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Mother of Capital

Matthew Costa
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A01=Matthew Costa
accumulation by dispossession
Author_Matthew Costa
birth of capitalism
books on rent
capitalism and the state
capitalism vs feudalism
capitalism's future
capitalist transition
Category=JPFC
Category=KCA
Category=KCP
Category=KCSA
Category=KCZ
Category=NHDJ
class struggle
critique of political economy
economic history
economic history of England
economic rent
economic theory
engine of history
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eq_business-finance-law
eq_history
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eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
Feudal Britain
future of capitalism
global proletariat
heterodox economics
historical materialism
historical sociology
history of capitalism
history of capitalist economics
history of rent
History of Renting
land politics
Marxist theory
neo-feudalism
origins of capitalism
peasant studies
political economy
postcapitalism
primitive accumulation
Private Rent
private renting
proletarianization
radical economic thought
Rent
rent strikes
Rent theory
Renters
rentier capitalism
resistance to rent
subaltern movements
subaltern studies
techno-feudalism
Theory of Rent
transition debates
transition from feudalism to capitalism
uneven development
Wage labour
world history

Product details

  • ISBN 9780745350547
  • Dimensions: 140 x 216mm
  • Publication Date: 20 Dec 2025
  • Publisher: Pluto Press
  • Publication City/Country: GB
  • Product Form: Paperback
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Description

Rent, or unearned income, is a pervasive concept in contemporary economics. Economists of all stripes see today's global economy as riddled with harmful rents, but most deny these are intrinsic to capitalism, and insist they can be eliminated with the right policies. It begs the question, why is rent theory so critical of the present but so optimistic about the future?

In Mother of Capital, Matthew Costa delves into the intellectual and social history of rent to solve this puzzle. Centring rent as the engine of capitalism's historical emergence in medieval Europe, he offers a groundbreaking, systematic history of rent and rent theory. The book also traces the history of resistance to rent from below, and unearths a neglected body of critical rent theory.

Weaving complex strands of social and intellectual history into a vivid, lively, and original explanation of how the society we live in came to be, Costa makes a bold intervention into contemporary debates about the origins and future of capitalism, the nature of social change, and of history itself.
About Matthew Costa
Matthew Costa is an Australian political economist. He has been a sessional lecturer and honorary associate in the Department of Political Economy at the University of Sydney. Alongside his academic work, he has served in economic and advisory roles in the Australian public sector for over a decade. He is currently a Director at New South Wales Treasury, and was previously an economic policy advisor in Australia's Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. He lives in New South Wales. Matthew Costa is an Australian political economist. He has been a sessional lecturer and honorary associate in the Department of Political Economy at the University of Sydney. Alongside his academic work, he has served in economic and advisory roles in the Australian public sector for over a decade. He is currently a Director at New South Wales Treasury, and was previously an economic policy advisor in Australia's Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. He lives in New South Wales.

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