Capitalism, Democracy, Socialism: Critical Debates

Description

This book critically analyzes the current historical conjuncture of neoliberal capitalism with an eye to its emergent alternatives. Can democracy and capitalism thrive together? Is socialism a viable and a desirable alternative? What are the forms of emancipatory action and critical thought that can effectively chart a way forward? Focusing on nine “critical debates” it provides a uniquely comprehensive overview of the tensions, contradictions, and latent emancipatory potential of contemporary global capitalism. The specific debates are as follows: capitalism’s relationship with democracy; privatization and governance of the commons; the financialization of capitalism; technology and the future of work; varieties of neoliberal capitalism; cosmopolitanism, international development, and human rights; feminist theory and social solidarity; sustainability and climate change; and theories of capitalist crisis. Contents About the Editors Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Capitalism and Democracy: Complementarity, Complicity, Conflict, Compatibility 2.1 Liberal Legacies and the Early Modern Tradition 2.1.1 The Levellers Controversy 2.1.2 Liberalism and the Priority Argument 2.1.3 Neorepublicanism and the Ambiguity of the Early Modern Tradition 2.2 Theories of Complicity and the Separation Thesis 2.3 Marketizing Democracy 2.3.1 Rational Markets and Irrational Democrats 2.3.2 The Frayed Ends of Democratic Capitalism 2.3.3 Capital and Coloniality 2.4 Strategies of Compatibility 2.5 Parting Considerations References Chapter 3: Privatization and the Governance of the Commons 3.1 The Debate 3.2 Private Property and the Commons: Political Ideas, Economic Theories, and Legal Practice 3.2.1 Moral and Economic Justifications for Property Rights 3.2.2 The Marxist Critique 3.2.3 The Dogma of Absolute Property Revisited 3.2.4 New Reformulations: On the Common Good and the “Good” Governance 3.3 The Tragedy of the Commons Reassessed: A Case Study on Chile 3.4 Conclusion: A Recategorization of the “Commons” References Chapter 4: Finance and the Financialization of Capitalism 4.1 Introduction 4.2 What Is Financialization? 4.3 Financialization of Everyday Life and the Household 4.4 Financialization and Race 4.5 Finance, Subjectivity, and Culture 4.6 Financialization and Democracy 4.7 Capitalism and Climate Change 4.8 Conclusion References Chapter 5: Technology and the Future of Work 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Information Technology, Capitalism, and Class 5.3 Technology, Automation and Work 5.4 Conclusion References Chapter 6: Varieties of Neoliberal Capitalism 6.1 Introduction 6.2 The Neoliberal Development Model 6.2.1 The Dimensions of the Neoliberal Development Model The Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) The Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPCI) The Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) 6.3 The Asian “Tigers” 6.4 The Case of BRICS (Brazil, Russia India, China and South Africa) 6.4.1 The Origins and Structures of BRICS 6.4.2 BRICS as an Alternative Economic Development Model 6.5 The Social Democratic Developmental State Model 6.5.1 State Type 6.5.2 Democracy-Development Nexus 6.5.3 Development Ideology 6.5.4 The State as the “Engine of Development” 6.5.5 State Autonomy 6.5.6 Embeddedness 6.5.7 The Centrality of Human Material Wellbeing 6.5.8 Funding Development 6.5.9 The Role of the “Market” 6.6 Conclusion References Chapter 7: Cosmopolitanism, International Development and Human Rights 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Cosmopolitanism 7.3 Development 7.4 Human Rights 7.5 Conclusion References Chapter 8: Feminist Theory and Social Solidarity 8.1 Capitalist and Anti-capitalist Feminisms 8.2 Solidarity: A Brief Genealogy 8.3 Feminist Theories of Solidarity: Identity, Redistribution, and Intersectionality 8.3.1 Identitarian Ideals 8.3.2 Post-identitarian Organizing 8.3.3 Intersectionality: History and Present 8.3.4 Neoliberal Feminism 8.4 Persistent Challenges References Chapter 9: Sustaining What? Capitalism, Socialism, and Climate Change 9.1 Sustainable Ubiquity 9.2 Sustainable Confusion 9.3 What We Talk About When We Talk About Sustainability 9.4 The Extractive Circuit 9.5 Green Capitalism I: The Discount Rate 9.6 Green Capitalism II: Green Growth 9.7 Green Growth on the Left 9.8 Prometheanism and Techno-Mysticism 9.9 Degrowth Dilemmas 9.10 ‘One Solution—Revolution’ and Other Marxist Fallacies Bibliography Chapter 10: Capitalism and Crisis: Thinking Through Capitalist Crisis with Schumpeter and Polanyi 10.1 Introduction 10.2 The Marxian Legacy: Defining Capitalism 10.3 Schumpeter on Capitalist Crisis 10.4 Polanyi and the Great Transformation 10.5 Conclusion References Index