A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things

A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things: A Guide to Capitalism, Nature, and the Future of the Planet (2017) is a nonfiction book written by Raj Patel, a political economist and professor at the University of Texas at Austin, and Jason W. Moore, an environmental historian and associate professor at Binghamton University. The authors’ expertise in political economy and environmental history provides a unique perspective on the interconnected nature of capitalism and ecological crises. The book explores the topics of capitalism, colonialism, imperialism, and environmental degradation through the lens of seven “cheap things”: nature, money, labor, care work, food, energy, and lives. Patel and Moore argue that these elements have been exploited and undervalued to maintain the capitalist system, leading to interrelated social and ecological consequences.

This guide refers to the 2017 e-book edition published by University of California Press.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide contain discussions of racism, enslavement, colonialism, and other forms of exploitation.

Summary

In the Introduction, Patel and Moore argue that the current ecological crisis is better understood as the “Capitalocene” rather than the “Anthropocene,” emphasizing the central role of capitalism in driving global environmental change over the past five centuries. The authors trace the origins of the Capitalocene to the crisis of feudalism in late medieval Europe and the rise of capitalist strategies of “cheapening” nature, money, labor, care work, food, energy, and human lives. Using the example of the Portuguese colonization of Madeira in the 15th century, they illustrate how the creation of global commodity frontiers and the development of new conceptual and legal frameworks enabled the devaluation and exploitation of both human and nonhuman natures. Patel and Moore call for a “world-ecology” perspective that challenges the logic of cheapness and value under capitalism and points to ideas of reparation, redistribution, and the re-sacralization of human-nature relations as guides for navigating the state shift of the Capitalocene and building a more just and sustainable world.

In Chapter 1, Patel and Moore argue that the conceptual divide between “Nature” and “Society”—terms that they capitalize to convey their mythic status—was invented in the 16th century to serve the interests of European colonial powers and the emerging capitalist system. The authors trace how European empires commodified nature and Indigenous peoples, exploring the philosophical foundations of this divide, particularly the ideas of Descartes and Bacon, which positioned nature as something to be mastered and controlled by human reason and science. Patel and Moore argue that this dualistic view was deeply entwined with colonialism and the mapping and conquest of the world.

The chapter then examines how the rise of private property and wage labor in England, through the enclosure of the commons and suppression of peasant resistance, transformed people’s relationship with the land. This process went hand in hand with the expropriation of Indigenous knowledge and the categorization of colonized peoples and women as part of nature. Patel and Moore conclude by discussing the ecological crises caused by capitalism’s “cheap nature” strategy, arguing that the nature-society divide has enabled the subjugation of human and non-human life in ways that now threaten the planet’s habitability.

In Chapter 2, Patel and Moore argue that the creation of “cheap money” has been essential to the expansion of capitalism and imperialism since the 15th century. They trace the origins of this process to the Genoese financing of Spanish colonialism, which established a pattern of using credit to organize global nature, world power, and planetary work. The authors show how the increasing costs of warfare led to a shift from military to financial power, accompanied by the rise of modern colonialism and the appropriation of human and natural resources. Using the example of silver mining in Potosí, they illustrate how the exploitation of Indigenous labor and environmental destruction was integral to the production of cheap money and the expansion of global trade. Patel and Moore also highlight the interdependent relationship between bankers and governments, arguing that this symbiotic dynamic has led to recurring cycles of accumulation, financialization, and crisis. They situate contemporary financial capitalism within this historical context, warning that the current era of financialization is characterized by unprecedented levels of inequality, instability, and the threat of violence.

In Chapter 3, Patel and Moore argue that the creation of “cheap work,” through the exploitation of human labor and the appropriation of nature, was essential to the development of capitalism. They trace how the colonization of the Americas, the transatlantic slave trade, and the legal and religious justifications for the subjugation of Indigenous peoples and Africans provided a vast pool of exploitable labor. The rise of capitalism transformed the nature of work itself, imposing abstract, linear time to discipline workers and increase productivity. They examine the close links between industrial labor and the transformation of agriculture, highlighting how enslavement and the displacement of peasants provided cheap raw materials for factories while feeding urbanization and industrialization. Patel and Moore identify strategies used by capitalists to keep labor costs low and prevent worker organization, such as technological displacement, regional competition, and union suppression. They call for a revolutionary politics of sustainability that recognizes and mobilizes the contradictions between waged labor, unpaid reproductive labor, and the appropriation of nature.

