Abstract

*Winner of International Studies Association (ISA)'s International Political Sociology Best Book Prize for 2017*

*Winner of British International Studies Association (BISA)'s International Political Economy Working Group Book Prize of 2016*

*Shortlisted for the ISA Book Prize*

Mainstream historical accounts of the development of capitalism describe a process which is fundamentally European - a system that was born in the mills and factories of England or under the guillotines of the French Revolution. In this groundbreaking book, a very different story is told.

How the West Came to Rule offers a interdisciplinary and international historical account of the origins of capitalism. It argues that contrary to the dominant wisdom, capitalism's origins should not be understood as a development confined to the geographically and culturally sealed borders of Europe, but the outcome of a wider array of global processes in which non-European societies played a decisive role.

Through an outline of the uneven histories of Mongolian expansion, New World discoveries, Ottoman-Habsburg rivalry, the development of the Asian colonies and bourgeois revolutions, Alexander Anievas and Kerem Nisancioglu provide an account of how these diverse events and processes came together to produce capitalism.
'An excellent, inventive and fascinating piece of scholarship'
Tony Mckenna, Marx & Philosophy Review of Books
'Provocative and brilliant ... An enormous contribution to redressing the one-sided debates about the origins of capitalism and the West's conquest of the planet ... Their book should be read by anyone hoping to understand as well as challenge Eurocentrism, imperialism, and the capitalist system as a whole'
International Socialist Review
'A fascinating tour de force that will surely be debated in the fields of history, sociology, Marxism and International Relations for years to come'
Justin Rosenberg, Professor in International Relations at the University of Sussex
'An excellent book'
Professor John M. Hobson, University of Sheffield
'A superb account which successfully transcends a false dichotomy. Drawing on the best aspects of Historical Sociology and International Relations, and within a rigorous Marxist framework, the authors offer a challenge to all existing explanations of the rise of the West to world dominance'
Neil Davidson, author of How Revolutionary Were the Bourgeois Revolutions?
'A work of towering scholarly erudition combined with deep political insights that must be reckoned with'
Louis Proyect
'Provides an important introduction to a truly global history of the origins of capitalism which recognises the vital inputs and roles of a range of non-European societies'
Review of African Political Economy
'There is much talk these days of Big History, yet the advocates invariably stop short of talking about capitalism. With their bold and wide-ranging treatment, Anievas and Nişancıoğlu now place the origins of capitalism at the very centre of the agenda'
Geoff Eley, Karl Pohrt Distinguished University Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Michigan
'This rigorously argued book presents a compelling challenge to standard narratives of capitalist modernity. The authors combine theoretical sophistication and a wide-ranging account of extra-European histories to provide a superb - and provocative - alternative'
Gurminder K Bhambra, author of Connected Sociologies​
'A fundamental rethinking of the origins of capitalism and the emergence of Western domination by the interactive relations with the non-European world. Highly Recommended.'
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