Twentieth-century political economy: A brief history of global capitalism

Modern capitalism emerged in the early nineteenth century in western Europe and the European offshoots of the Americas and Oceania. Recognizing the unparalleled dynamism of the new socio-economic system, Marx and Engels predicted in 1848 that capitalism would spread to the entire world. By the end of the twentieth century, that prediction was confirmed: capitalism had indeed become global, but only after a tortuous and violent course of institutional change in many parts of the world. This paper provides a brief account of the emergence of global capitalism, and discusses some of the reasons why the diffusion of capitalism has been so conflictual and violently contested.