Dobb, Brenner and Postan on the nature and origin of capitalism.

This article provides a comparison of the views of Maurice Dobb, Robert Brenner and Michael Postan on the nature and origin of modern capitalism. Dobb, a leading Marxist at Cambridge, triggered the influential transition debate within Marxian historiography on the origin of capitalism. Brenner initi...

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Publicado en:Cambridge Journal of Economics Vol. 50; no. 4; pp. 787 - 811
Autor principal: Martins, Nuno Ornelas
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Oxford University Press / USA Jul2026
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Jul2026
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        atl: Dobb, Brenner and Postan on the nature and origin of capitalism.
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        au: Martins, Nuno Ornelas
        affil: Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Católica Porto Business School, Research Centre in Management and Economics, Portugal
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        Cambridge (England)
        Capitalism
        Marxist analysis
        Demography
        Marxist philosophy
        Malthusianism
        Philosophy of economics
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        subj:
          Capitalism
          Marxist analysis
          Demography
          Marxist philosophy
          Malthusianism
          Philosophy of economics
          Cambridge (England)
      keyword:
        capitalism
        class
        classical political economy
        copyrightHolder:Cambridge Political Economy Society
        copyrightYear:2026
        feudalism
        historical demography
        inLanguage:en
        publisher:Oxford University Press
        sameAs:https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cje/beag020
        capitalism
        class
        classical political economy
        copyrightHolder:Cambridge Political Economy Society
        copyrightYear:2026
        feudalism
        historical demography
        inLanguage:en
        publisher:Oxford University Press
        sameAs:https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cje/beag020
      ab: This article provides a comparison of the views of Maurice Dobb, Robert Brenner and Michael Postan on the nature and origin of modern capitalism. Dobb, a leading Marxist at Cambridge, triggered the influential transition debate within Marxian historiography on the origin of capitalism. Brenner initiated another debate which was, in several ways, a continuation of the transition debate, while further extending the Marxian view, and criticising Postan's neo-Malthusian approach to historical demography, which became the dominant view at Cambridge and beyond. It is argued here that the Marxist view advanced by Dobb and Brenner and the Malthusian view adopted by Postan can be best understood in connection with different developments of classical political economy. Those debates are here analysed taking into account their relationship to economic thought, and their relevance for debates on tracing the nature and origin of modern capitalism.
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    language: English
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