# Adam Smith — The Conquest of Bread character guide

> Adam Smith in The Conquest of Bread by Peter Kropotkin.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Smith

**First appearance:** 0001-the-conquest-of-bread

## Snapshot

The founding economist of political economy, cited by Kropotkin to turn the master's own logic against the system Smith described.

## Who they are

Smith belongs to the intellectual scaffolding Kropotkin dismantles, the classical economist whose account of wealth and labour underpins the order the book attacks. Kropotkin's move is sly: he accepts the premise that labour creates value, then asks why its fruits flow to a handful. This tension between Smith's analysis and its capitalist uses sharpens the argument that abundance, not scarcity, is the real starting point.

## Relationships

### [Marx](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_conquest_of_bread_se/characters/marx)

_professional_

Marx engaged deeply with Smith's classical economics, critiquing and reworking concepts like value and surplus value.

## In the story

### [Anarchist Communism](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_conquest_of_bread_se/chapters/iii-anarchist-communism)

Mentioned as a foundational economist whose labor theory of value is followed by Marx, but whose teachings are questioned in the context of communist remuneration.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_conquest_of_bread_se/chapters/i)

Mentioned as one of the economists (along with Ricardo and Marx) who taught that exchange value is measured by the amount of work necessary to produce goods.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_conquest_of_bread_se/chapters/i)

Implied through the reference to economists who defend the current system.

### [XIV: Consumption and Production](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_conquest_of_bread_se/chapters/xiv-consumption-and-production)

Mentioned as an economist who begins analysis with production, following the traditional approach.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_conquest_of_bread_se/chapters/i)

Cited as an economist who begins analysis with production, following the traditional method.

### [The Division of Labour](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_conquest_of_bread_se/chapters/xv-the-division-of-labour)

Cited as the father of modern Political Economy who advocated for the division of labor as a source of national wealth, ignoring its dehumanizing effects on workers.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_conquest_of_bread_se/characters/adam_smith
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_conquest_of_bread_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_conquest_of_bread_se/characters