A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things

A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things
First edition
AuthorRaj Patel and Jason W. Moore
LanguageEnglish
PublisherUniversity of California Press (US)
Verso Books (UK)
Black Inc (Aus)
Publication date
2018
Pages336
ISBN978-1-78873-213-0

A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things: A Guide to Capitalism, Nature, and the Future of he Planet is a book by Raj Patel and Jason W. Moore published in 2018.

Premise

The book considers the development of Capitalism and the Anthropocene through the interrelationship of seven 'cheap things'. These are:

  • Cheap Nature
  • Cheap Money
  • Cheap Work
  • Cheap Care
  • Cheap Food
  • Cheap Energy
  • Cheap Lives

Cheapness is defined as 'a set of strategies to manage relations between capitalism and the web of life'. Cheapness then is not just about low cost. It is rather a strategy capitalism has employed transform undenominated objects and relationships into circuits of production and consumption that have the lowest possible dollar value.[1]

The authors adopt a world ecology approach. This approach commits to understanding human relations of power, production, and environment-making in the web of life.

Reception

The Guardian praised the book's 'impressive ability to synthesise disparate elements'.[2]

References

  1. ^ A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things: A Guide to Capitalism, Nature and the Future of the Planet. London: Verso. 2018. p. 22. ISBN 978-1-78873-213-0.
  2. ^ O'Connell, Mark (2018-06-14). "A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things review – how capitalism works". The Guardian. Retrieved 2022-03-08.


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