Acknowledgements
My work on this book first began during my Ph.D. studies at York University, in Toronto, where I had the pleasure and privilege of developing my knowledge of issues related to the origins of capitalism with the late Ellen Meiksins Wood, as well as David McNally and George Comninel. Ellen’s work has been the single most important source of inspiration for this book. Our conversations have made an inestimable contribution to the clarification of my thought on some of the topics discussed here. I feel incredibly fortunate to have had the chance to know her and to appreciate her impressively sharp intellect and disarmingly generous personality in the last decade of her life. I am also greatly indebted to David, whose comments on my work and comradely support have been of immeasurable value.
Though the basic argument remains essentially the same, this book is much more mature and developed than the original dissertation from which it originates. Years of subsequent work have made this possible. During these years, I had the opportunity to test some of my ideas on panels and via email exchanges with Chris Isett, Steve Miller, Benno Teschke and Mike Zmolek. Their support and comments have been of great assistance to me in the process of revising the book for publication. I also want to thank François Jarrige for his very helpful comments and suggestions, as well as another, anonymous reviewer. The editing work on the manuscript by Alexandre Lemay-Roche and Danny Hayward has been fantastic, and I am also grateful for it.
While intellectual work is always collective and irrigated by the thoughts of a multitude of individuals, the process of writing a book is often a lonely one. I have been incredibly fortunate, through the years, to count on the friendship and support of Élène Beaudoin, Crystelle Bédard, Marc-André Cyr, Thierry Drapeau, Thomas Chiasson-Lebel, Frantz Gheller, Claudia Hébert, Benoit Marsan, Jonathan Martineau, Sébastien Rioux, Gary Romanuk, Jean-Pierre Roy, Alan Sears (whose support has been invaluable) and Jonathan Veillette. Our intellectual exchanges have been stimulating; our laughs have kept me going.
Special thanks go to David Mandel, a dear friend, for his support ever since the very first week of my undergraduate studies, and to Charlie Post, who has been the number one fan of this book project, for his comradely friendship and invaluable comments on my work.
Finally, I want to thank my family: Bénédicte, Félix, Gaëtan, Marie-Hélène, Charles, Justin, Laetitia, Rachel, Raphaël, Renaud, and Clémence. I love you and thank you for support.