Introduction: Dark Designs

1. The Enduring Importance of Primitive Accumulation


2. The Theory of Primitive Accumulation


3. Primitive Accumulation and the Game Laws


4. The Social Division of Labor and Household Production


5. Elaborating the Model of Primitive Accumulation

6. The Dawn of Political Economy


7. Sir James Steuart’s Secret History of Primitive Accumulation


8. Adam Smith’s Charming Obfuscation of Class


9. The Revisionist History of Professor Adam Smith


10. Adam Smith and the Ideological Role of the Colonies


11. Benjamin Franklin and the Smithian Ideology of Slavery and Wage Labor


12. The Classics as Cossacks: Classical Political Economy versus the Working Class


13. The Counterattack


14. Notes on Development

Conclusion

References

Index

“[A] clearly written, vigorously argued book . . . .” — Jay Carlander, Labor History

“[A] lively polemic directed at the Classical political economists. . . .” — Gregory Clark, EH.NET

“[P]rovocative . . . . [A] welcome stimulus to debate among researchers in the history of economic thought, and may also be a valuable reference for advanced political economy and history of economic thought courses.” — Bruce Philp, History of Economics Review

“An eye-opening book which should be required reading for every economist.” (Five of five stars) — Business Ethics

“Perelman’s study of the ideological support for primitive accumulation raises a set of significant issues at the conjunction of liberal political thought and classical political economy that deserve further investigation.” — Vikash Yadav, Theory and Event

“This volume raises a number of pertinent questions regarding the important matter of how property rights are redistributed in the course of economic development and calls attention to a number of interesting but neglected writers.” — D. Mitch, Choice

"Perelman has done a remarkable job examining and synthesizing the work of Smith Steuart, Wakefield, and Ricardo, among others, with an eye toward their views on primitive accumulation. . . . [T]he breadth and novelty of Perelman's claims make The Invention of Capitalism a book to be read, discussed, and debated." — John S. Nader, Review of Radical Political Economics

“[A] clearly written, vigorously argued book . . . .” —Jay Carlander, Labor History

“[A] lively polemic directed at the Classical political economists. . . .” —Gregory Clark, EH.NET

“[P]rovocative . . . . [A] welcome stimulus to debate among researchers in the history of economic thought, and may also be a valuable reference for advanced political economy and history of economic thought courses.” —Bruce Philp, History of Economics Review

“An eye-opening book which should be required reading for every economist.” (Five of five stars) —Business Ethics

“Perelman’s study of the ideological support for primitive accumulation raises a set of significant issues at the conjunction of liberal political thought and classical political economy that deserve further investigation.” —Vikash Yadav, Theory and Event

“This volume raises a number of pertinent questions regarding the important matter of how property rights are redistributed in the course of economic development and calls attention to a number of interesting but neglected writers.” —D. Mitch, Choice

"Perelman has done a remarkable job examining and synthesizing the work of Smith Steuart, Wakefield, and Ricardo, among others, with an eye toward their views on primitive accumulation. . . . [T]he breadth and novelty of Perelman's claims make The Invention of Capitalism a book to be read, discussed, and debated." —John S. Nader, Review of Radical Political Economics

“After reading Michael Perelman's excellent book we see our world in different colors. The origin of market capitalism is the product of strategies pursued to take away from people the conditions for developing alternative ways to live and produce. We also discover that classical political economy has been so instrumental in guiding these strategies. The book leaves us to wonder how the same mechanisms are reproduced today. This critical question pervades the book.” — Massimo De Angelis, University of East London

“This study is to be admired for its comprehensiveness, scope, and the amount of unearthing and excavation Perelman provides. The indictment of political economists who addressed themselves to the matter of primitive accumulation is masterful.” — H. T. Wilson, York University

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