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A Historian's Remarks on the Transition from Feudalism to CapitalismAuthor(s): Georges LefebvreSource: Science & Society, Vol. 20, No. 3 (Summer, 1956), pp. 241-246Published by: Guilford PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40400440.Accessed: 03/02/2011 04:32

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A HISTORIAN'S REMARKSON THE TRANSITIONFROM FEUDALISM TO CAPITALISM*GEORGES LEFEBVRE

DOBB'S book,1 hecontroversyhat tspublica-tionengendered etweenhimand Paul Sweezy, nd theobservationsmade by H. K. Takahashi,R. Hilton andC. Hill,2have beenofgreat nterest o me. So far s I know, hede-batehasnotattractedmuchattention n Franceup to thepresent,and theonlyreference can makeis to thereview fDobb's workbyJ.Nre in theRevue historique orJanuary-March950.I am not a medievalist nd in any case what I know of theruralhistoryf theMiddle Agesrelateschieflyo France,whereasDobb and Sweezy efermainly o England. cannottake a positionas to the substanceof the question,accordingly; ut since Dobband Sweezy eemto me to have spokenas economistsnd sociolo-gists,myreflections ayperhapsbe of interest s shedding ightonthereactions f a historian.In the first lace, since the organization f productiondomi-nated the discussion, he feudal systemwas not at issue and thewordfeudalismwasnot n place,for he essential ropertyffeudal-ismconsistsn thehierarchyf ordandvassals, nd the distributionoffiefs o the latterby the former.The expression f seigneurialsystemould not be used either,because the authorityf the lord* Translated fromLa Pense, Nouvelle srie,No. 65, janvier- vrier1956,p. 22-25.1 Maurice Dobb, Studies in the Development of Capitalism. New York, 1946.2 The controversy as appeared in Science and Society,vols. XIV (1950),p. 134-167;

vol. XVI (1952) p. 313-345; vo1-XVII (1953) p. i55"l64>34O-351- hese Communi-cationshave been reprinted n The TransitionfromFeudalism to Capitalism.NewYork: Science and Society,1954. 241

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242 SCIENCE AND SOCIETYover heboors f hisdomain rose ut ofa dispersionnddismem-bermentf thepower fthe tate,s theresult fwhichmany ftheprerogativesf he overeignassed o the eigneurs.hecorrectexpression ouldbe themanorialystem, system hoserootsgobackto theearliest eriods fhistorynd doesnot ntrinsicallybelong othe ast enturiesf theMiddleAges.In thesecondplace, fthe manorialystems tobe identifiedwitherfdom,definitionfthe attersrequired. orMarcBloch,therelationshipfthe erf ohismaster asoriginallyhe utcomeofa personal ependence,ffirmedythe pecial bligationnownin France s chevage;t is only ater hat he erfwasattachedothe oil, dstrictusd glebam; hisdea,however,s notuniversallyacceptednd,to discuss he uestion,twouldhaveto be carefullyspecifiedhat ountriesndregionsreunder onsideration.ore-over,t cannotbe saidthat he ocial onditionfthe nhabitantsof theruraldistrictst thattimewas exclusivelyerfdom;herewere lwaysome enants howeremore rlessfree, ilains rancsandeven llodialholders.In the third lace, inceDobb'sbasic thesis ttributeshe eco-nomic ndsocial ransformationo an internalontradictionfthemanorialystem,tappears ometobe oftheessenceopoint utone suchcontradictionedoes notmention.Whenproductionsbasedontheexploitationfa laborforce eptdownbyforce,hedifficultyor hemasters supervisionf the work o as tomakesure t s efficient;hedifficultys met mperfectlytbestbybring-ingtheworkers,hetherlaves rvilleins,nto group nder hecontrol fan overseer;ndfurthermore,howilloverseeheover-seers? rememberhatwhen was a student heard teacherswhoknewnothingfHegelorMarxpoint othisdifficultys oneofthe ources f the ystemfcoloni, nd cite letterfPliny heYounger,f rememberright,nwhich eexplainshat nstead fdirectxploitationfa certainmanor y laves e considersttobemore racticalo distributeenuresothemnconditionfperform-ance of certain uties. FromCarolingian imes n, settled erfs(chases,asati)werenotrare: hePolyptiquef rminonhows en-ants fwhom t east portionmust avebeenof ervile ondition.Finally, feel must all tomindthemultiplicityfthe his-torical actors.Marxbroughtutthepredominantmportancef

