Status
Available
Pages
xxii; 615
Collection
Publication
New York : Vintage Books, 2015.
Description
"The epic story of the rise and fall of the empire of cotton, its centrality in the world economy, and its making and remaking of global capitalism. Sven Beckert's rich, fascinating book tells the story of how, in a remarkably brief period, European entrepreneurs and powerful statesmen recast the world's most significant manufacturing industry combining imperial expansion and slave labor with new machines and wage workers to change the world. Here is the story of how, beginning well before the advent of machine production in 1780, these men created a potent innovation (Beckert calls it war capitalism, capitalism based on unrestrained actions of private individuals; the domination of masters over slaves, of colonial capitalists over indigenous inhabitants), and crucially affected the disparate realms of cotton that had existed for millennia. We see how this thing called war capitalism shaped the rise of cotton, and then was used as a lever to transform the world. The empire of cotton was, from the beginning, a fulcrum of constant global struggle between slaves and planters, merchants and statesmen, farmers and merchants, workers and factory owners. In this as in so many other ways, Beckert makes clear how these forces ushered in the modern world. The result is a book as unsettling and disturbing as it is enlightening: a book that brilliantly weaves together the story of cotton with how the present global world came to exist"--… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member annbury
A first rate history with a tenth rate index. The author uses the phrase "war capitalism" to refer (mostly) to the US
and its use of slavery, violence and eliminating the native population to allow cotton to grow, and the phrase "industrial
capitalism" to refer to the developments with which we are
As a history this book is wonderful, but he suggests that only in the US was there a war capitalist society in the South and an industrial capitalism in the North, and that is why we had the Civil War. He does point out the strange and wild growth of the industry -multiplying by twenty or thirty times in a few decades- and he does state that America owed its emergence as a country to the sale of cotton and slavery. The index is awful and the publisher should be ashamed of himself.
and its use of slavery, violence and eliminating the native population to allow cotton to grow, and the phrase "industrial
capitalism" to refer to the developments with which we are
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more familiar. He is correct. The history is quite broad and detailed, but in his use of many specifics he ignores the fact that in 1860 60% of America's millionaires lived in Natchez, a small town in Mississippi, and 75% of the nation's millionaires lived on the Mississippi River Road between Natchez and New Orleans, due to the fact that they owned huge plantations with many slaves. The value of slaves in 1860 exceeded all of the value of the factories and wealth of the North by a huge factor- seven or eight times.As a history this book is wonderful, but he suggests that only in the US was there a war capitalist society in the South and an industrial capitalism in the North, and that is why we had the Civil War. He does point out the strange and wild growth of the industry -multiplying by twenty or thirty times in a few decades- and he does state that America owed its emergence as a country to the sale of cotton and slavery. The index is awful and the publisher should be ashamed of himself.
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LibraryThing member rivkat
Really ambitious attempt to track the rise of cotton and its role in the global economy and imperialism. I would have benefited from some clearer definition of what Beckert meant exactly when he discussed “war capitalism”—which basically seemed to mean conquering territories or opening them
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to trade by force in order to find new markets for goods. He also emphasizes that western industrialization corresponded with deindustrialization in places like India, where spinning and cloth production had been well established at the household level and then was displaced by growing cotton for market—a change that contributed to the death by famine of millions when prices collapsed. And he contends that countries that successfully industrialized were those that managed to protect their nascent factories with tariffs until their production could compete with cheaper versions. The West, almost literally, pulled the ladder up behind it. Show Less
LibraryThing member clifforddham
Bancroft prize, Philip Taft prize, Pulitzer prize finalist. Best seller. Professor of American history at Harvard University. Hardcover. The effects of capitalism on the landscape.
