Synopses & Reviews
The conquest of the Americas inaugurated the slow accumulation of resources and the imperceptible structural transformations that culminated in the Industrial Revolution. From that moment on, capitalism grew and expanded with a dynamism and adaptability that are now all too familiar, profiting from wars and even managing to rebound after a series of devastating economic crises.
In this highly-anticipated revised edition of the 1981 classic, Beaud extends one of the major strengths of the original: the interweaving of social, political, and economic factors in the context of history. At the same time, Beaud's analysis provides a realistic and thorough examination of the developments of capitalism in the last twenty years, including globalization, the accelerating speed of capital transfer, and the collapse of the Soviet empire and the subsequent absorption of its population into the world market. This new edition also offers a completely revised format that integrates diagrams and flow-charts not previously available in the English-language edition.
Review
"A brilliant interpretive synthesis"-Choice,
Synopsis
In George Lodge's classic account, now appearing for the first time in paperback, the author argues that America is in the midst of a great transformation, comparable to the one which ended the medieval era in the West. The old ideasindividualism, property rights, competition, the limited state, and scientific specializationhave become increasingly irrelevant in a world of necessariliy huge organizations and limited resources. The United States today has become a considerably less self-assured nation, lacking a sense of direction and control, profoundly uncertain about authority and legitimacy.
About the Author
George C. Lodge was born in Boston in 1927, and after two years in the Navy was graduated from Harvard College in 1950. He was a reporter on the Boston Herald for four years, and from 1954 to 1961 served with the U.S. Deperatment of Labor, first as director of information and later as assistant secretary for international affairs. In 1962 he was the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts, and then joined the faculty of the Harvard Business School, where he is now professor of business administration. In addition to the present work, he is the author of Spearhead of Democracy: Labor in Developing Countries; Engines of Change: United States Interests and Revolution in Latin America; and The New American Ideology. Mr. Lodge is married and the father of six children.