Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Agrarian capitalism
(883 words)

The term “agrarian capitalism”, like agricultural revolution, may be ascribed to Karl Marx. In his book Capital, he characterizes the class of tenant farmers that arose in England in the 15th and 16th centuries (Lease) as “agrarian capitalists”, and agricultural bookkeeping as a distinguishing feature of “capitalist agriculture” [1. 135 ff.]; it is also in this context that he turns his attention to the “genesis of capitalist ground rent”. Marx related the concept of agrarian capitalism both to a system of agricultural management oriented towa…

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Konersmann, Frank, “Agrarian capitalism”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 28 November 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_SIM_016628>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20160321



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