Better Read Ep 1 - Slavery, the Industrial Revolution, and Primary Expropriation PREVIEW
From Work Stoppage by workstoppage
May 21, 2026 · 27 min · Episode 462
About this episode
The episode discusses the relationship between slavery and capitalism, its impact on the industrial revolution, and colonialism.
In this new series we aim to talk about topics that are a little deeper than we can get into on a main feed episode based on some of the things that we are reading outside what we use for our main feed episodes. Each one will be self-contained and Patron Exclusive! There will still be previews in our main feed but to get the whole thing become a patron at http://patreon.com/workstoppage This first episode's discussion focuses around the compatibility of slavery with capitalism, how slavery was a major factor in fueling the industrial revolution, and many aspects of colonialism, including primary accumulation/expropriation. This longer view of history allows us to more accurately orient ourselves as working class internationalists so we are not fooled by the historical revisionism of the ruling capitalist class. Main Texts Discussed:Subscribe to Monthly Review - https://monthlyreview.org/subscribe/https://monthlyreview.org/articles/the-slave-trade-and-the-industrial-revolution-debate-a-look-at-the-numbers/https://monthlyreview.org/articles/could-capitalism-have-thrived-without-colonialism/ Other Media mentioned:Open Veins of Latin America by Eduardo Galeano…
People in this episode
Host: workstoppage
Topics covered
- slavery
- capitalism
- industrial revolution
- colonialism
- primary accumulation
- working class internationalism
Keywords
- slavery
- capitalism
- industrial revolution
- colonialism
- primary expropriation
- working class
- historical revisionism
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Monthly Review
Books & works: Open Veins of Latin America, Magellan, The Counter-Revolution of 1776, River of Dark Dreams
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