ABSTRACT
In this chapter I shall outline Marxist explanations of the transition from feudalism to capitalism. I will not go into everything that has been said; I shall concentrate on those accounts which are most relevant to the themes of this book. I shall begin by summarising Marx’s own account of the transition from feudalism to capitalism, moving on to more recent Marxist views: the ‘external’ exchange relations perspective, and the ‘internal’ property relations perspective. My exposition will also include some criticisms of those positions. At the conclusion of the chapter I shall raise some feminist questions about those debates, and outline how I will look at property and patriarchy in Anglo-Saxon society and in the shift from feudalism to capitalism.
