In “Capitalism: A Global History,” historian Sven Beckert asks readers to reconsider one of the most powerful forces shaping modern life. How well do we understand capitalism? And why is it important to understand it as a force for both good and ill? Beckert’s answer is that most people misunderstand capitalism because they are so immersed in it that it can seem as natural and permanent as the air around them.
Beckert argues that capitalism is not simply another word for markets, trade or economic life itself. Markets have existed in nearly every human society. Capitalism, by contrast, is a specific historical system in which privately owned capital is invested to generate still more capital. That logic of accumulation, he argues, makes capitalism distinct from older systems built around subsistence farming, tribute or coercive extraction by rulers.
One of Beckert’s central claims is that capitalism is neither timeless nor exclusively Western. He rejects the familiar story that capitalism began with the Industrial Revolution in Europe. Instead, he describes capitalism as “born global,” with early roots in long-distance merchant communities in places such as Yemen, India, China, Venice and Genoa. These commercial networks developed financial tools and risk-sharing arrangements that helped create what Beckert calls early “islands of capital.”
In this telling, the Industrial Revolution was not the origin of capitalism but its most important offspring. British textile industrialization, especially in cotton, rested on centuries of global trade, imperial expansion and violence.
The book also challenges the popular belief that capitalism and the state are opposites. Historically, Beckert argues, they grew together. States protected property rights, enforced contracts, funded infrastructure and used military power to open and defend markets. Far from being separate from capitalism, governments have repeatedly helped build and stabilize it.
Understanding this history matters because capitalism has undeniably been a force for both good and ill. It has generated immense wealth, innovation and productive capacity. But it has also been associated with exploitation, slavery, inequality and ecological damage. Beckert argues that many of the reforms that made capitalist societies more humane, from labor protections to public education, came not automatically from markets but from political struggle.
Guest:
Sven Beckert is a professor of history at Harvard University and the author of “Capitalism: A Global History.”
"The Source" is a live call-in program airing Mondays through Thursdays from 12-1 p.m.
Leave a message before the program at (210) 615-8982.
During the live show, call 833-877-8255, email thesource@tpr.org.
This interview will be recorded live Wednesday, March 11, 2026, at noon.
