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Empire of cotton : a global history Cover Image Book

Empire of cotton : a global history

Beckert, Sven (author.).

Summary: "The epic story of the rise and fall of the empire of cotton, its centrality in the world economy, and its making and remaking of global capitalism. Sven Beckert's rich, fascinating book tells the story of how, in a remarkably brief period, European entrepreneurs and powerful statesmen recast the world's most significant manufacturing industry combining imperial expansion and slave labor with new machines and wage workers to change the world. Here is the story of how, beginning well before the advent of machine production in 1780, these men created a potent innovation (Beckert calls it war capitalism, capitalism based on unrestrained actions of private individuals; the domination of masters over slaves, of colonial capitalists over indigenous inhabitants), and crucially affected the disparate realms of cotton that had existed for millennia. We see how this thing called war capitalism shaped the rise of cotton, and then was used as a lever to transform the world. The empire of cotton was, from the beginning, a fulcrum of constant global struggle between slaves and planters, merchants and statesmen, farmers and merchants, workers and factory owners. In this as in so many other ways, Beckert makes clear how these forces ushered in the modern world. The result is a book as unsettling and disturbing as it is enlightening: a book that brilliantly weaves together the story of cotton with how the present global world came to exist"--Provided by publisher.

Record details

  • ISBN: 0375414142
  • ISBN: 9780375414145
  • Physical Description: print
    xxii, 615 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm
  • Edition: First edition
  • Publisher: New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2014.

Content descriptions

General Note:
"This is a Borzoi Book"--Title page verso.
Bibliography, etc. Note:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Formatted Contents Note:
The rise of a global commodity -- Building war capitalism -- The wages of war capitalism -- Capturing labor, conquering land -- Slavery takes command -- Industrial capitalism takes wing -- Mobilizing industrial labor -- Making cotton global -- A war reverberates around the world -- Global reconstruction -- Destructions -- The new cotton imperialism -- The return of the global South -- The weave and the weft: an epilogue.

Search for related items by subject

Subject:
Capitalism History
Cotton plantation workers History
Cotton textile industry History
Cotton trade History
Enslaved persons
Labor History
Slavery Economic aspects
Textile workers

Available copies

  • 23 of 24 copies available at NC Cardinal. (Show)
  • 4 of 4 copies available at Onslow County Public Library.

Holds

  • 0 current holds with 24 total copies.
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Show Only Available Copies
Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status Due Date
Jacksonville Main Library 338.4767 BEC (Text) 36015000088076 Adult Nonfiction Available -
Richlands Branch Library 338.4767 BEC (Text) 36015001499926 Adult Nonfiction Available -
Sneads Ferry Branch Library 338.4767 BEC (Text) 36015001217906 Adult Nonfiction Available -
Swansboro Branch Library 338.4767 BEC (Text) 36015000924486 Adult Nonfiction Available -
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