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FROM FEUDALISM TO CAPITALISM 243economics,r,to be moreprecise,themodeofproduction.npursuinghisnewprinciple, hichwasa discoveryfgenius t thetime,twasnothistask oextend is nquiryo theother actors,but t wasnever is ntentionoexclude heir ifects;incehistoryis thework fman, e found tamusingobeaccused fnottakinghuman aturento ccount.Afterll, feconomicss thedominantfactor,he reason s thatbeforenythinglsemanhas to be fed:heproduces ecause e is hungry.Withoutiting umbers fex-amples, merelybservehat ccordingoDobbhimselfhedemo-graphic actors important.f,as Dobb holds, he ordmadehisdemandsmore nerous,hiswaspartly ecause isoffspringulti-pliedtheportionsisrevenuesadtobe dividednto; fthepeas-ants led,hiswaspartlyecause heir umbersad ncreasedothepointwhereheir oldingsouldnolonger rovide or hem. romthis oint fview weezy'sositioneems ome tobestrongerhanDobb is inclined oadmit, lthough obb does notdeny hepartplayed ytherevival f trade.The fact hat he ordbecamemoredemanding as n veryargepartdue to the fact hat ommerceofferedimobjectswithwhich oimproveisway f ife; nd thepeasant anawaybecause hedevelopmentf thetowns emptedhimbyopening efugesndchances fgainforhim.I shall lsosay omethingith eferenceothe twoways." hemerchantreates manufacture,ither n thestrictenseof thetermwhatwe nFrance alla usine) r n thebroad ense, hat sbymeans f whattheAnglo-Saxonsesignates theputting-outsystem. e thusbecomes manufacturer;utsinceproductione-mains ubordinateo commerce,he economic tructures notchanged,n this espect. his isway2. On theother and, f anartisan o longer roduces or he ocal consumerndentersntodirect elations ith henational r internationalarket,hepro-ducerbecomes merchants well: this s way1: a revolutionaryway, ecause ommerces subordinatedoproduction.I will gree: hissa revolutionhat shouldiketocalla tech-nological ne,and I presumehat s whatwas in Marx'smind.But fcapitalismsdefinedn terms f theprofitaken utoftheproductfwage abor, hefactseem o me to be a gooddealmorecomplicated;ay2 may eadtocapitalismustasway1 does, ndI do notthink hatMarx didnot realize his.

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244 SCIENCE AND SOCIETYAn artisan,n startinguton way1,doesnot confine imselftosubordinatingommerceoproduction;osupplyhemarket,nthebroad ense ftheterm, emust ecruit laborforce aidbywages,nwhichhemakes profit;hismakes capitalistfhim.But fa merchantetsup a manufacture,e is doing he amething; e is a capitalistoo. Itmaybe said,perhaps,hat he itua-tion sdifferentf thismanufacturings bytheputting-outystem,because hehomeworkeremainsn independentroducer,o thatthemerchantealswith im t anagreed rice,ust ike consumer,andonly btains profityresale.This thesisouldbemaintainedifthe rtisanontinuestthe ame ime osupplyhe ocalmarketand is to someextent ree o choosehiscustomers,eing herebyenabled ot tobe entirelyt themercyfthemerchant. ut tisobvious hat ooner r latertheputting-outystemxcludes hishypothesis,incethemerchants'rdersre so large ndrelativelyregularhat heyngrosshe rtisan'sctivity.venmore, hemer-chant,upplyinghe oomandtherawmaterial,s not contento

bring he xistingrtisanatenderhiscontrol; ecreates orkmenin theruralmasses,which uffer rom ndemicunemploymentand are athismercy.n this ase,ust s intheother,hemerchantbecomes capitalist,s Marxdefinesheterm,ndthat swhy heclass truggleppearedn Italy ndFlandersn thefourteenthndfifteenthenturies.These observationso not militategainstDobb's thesis on-trastinghemerchantnd theproducer hohasbecome capitalist,andrelatingothis onflictneof the spects ftheFirst nglishRevolution. ommercend the tate ssistedachother,he mer-chant s lender ndpurveyorothepublic ervices,speciallyhearmy,nd thestatebytheprivileges,ounties ndmonopoliestgranted;n addition,hesovereignavoredommercend manu-facturesor he akeofthefinancialtructurend thetreasury,ndtomaintainhemonetarytock fthecountry:mercantilismndcolonial xploitationere rectednto systemndplayednto hehands fthemerchant.onsequently,hemerchantever reamedofoverthrowinghepoliticalndsocial tructure,nd it could bepredictedhat e would idewith heroyal owerf the atter eremenaced.On the ther and, his ymbiosisrritatedheproducers,whowere ustcomingn to capitalismnd did notprofitythe

