The Capitalist Self

The Social Origins of Financial Capitalism in Early Modern England

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In this radical reinterpretation of the Financial Revolution, Craig Muldrew redefines our understanding of capitalism as a socially constructed set of institutions and beliefs. Financial institutions, including the Bank of England and the stock market, were just one piece of the puzzle. Alongside institutional developments, changes in local credit networks involving better accounting, paper notes and increased mortgaging were even more important. Muldrew argues that, before a society can become capitalist, most of its members have to have some engagement with 'capital' as a thing – a form of stored intangible financial value. He shows how previous oral interpersonal credit was transformed into capital through the use of accounting and circulating paper currency, socially supported by changing ideas about the self which stressed individual savings and responsibility. It was only through changes throughout society that the framework for a concept like capitalism could exist and make sense.

• Provides an empirically grounded explanation for capital as a tangible thing, rather than a nebulous concept
• Reinterprets the Financial Revolution arguing for the significance of local credit networks alongside larger institutions
• Highlights the importance of the early modern self through its relation to economic practice