A History of Capitalist Transformation A Critique of Liberal-Capitalist Reforms

Introduction

1. The Identity of Reformism: Men and Laissez-Faire

2. The Power of Ideas and Capital

3. The Trinity of Capital: Debt, Credit, Money

4. Reforms in Practice: The Case of the Ottoman Empire, Egypt and China

Conclusions

Biography

Giampaolo Conte is Assistant Professor in Economic History at University of Roma Tre, Italy.

“An original take on the ancient question of reformism, distinguishing reforms in advanced capitalist societies and reforms in those countries, usually semi-peripheral, that needs/want to ‘catch-up’. The advanced societies can impose global rules, often through the financial system, while the semi peripheral must fight back or adapt. The author provides a truly global perspective (the Ottoman Empire, Egypt, China). The whole book is enlivened by quotes and erudite references. A must read!”

 

Donald Sassoon, Queen Mary University of London.

Author of The Anxious Triumph: A Global History of Capitalism, 1860-1914.

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"A fascinating account of state debt as a mechanism in international relations forcing liberal reforms on the capitalist periphery, doing away with ways of social life in conflict with the requirements of modern capital formation. Contains striking historical material from countries like Egypt and China during Polanyi’s Long Nineteenth Century."

Wolfgang Streeck, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, Cologne.

Author of Buying Time: The Delayed Crisis of Democratic Capitalism.

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"Liberal reformism is today an empty shell including multiple meanings and yet governing the world. Conte traces the intellectual, political and economic roots and trajectories of this apparent paradox showing the historical interconnections between the capitalist core and quasi peripheries such as China and the Ottoman empire. A must-reading."

 

Alessandro Stanziani, EHESS and CNRS, Paris.

Author of Tensions of Social History.

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"The book offers some revealing analysis concerning the political and socio-economic development of capitalism during the modern period and provides a concise discussion of key historical continuities and ideological conflicts that affected the consolidation of the global free-market economy."

 

Will Kitchen (Arts University Bournemouth) on Global Nineteenth-Century Studies (Liverpool University Press)

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"Conte reveals the historical transformation of capitalist reforms in wielding liberalism as a tool to unabashedly advance capitalism through the illusion of liberalism."

 

Marx and Philosophy Review of Books

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"Conte’s book is a compelling and eye-opening reconstruction of the dynamics of liberal capitalist reform. The book manages to turn an account of liberal reform in the early 20th century into a manifesto for understanding the current dynamics of capitalist development and functioning."

 

Camilla Locatelli (Max Planck Institute for the Studies of Societies in Cologne) on Capital & Class.

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''A History of Capitalist Transformation is a rigorous and stimulating work that offers a critical perspective on liberal economic reforms, challenging dominant narratives on progress and the free market."

 

Eros Calcara (Universidad de Cordoba) on Middle East Critique 

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"Conte opening up an interesting line of interpretation that links the just-described liberal-capitalist external reform of the 19th century to the new (neo)liberal-capitalist external reform that would characterise the new world-system of US hegemony from the second half of the 20th century"

 

Marco Bertuccio, Critical Sociology

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 "Conte demonstrates how free trade agreements first constituted new elites, who then asserted their position in the wake of financial crises and became the driving forces behind liberal-capitalist reforms."

 

Lars Döpking, LSE Review of Books

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"A great book on how elites use the rhetoric of capitalist reforms to expand their domination. A must-read"

Thomas Piketty (Paris School of Economics) Author of Capital in the Twenty-First Century

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"In A History of Capitalist Transformation, Giampaolo Conte has offered a timely and sweeping account of the liberal reforms in the long nineteenth century with clear implications for today’s global economic governance"

 

Rudi Batzell, The Journal of European Economic History