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FROM FEUDALISM TO CAPITALISM 245same rivilegessthefavored erchant,eing educednly otheirownpowersnd resources.Nevertheless,hentheorigins fcapitalismrebeing ought,it shouldnotbe forgottenhat he ollusion f commercendthestatefavoredtsgermination,ven f it is thoughthatSombartemphasizedhispointtoomuch. Without heprotectionf thestategainsthe ompetitionfcountriesithmoredvancedcono-mies,manufactureouldhavehad a hardtimegaining footing.The orders hat he stategaveto manufacturinglso gave t ad-vantages,nd hadan influencen technologyhose onsequenceswere o doubt nsuspectedy ny ne. When hese rders ere orthe uxury f thecourt, heywereof much ess mportancehanthe upplies or hepublic ervices,speciallyhe rmed orces,e-causetheympliedmass roduction:he rtisanate as notadaptedtothis, ndcouldnot be expectedogivethequantity,egularityandspeed fmanufactureeeded,ndespeciallyottheuniformitythat sso essentialnarms.The onlymanufacturerhat ould uc-ceed n really atisfyinghe tatewas themerchantho setup afactory,trictlyo called, rorganized putting-outystem,ecauseonlyhe couldconcentratehe enterprisend makeproductionregular.n thiswayhe tookpart n thehistoric issionfcapital-ism: nauguratingass roductionyrationalizingndmechanizinglabor, hanks o concentrationf theenterprise.Under hese onditions,t seems o me that hefacts ouldbepresentedn thefollowing anner.The merchantreates hefac-torynd his interestsre in agreementith hose f the tate, swell as with hose fthegreat andowners ho set about redis-tributingheirands ndeliminatingheirenants,norder o trans-formgriculture.ollowingheir xamples,hepeasants hohaveputsome avingssideand artisans hohavetakenpart n theprimitiveccumulationfcapital lso undertakeo setup agricul-tural perationsnnewmethods,r a manufacture.ince he tatevirtuallygnoreshem,hey re ealousofboththemerchantndthe ristocracy,nd want oparticipaten thegovernmentn orderto suppress rivilegesndmonopolies,n order o havea chanceat getting overnmentrders. It is natural hereforehattheyshould avedeclaredor arliamentntheEnglish ivilWar. Oneofthe spectsf theFrench evolutionf1789hasthe ame rigin.

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246 SCIENCE AND SOCIETYI shoulddd,however,hat hey ere ot tallhostile othe overn-mentidthat heyondemnednthemerchant:hepartisansffreeenterpriseade ustas effectivese ofthepower f the tate,ncethey adgottheir ands n it,as theprivileged erchantid.I shall onclude ith fewwords n method. he primaryaskof economistsndsociologistsandDobb andSweezyeem ometoappear n that apacity,s I saidabove) s to enquirentotheeconomicystemnd societyhat reactuallyn existence.Afterthis, heyomparehetwo n order ogetgeneraldeas. Butit isnatural hat hecomparative ethodhould ead them o*xtendtheirnvestigationsntotheeconomiesnd societies f thepast.At thatpointtheymustbecomehistorians.When heyrrive t this hase, obbandSweezyuildup theirhypotheses,otbymeans f abors f eruditionutbyborrowingresultsresumedo bedefinitelystablishedy hehistorians.hereis no objectiono this;historiansikewiseesort o this xpedienton occasion.Only, heydo notrestthere. Once thehypothesishasbeenconstructed,hereasonmust omeout of tsshellto in-terrogatehe externalworld gain, o as to discover hetherrnotthe nswersheworld ives upporthathypothesis.It appears ome that hediscussionroused yDobb'spublica-tionhasreached hispoint. I feel t wouldbe useless nd evendangerousocarryt furtherithouturningrom bstractionotheconcrete. ndhow s it possible oconformo thepreceptfex-perimentalationalismxceptby resortingo eruditionnd itsrules? he historianhereforeraws p a researchlan;he drawsup a questionnaire,ellprovided ith ndicationsfsources,heexplorationfwhichwillbe thefirsthase f thework.DobbandSweezyave enderedhe ervice fformulatingheproblems. ow,towork,s historiansBoulogne-sur-Seine,rance