The Place of Feudalism in the Transition to Capitalism

Abstract

The Marxist-derived notion of transition from feudalism to capitalism represents one of the most widely used and convenient organising frameworks for the analysis of the emergence of modern Western society. Its convenience may be attributed as much to its vagueness as an ‘umbrella’ concept under which many different conceptual schema may subsist, as much as for its reliance on clear-cut concepts. ‘Capitalism’, for example, has come to be loosely synonymous within this framework for that set of social relations whose emergence represents a decisive watershed in European and world history. ‘Feudalism’, on the other hand, has become an even looser term for pre-capitalist Europe. The vagueness of the organising framework founded on the notion of transition between these two entities has succeeded in drawing into its debate many conflicting interpretations both of the nature of the phenomenon whose emergence is to be explained, and of the factors of developmental significance in its historical development.