Global Capitalism - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1565846745 ISBN 13: 9781565846746

Publisher: The New Press, 2001

Synopsis

This “glorious and frightening read” (MT Magazine) examines capitalism’s place as the universal social and economic order of our time. Now truly global, twenty-first-century capitalism—aided by extraordinary advances in technology and communication and by unfettered global financial markets—has a speed, inevitability, and force that it has not had before. In Global Capitalism, leading political and economic analysts have gathered to dissect this dangerous new world.

Hailed as a “must read” by Internet Business London, Global Capitalism analyzes the current role of the business firm, considers whether the new capitalism is compatible with social cohesion and social justice, and addresses topics ranging from the degradation of the environment to the concentrated control of the media by transnational corporations. The contributors discuss capitalism as a form of culture and way of life, and ask whether it has any viable political rivals.

Contributors: Ulrich Beck Manuel Castells Jeff Faux Arlie Russell Hochschild Robert Kuttner Larry Mishel Richard Sennett Vandana Shiva George Soros Polly Toynbee Paul A. Volcker

About this title

About the Author:

Will Hutton is the author of the bestselling books The State We’re In and The State to Come.

Anthony Giddens is a sociologist and the former director of the London School of Economics. He is a co-editor (with Will Hutton) of Global Capitalism (The New Press).

From Publishers Weekly:

Compiled in the aftermath of December 1999Awhen Seattle protesters surprised the world with a show of antiglobalization activismAthis book displays the diversity of ideas driving a growing movement. Edited by London School of Economics director Giddens (Runaway World, Forecasts, March 27) and Hutton (The State We're In), this volumeAfor better and for worseAlacks a coherent organizing principle as it deals with the effects, both financial and cultural, of globalization. Contributors range from those who primarily oppose globalism to those who are against the very idea of capitalism per se. Most, however, wish to agitate for narrower intellectual and activist goals in this era of multinational corporate power. Essayists (most of whom, like Richard Sennett, Arlie Hochschild and Vandana Shiva, are well known) treat a range of international policy issues: the rise of information technology; the persistence of economic inequality and environmental abuses; women's rights; and individual psychology (e.g., Sennett deals with the dislocation of identity that results from a global culture). Professional capitalists Paul Volcker and George Soros rehearse their critiques of the IMF and assess the lasting effects of the Third World financial crises of 1997 and 1998; Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee delivers, in what is easily the most readable essay here, a critique of "cultural panic," the fear of the globalization of culture ("Sometimes it seems as if a tidal wave of the worst Western culture is creeping across the globe like a giant strawberry milkshake"). Other essays are aimed primarily at policy wonks. On the whole, the book is readable and well researched. Though it doesn't break a lot of new ground, it does provide an intermediate-level survey of the range of leftist ideas circulating these days in response to global capitalism. (Aug.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: The New Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 1565846745
• ISBN 13: 9781565846746
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256
• Editor: Hutton Will, Giddens Anthony