A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things

The Introduction and first chapter of A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things are structured to provide a historical and theoretical foundation for the book’s core argument about the “Capitalocene.” In the Introduction, Patel and Moore begin by critiquing the concept of the Anthropocene, proposing the Capitalocene as an alternative framework. They then trace the origins of the Capitalocene to the crisis of feudalism in late medieval Europe, using the colonization of Madeira as a case study to illustrate their “world-ecology” perspective.

The authors draw on a range of historical examples and theoretical concepts, challenging conventional distinctions between nature, society, economy, and ecology as they explore the theme of The Conceptual Divide Between Nature and Society. Chapter 1 then dives deeper into the historical origins of the nature-society divide, examining how this dualism served the interests of colonial powers and the expanding capitalist system. By frontloading the book with this historical and conceptual groundwork, Patel and Moore provide readers with the tools to engage with their more contemporary analysis in later chapters.

Throughout the Introduction and first chapter, the authors engage with a wide range of thinkers, from Karl Marx (See: Background) to Michel Foucault. They also draw extensively on the work of earlier world-systems theorists like Immanuel Wallerstein, building on his insights about global inequality as a class process and the radical remaking of nature under capitalism. At the same time, the authors introduce a number of historical figures and events to illustrate their arguments. Christopher Columbus embodies the early modern impulse to catalog, assess, and exploit the resources of the “New World.” Patel and Moore also discuss key philosophical and legal developments, such as the influence of thinkers like René Descartes and Francis Bacon in codifying the separation of nature and society.

These references serve several purposes. First, they situate the book within a broader field of critical theory and environmental scholarship, establishing Patel and Moore’s intellectual lineage. Second, they allow the authors to build on and extend existing concepts, such as Jason Moore’s elaboration of the Capitalocene as an alternative to the Anthropocene. Finally, by grounding their more abstract arguments in concrete historical examples, Patel and Moore demonstrate how the processes they describe have unfolded in specific times and places, from the English enclosure movement to the colonization of the Americas. This approach reflects the authors’ commitment to understanding capitalism as a fundamentally historical and material process, rooted in the transformation of human and extra-human natures.

The key analytical framework employed by Patel and Moore is what they call “world-ecology,” which emphasizes the co-production of capital accumulation and environmental transformation. This approach challenges conventional distinctions between nature and society, economy and ecology, arguing that these binaries are historical constructs that have served the interests of capitalist expansion. For example, in discussing the colonization of Madeira, Patel and Moore show how the island’s laurel forests were “cheapened” and transformed into a plantation landscape geared toward the production of sugar for European markets. This process relied on the dehumanization of enslaved Africans and Indigenous Canary Islanders, who were categorized as part of nature rather than society. By tracing the entangled histories of capital, power, and nature in this way, Patel and Moore’s world-ecology framework offers a lens through which to understand the origins and development of the Capitalocene.

One of the key rhetorical devices employed by Patel and Moore is the use of concrete examples to illustrate their more abstract theoretical arguments. The story of the Chichimec woman executed for rebelling against Spanish colonizers, for instance, serves as an embodiment of the wider, violent imposition of the nature-society divide. Similarly, the discussion of Madeira as a frontier of capitalist experimentation helps to ground the authors’ world-ecology framework in a specific historical context. Patel and Moore also make effective use of metaphor and figurative language. The central concept of “cheapness,” for example, becomes a shorthand for the complex processes of externalization, appropriation, and exploitation that characterize capitalist expansion. By using such devices, the authors render their dense theoretical arguments more accessible and engaging for a general readership.

Although A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things is a work of nonfiction, Patel and Moore employ literary elements more typically associated with fiction to advance their arguments. One prominent example is their use of narrative. The aforementioned story of the Chichimec woman reads almost like a piece of historical fiction, with sensory details and a clear narrative arc. The authors offer opening lines meant to relay a sense of intrigue: “It only took a day from her crime to her execution. Yet court documents don’t even record her name” (44). Similarly, the authors’ description of Columbus as a proto-capitalist entrepreneur, meticulously cataloging the riches of the “New World,” has a novelistic quality. They describe Columbus as “an assessor with a keen sense of cheapness and power, able to cast his eye on nature and be frustrated that he couldn’t instantly see money” (50). By using such techniques, Patel and Moore create a sense of intimacy and identification with their historical subjects, encouraging readers to engage with the human dimensions of their more abstract arguments about the Capitalocene. At the same time, this literary approach reflects the authors’ critique of conventional academic boundaries, blurring the line between storytelling and theoretical analysis.