Abstract

This chapter expands on the concept of feudalism as an economic system distinct from both capitalism and socialism. The focus will be on what feudalism’s central injustices are and how early work on the moral foundations of capitalism sought to emphasize the role of markets in rescuing people from feudal servitude. Later sections of the chapter look at some important contemporary concerns about the resurgence of some elements of feudal economic order and the sorts of economic injustices to which they give rise, particularly with regard to inherited wealth, access to housing, and alleged employer domination in labor markets.