (Mac Bo wch go wh e DTJdt-sht and e op-ed system Gm o n ptuT ct colece regUlaions constute an apparaus of compson y whiche abo pocess s mdaed Howeve, e evale expanson of poducv asng out o e pvae poy et he Hu ed andcold no u ead mes


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Of corse this srt of logic development of te ctegores virgate comnty mnor is not the historic process tsef. However, it s precisely the sdy of the ogicl stture of feud lndpropety, sting from s eleenty fo, which kes cler thesoricl w of the rise, developmen and declne of feudl soce,

soehng whch 'borgeos historcl science hs not yet obtned,bt the st voume of Cptl suggests On ths ccout, qestonsof bsc ethod se n connecton wh exelent sis ofeudl society wh Sweezy d Dobb, s we shoud nurlly epct,hv given us

Swzy looked for the cucl fetre of fedlsm n syste

of producon for use, nd so hd to plin the decine of feds n the sme wy He s ceily not nwre of the exsten ofthe feud mode of prodcton in Este Europe nd Asi; whythen dd he rstrict hs considertion of te esion to WesteErope one ? Is he gong ong with e bourgeos leg storsn descbng the fedl systm s Lehswse? For expe, JClettes sot jd, i the poplr Coecon ArmndColn/ sttes on ts rst pge tht feudls s pecur to te mdde ges n Wete Erop, nd denes te re of pnese

fedais Or ws Sweezys trtmen motved by te hstorcfct tht moden cptis rose nd grew o mtuty in WesteErop He sys tt wste Europen feudls . ws sste wt ve srong bis n fvor of mintng gven eodsnd reltions of prodction nd refers to s iherently consvtvend nge-rsstng chrcter of weste Eropen feudlsm Itns litle, however, to poit out tht fedism ws consevtvewth respect to its ctegocl opposite, mode cpsm Co

pred wih e fedism of Estern Europe or the Orien, WesternEuropen feudals dos not pper s more conservtve : tehe contrry The decsve ctor n eckng te utonoos gohof mode cpitist societ n Este Erope and As ws precelythe stbl of the intel suctr of feudl nd propey n thoecontries The fc tt ode cpitls nd bourgeois socey be sad to hve tken on ther cssc fo n Weste Erondctes rther nerent frgiy nd instby of fedl lnprope tee Sweezys enng is perhps tht Weste Euope

fudls, ng trinscy consevtve nd chngersstngcod not colpse becse of ny force nte to feudls the collpse beg only becue of soe exernl force Since for Swezfeudism ws tem of producon for ue, e for comgfrom outsde ch stem to desoy t ws producion for te

Pas 92 Oer Fench hstoias notably M Blo ad RobrtBe, ohw, howeve, and a dply neesd Japaesefeudaim Max alady i . 24 of e s vome of C spaks ot 'ply fedal oaizao i apa

Abov 35


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make Ca exchang econoy') or 'ade! About half of is wholessay incricim of Dobb is devoed to a detailed discussion on this

point.Now in he 14th and 15th centures he devasaon of vage com-

mnies, the decrease in the rra popuaon, and te consque

Hilton Rodney Transition Feudalism Capitalism Symposium

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Transcript of Hilton Rodney Transition Feudalism Capitalism Symposium