Global Capitalism

"The essays in this book, written between 1982 and 2011, examine developments in global capitalism in recent decades from a socialist standpoint. Running through them all is a consistent understanding based on Marx's critique of political economy: capitalism seen as a global system, based on the structural opposition between capital and labour rather than states and markets. Although the focus is on understanding the changes since the 1960s, these are situated where appropriate in a longer timeframe, and the analysis seeks to combine both global trends and their regional and national variations. Evidence is presented primarily through a descriptive and discursive approach, rather than through statistical data, but one based on familiarity with a wide range of empirical studies and theoretical debates in different disciplines within the social sciences. The essays are presented in four sections, dealing in turn with the overarching theme of globalisation; the case of Britain; the developing capitalisms of the global South and the former Soviet bloc; and the crisis that has gripped global capitalism since 2008.Presenting an interdisciplinary approach that corresponds with the emergence of international political economy as a distinct field of scholarship, this book will prove to be an invaluable resource for students and scholars of international political economy, politics, economics, international relations, development studies, critical sociology and business studies. "-- "The essays in this volume range a variety of topics and approaches to investigate the changing nature of global capitalism as a social order"--