"The epic story of the rise and fall of the empire of cotton, its centrality to the world economy, and its making and
Cotton is so ubiquitous as to be almost invisible, yet understanding its history is key to understanding the origins of modern capitalism. Sven Beckert’s rich, fascinating book tells the story of how, in a remarkably brief period, European entrepreneurs and powerful statesmen recast the world’s most significant manufacturing industry, combining imperial expansion and slave labor with new machines and wage workers to change the world. Here is the story of how, beginning well before the advent of machine production in the 1780s, these men captured ancient trades and skills in Asia, and combined them with the expropriation of lands in the Americas and the enslavement of African workers to crucially reshape the disparate realms of cotton that had existed for millennia, and how industrial capitalism gave birth to an empire, and how this force transformed the world.
The empire of cotton was, from the beginning, a fulcrum of constant global struggle between slaves and planters, merchants and statesmen, workers and factory owners. Beckert makes clear how these forces ushered in the world of modern capitalism, including the vast wealth and disturbing inequalities that are with us today. The result is a book as unsettling as it is enlightening: a book that brilliantly weaves together the story of cotton with how the present global world came to exist."
"The epic story of the rise and fall of the empire of cotton, its centrality to the world economy, and its making and
Show More
remaking of global capitalism.Cotton is so ubiquitous as to be almost invisible, yet understanding its history is key to understanding the origins of modern capitalism. Sven Beckert’s rich, fascinating book tells the story of how, in a remarkably brief period, European entrepreneurs and powerful statesmen recast the world’s most significant manufacturing industry, combining imperial expansion and slave labor with new machines and wage workers to change the world. Here is the story of how, beginning well before the advent of machine production in the 1780s, these men captured ancient trades and skills in Asia, and combined them with the expropriation of lands in the Americas and the enslavement of African workers to crucially reshape the disparate realms of cotton that had existed for millennia, and how industrial capitalism gave birth to an empire, and how this force transformed the world.
The empire of cotton was, from the beginning, a fulcrum of constant global struggle between slaves and planters, merchants and statesmen, workers and factory owners. Beckert makes clear how these forces ushered in the world of modern capitalism, including the vast wealth and disturbing inequalities that are with us today. The result is a book as unsettling as it is enlightening: a book that brilliantly weaves together the story of cotton with how the present global world came to exist."
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LibraryThing member Schmerguls
This history of cotton won a 2015 Parkman Prize. The author did a tremendous amount of research as shown by the 148 pages of notes, but I did not think the book easy to read or well-organized. In fact, except for the chapter on the effect of the Civil War on cotton growing and processing, and the
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closing chapters I felt the book was dry reading indeed. The text seemed to skip around chronologically and geographically, with not too much effort at telling an incisive story. I felt that the book is crammed with research findings but I could not find that such led to an interesting expositon of the author's thesis The book was awarded a Parkman Prize for 2015 and it is the 38th Parkman prize winner I have read. Show Less
LibraryThing member clmerle
In many ways I would consider this a sequel or rather a continuation of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations. It describes the world of commerce since the 18th century whereas Smith described the 18th century.
LibraryThing member lissabeth21
Fascinating! My thinking of global economies and globalization in general were blown out of the water.
LibraryThing member revliz
Powerful and enlightening
LibraryThing member gregdehler
Cotton stands at the center of capitalism's story. Spinning cotton to textiles fueled the earliest industrial development, first in Europe, but later, in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. Cooperation between the state and business, globalization, and slavery fueled the rapid development of the cotton
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economy. Beckert charts all the developments from earliest spinners, to slavery and industrial agriculture, to devolution, all the while tracking how the growing, marketing, processing, shipping, and manufacturing of cotton moved around the globe over five centuries. Through it all, violence supported the system. Show Less
LibraryThing member JOQuantaman
"The Empire of Cotton" by Sven Beckert is an eye opener, a tour de force, a detailed account of human exploitation on a gargantuan scale.
# The eBook of fully indexed with umpteen endnotes from original sources. It comes with excellent photos, charts and diagrams. Readers who have 96 dpi monitors
# Beckert documents the origins of cotton in India and China. Indian cotton was a luxury item for aristocrats of the Roman Empire.
