Synopses & Reviews
Globalization is the mantra of our times. Business executives, politicians, and intellectuals all seem to agree that it just happened, and that we must adapt to it. In this new book, the entire globalization project is subjected to a powerful blast from the left. James Petras and Henry Veltmeyer contend that globalization is not new—capitalism over the past 100 years has experienced periodic waxings and wanings of its tendency to integrate economies worldwide. They go on to argue that globalization was created by deliberate policies put in place by powerful states under the control of dominant classes, and that it is not a structural part of the capitalist system—it is instead an ideological smokescreen used to divert attention away from the resurgence of imperialist powers. The authors do see an alternative—a renewed, democratic, and revolutionary socialist vision that is capable of uniting people, and of being recognized by political movements that are committed to finding realistic strategies and achievable goals.
Synopsis
Perhaps no word today is used and misused more than globalization. It generally serves to refer to worldwide epoch-defining changes in the organization of societies, economies and politics. But as Petras and Veltmeyer demonstrate, the term globalization obscures much more than it reveals.
In practice, globalization provides a cover for a new form of imperialist exploitation and the institution of US hegemony over a global process of capital accumulation. In the last decade, capitalists in Europe and the United States have created favourable conditions for the takeover and recolonization of economies across the developing world. International capital has managed to restore highly profitable returns on investments and operations as never before, creating islands of opulent prosperity within a sea of growing poverty and misery. In effect, this book argues that the terms globalization and imperialism are widely used as alternative frameworks for understanding the dynamics of the same worldwide developments and trends. Employing an imperialist analytical framework over that of globalization not only provides a better understanding but also points towards forces of resistance and opposition that through political action may bring about necessary change."
About the Author
James Petras is former Professor of Sociology at Binghamton University, New York.
Henry Veltmeyer is Professor of Sociology and International Studies at Saint Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Table of Contents
Contents
Introduction
1. Globalization or Imperialism?
2. Globalization: A Critical Analysis
3. Globalization as Ideology
4. Capitalism at the End of the Millennium
5. The Labyrinth of Privatization
6. Democracy and Capitalism: An Uneasy Relationship
7. Cooperation for Development
8. NGOs in the Service of Imperialism
9. US Empire and Narco - Capitalism
10. The Politics of US Hegemony: Right-wing Strategy in Practice
11. Socialism in an Age of Imperialism