The Transition in the Low Countries: Wage Labour as an Indicator of the Rise of Capitalism in the Countryside, 1300–1700

Bavel deals with the transition from feudalism to capitalism--namely the transformation of a society dominated by small, independent producers who had a strong grip on the means of production and whose produce was partly extracted by non-economic force, into a society in which there is a pronounced...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Past & present 2007-01, Vol.195 (suppl-2), p.286-303
Main Author: van Bavel, Bas
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Capitalism
Economic Change
Feudalism
Labor
Labor contracts
Labor economics
Labour contract
Labour economics
Middle Ages
Netherlands
Social Indicators
Transition economies
Wages
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Summary:Bavel deals with the transition from feudalism to capitalism--namely the transformation of a society dominated by small, independent producers who had a strong grip on the means of production and whose produce was partly extracted by non-economic force, into a society in which there is a pronounced division between propertyless wage-earners and entrepreneurs who own the means of production. He presents an overview on the rural transition in the Low Countries, with a special emphasis on the strong regional differences in the area. He then investigates the rise of wage labor undertaken on two regions in the Low Countries--namely central Holland and the Guelders river area--around the middle of sixteenth century, and establish the share of rural labor input provided by wage labor.
ISSN:0031-2746
1477-464X
DOI:10.1093/pastj/gtm036