# The British East India Company introduced cotton to Europeans and adopted technological improvements for spinning and weaving. Soon British merchants around Liverpool open sweat-shop factories and employed children from orphanages who worked 13-hour shifts in cramped, unsavory conditions. Meanwhile, the East Indian Company bought yarns and cloths from Indian cotton producers. These they sold to Africans in exchange for slaves who were sent to the Western Hemisphere to work the cotton fields. In the USA the cotton gin enabled easier cotton harvesting and processing. Soon cotton plantations in the USA supplied Europe with 90% of the raw cotton for mills.
# The cotton industry has always been a government sanctioned Ponzi scheme that provides cotton clothing to well-heeled consumers at rock-bottom prices. It went hand-in-hand with colonialism of the 18th- & 19th-centuries. Beckert coins a new phrase for the cotton enterprise. He calls it WAR CAPITALISM.
# Government laws have enabled the cotton industry, which has used slavery, land grabs, wage slavery, violence, rape and even genocide to further its aims. The global cotton racket throughout its history has used the same methods as do drug cartels. Yet, cotton vendors are perfectly licensed and legal. Today the USA government spends more on its own cotton producers than it gives to foreign aid.
# This eBook wonderfully written and produced. I recommend it for anyone who dares to face the facts. The dark truth of human capitalism.
# The eBook of fully indexed with umpteen endnotes from original sources. It comes with excellent photos, charts and diagrams. Readers who have 96 dpi monitors
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(or less) will need a magnifying glass to make out the small print on some of the graphics. (Someday I hope Kindle will support zoom functions for embedded graphics.) I would not recommend reading this eBook with an iPhone or minimum-definition eReader.# Beckert documents the origins of cotton in India and China. Indian cotton was a luxury item for aristocrats of the Roman Empire.
# The British East India Company introduced cotton to Europeans and adopted technological improvements for spinning and weaving. Soon British merchants around Liverpool open sweat-shop factories and employed children from orphanages who worked 13-hour shifts in cramped, unsavory conditions. Meanwhile, the East Indian Company bought yarns and cloths from Indian cotton producers. These they sold to Africans in exchange for slaves who were sent to the Western Hemisphere to work the cotton fields. In the USA the cotton gin enabled easier cotton harvesting and processing. Soon cotton plantations in the USA supplied Europe with 90% of the raw cotton for mills.
# The cotton industry has always been a government sanctioned Ponzi scheme that provides cotton clothing to well-heeled consumers at rock-bottom prices. It went hand-in-hand with colonialism of the 18th- & 19th-centuries. Beckert coins a new phrase for the cotton enterprise. He calls it WAR CAPITALISM.
# Government laws have enabled the cotton industry, which has used slavery, land grabs, wage slavery, violence, rape and even genocide to further its aims. The global cotton racket throughout its history has used the same methods as do drug cartels. Yet, cotton vendors are perfectly licensed and legal. Today the USA government spends more on its own cotton producers than it gives to foreign aid.
# This eBook wonderfully written and produced. I recommend it for anyone who dares to face the facts. The dark truth of human capitalism.
Show Less
LibraryThing member EricCostello
A look at how the cotton-raising and cotton-manufacturing industries evolved in the West during the Industrial Revolution, and the global effects this caused, including the ties to slavery, and certain ties to monoculture problems in Asia. The author does make some interesting points, though I
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think (outside of a few brief mentions), he lets the USSR off very easily. Show Less
Awards
Pulitzer Prize (Finalist — History — 2015)
The Economist Best Books (2015.23)
Cundill History Prize (Finalist — 2015)
Bancroft Prize (2015)
The New York Times Best Books of the Year (Nonfiction — 2015)
Language
Original publication date
2014
Physical description
xxii, 615 p.; 20 cm
ISBN
9780375713965