We know the (first) industrial revolution occurred in Britain. But why? Detail Beckert's explanation (along with my lecture, which essentially refines his points) of why Britain would be the center of this new political economy called capitalism. What was it specifically about Britain, both domestically and internationally, that led it to be the first capitalist world superpower? Relate concepts and historical events that we covered in the first two weeks that would help facilitate this process of turning Britain 'capitalist'.What's said about Britain's cotton-based economy in relation to the rest of the world? That is, what other places around the globe were connected to this narrative? What's meant by the changing geography of production? How was the international division of labor affected by these changes? (*Think about how India was perceived in terms of their cotton manufactures before the rise of capitalist Britain and then after.)What does Beckert say about the "modern" state? What distinguishes this form of the 'state' from earlier forms of state/government power? What is meant by the 'logic of capital' and how does it inform the development of the 'modern' state? How does the state inform the development of capital?What are the different contradictions that would arise out of the new institutions, social relations, and inter-dependencies of nations, classes, and different groups of people under the political economy of global capitalism? How do these contradictions relate to crisis and transformation of the economy and society historically? Provide your own thoughts regarding all these issues and reasoning behind any comments, critiques, questions, etc.

use he first part of the six-part series, "Capitalism part 1: Adam Smith, The Birth of the Free Market."

• Chapter 3, "The Wages of War Capitalism" from Sven Beckert's Empire of Cotton.

as refernces