[PEN-L:11424] Re: Person work hours at the dawn of capitalism

[Doug Henwood <dhenwood@xxxxxxxxx>]

Louis Proyect wrote:

> >  Has anyone here read Robin Blackburn's histories of slavery? He argues
> >that slavery was seminal in the development of Europe. Any comments?
> >
> >Sam Pawlett
>
> THE MAKING OF NEW WORLD SLAVERY: From the Baroque to the Modern, 1492-1800.
> By Robin Blackburn . 582 pp.,

I haven't read Blackburn's book, but I did a long interview him when
it came out. He argued that, aside from the material contribution of
slavery to primitive accumulation, the slave ship itself was
institutionally important to the evolution of capitalism - a
proto-factory, with the captain as capitalist, managing the crew and
keeping accounts.

Doug