Capitalism and Its Critics: A History: From the Industrial Revolution to AI

A sweeping history of capitalism examined through the perspectives of its critics. John Cassidy traces how the economic system has driven major political, economic, and social changes across the globe, from the English Luddites' resistance to early factory automation through communists in Germany and Russia, Latin American dependistas, the 1970s Wages for Housework campaign, and the modern degrowth movement. The narrative includes well-known figures such as Smith, Carlyle, Marx, Luxemburg, Keynes, and Polanyi, alongside lesser-known thinkers: William Thompson, an Irish proto-socialist who influenced Marx; Flora Tristan, a French advocate for universal labor unions; John Hobson, theorist of imperialism; J.C. Kumarappa, an Indian exponent of Gandhian economics; Eric Williams, a Trinidadian author on slavery and capitalism; and Joan Robinson, a Cambridge economist and Cold War critic. Combining biography, historical narrative, and economic theory, the book connects capitalism's history to contemporary challenges including inequality, ecological crisis, technological change, and authoritarian politics.