In Chapter 4, Patel and Moore argue that the creation of “cheap care” through the establishment of the modern household and the domestication of women was crucial for providing the unpaid reproductive labor necessary to sustain the capitalist system. They trace the historical processes that led to this transformation, including early colonial encounters, the enclosure of common lands, the development of property law, and the invention of the category of “woman” in colonial contexts. The authors demonstrate how gender, sexuality, and power were interwoven in the creation of capitalism’s ecology, with women’s work being devalued and confined to the domestic sphere. They also highlight the persistence of gender inequality and the devaluation of care work in the modern world, despite overall improvements in women’s status. Patel and Moore emphasize the importance of political struggle in recognizing, rewarding, and reducing care work, arguing that the success of these struggles would signal the end of cheap nature and a shift toward valuations based on care work rather than exploitation, ultimately pointing toward a world after capitalism.

In Chapter 5, Patel and Moore argue that capitalism’s reliance on “cheap food” to sustain its system of cheap labor and care has had devastating consequences for the environment, human health, and social equality. They trace this history from the early days of European colonialism, through the English Agricultural Revolution, the rise of imperialism, and the Green Revolution of the mid-20th century, showing how the drive for cheap food has consistently displaced peasant farmers, exploited workers, and degraded the natural world. Patel and Moore pay particular attention to the role of industrial meat production and its reliance on cheap immigrant labor, as well as the looming threat of climate change, which they argue poses an existential challenge to capitalism’s model of endless growth and accumulation. They emphasize the interconnectedness of food, labor, and the environment under capitalism while also highlighting the resistance and resilience of those who have fought against these processes over the centuries. They stress the urgency of rethinking the world’s food systems in the face of mounting social and ecological crises.

In Chapter 6, the authors argue that the pursuit of “cheap energy” has been a driving force behind capitalism’s development, involving the enclosure and exploitation of the commons in both human societies and nature. They trace this history from the deforestation of Madeira and China to the use of peat in the Dutch Golden Age, coal in the English Industrial Revolution, and oil in the 20th century. The authors highlight key moments, such as the Haber-Bosch process, which transformed agriculture and warfare; the Colorado Coal Strike, which shaped labor politics; and the rise of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and “petrodollars,” which fueled neoliberalism. Patel and Moore conclude that addressing the climate crisis will require challenging the power structures and ideologies that justify the control over resources and people and embracing a more sustainable and equitable model that moves beyond the endless quest for cheap energy and nature.

In Chapter 7, Patel and Moore argue that the modern nation-state has been shaped by capitalism’s ecology and vice versa. They trace the roots of the modern nation-state to ideas of blood purity, the state’s increasing power relative to the Catholic Church, and literature sanctioning natural orders of humans. These concepts were used to propel new kinds of governance and social scientific control, especially in colonial frontiers like New Spain. Patel and Moore highlight the Haitian Revolution as an example of how enslaved people who attempted to claim self-ownership were met with force, finance, and ideology. The authors also discuss the rise of alternate nationalisms as a result of the logic of capitalism’s ecology running afoul of nationalism’s language of shared destiny. Finally, they present the possibility of non-patriarchal Indigenous nationhood as a potential break from capitalism’s ecology while emphasizing the need for a post-capitalist vision of governance to achieve revolutionary politics.

In the Conclusion, Patel and Moore argue that capitalism has shaped the modern world through ideas, conquests, and commerce, creating a world ecology that interweaves power, capital, and nature. Central to this process are binary oppositions (society and nature, colonizer and colonized, man and woman) that have functioned to dominate and cheapen human and non-human life. The authors critique mainstream environmental concepts like the calculations of one’s “ecological footprint” or the world’s “carrying capacity” as extensions of Cartesian and capitalist logic that blame the poor and working class for ecological destruction. As an alternative, they propose “reparation ecology,” which entails recognizing capitalism’s violence, making material reparations, redistributing resources and labor, and fundamentally reimagining human relations with the web of life beyond capitalist abstractions. Patel and Moore highlight various social movements that are developing systemic responses to capitalism while acknowledging the challenges of building a truly post-capitalist counter-hegemony. Ultimately, they argue for a collective process of revolutionary liberation in which humans reclaim the commons, embrace meaningful work, and construct a world beyond the violent and impoverishing logic of capitalism.