Why did capitalism emerge as mature system in Britain - Research Paper Example

The topic of capitalism was originally brought about by Karl Marx and his colleague Fredrick Engels, who were both historians and theorists. According to Marx, capitalism originated from the Western Europe, more specifically in England. This is reiterated by Max Weber, who describes England as “the home of capitalism” (Jean Baechler et al. 1988, p. 185). Capitalism in England can be traced from the sixteenth century which coincided with the Agrarian revolution that was slowly taking place.

Capitalism was, therefore, largely seen in the land ownership and agricultural production that characterized this revolution. During the sixteenth century, most parts of Europe were undergoing the Agrarian revolution. Typically, human beings engaging in agriculture in most parts of Europe were categorized into two main groups; the people who practiced agriculture (peasants) and those who appropriated other people’s labor. In this arrangement, those who worked on the land (peasant farmers) possessed land and had access to what they produced on their farms.

However, the appropriators of labor (who were either the State or landowners) controlled what these peasants farmers sold or remained with for storage. This surplus produce was taken from the peasants by use of coercion which was carried out through various means such as judicial, military or political power. According to Marx, this kind of exploitation through direct coercion was referred to “extra-economic” means. This was, however, different from the developed capitalism where the farmers (producers) are completely property-less, only relying on wages in exchange of their labor-power in working on landowners’ properties (Wallerstein 2011).

In this kind of capitalist relationship between appropriators and producers, what mattered most were the markets and the forces involved in them. For example, markets determined what the appropriators got in exchange