> The current debate started with an article written by Elizabeth A.R. Brown
> in 1974. But even Marc Bloch, who wrote the classic Feudal Society in the
> 1930s, had to answer criticisms of his use of the term. TOne of his replies
> was that we still call atoms atoms, even after it's well known they can be
> split.
There's a discussion in the first couple of chapter of Maurice Dobb's 'Studies in the Development of Capitalism' (late 1940s I think) - in the first chapter he talks about how controversial the term 'capitalism' has become among historians and defends it as useful. In the second chapter he turns to 'feudalism' and says is nowhere near as controversial, though some historians have started raising questions, particularly re: Russia.
Mike Beggs