Capitalism's Crises
Class Struggles in South Africa and the World
Published on 1. October 2015
Book
Paperback/Softback
312 pages
978-1-86814-920-9 (ISBN)
Description
The contributors to this volume draw on a non-dogmatic Marxist approach to explain the systemic and conjunctural dynamics of crisis inherent in global capitalism. Their analysis asks what is historically specific to capitalism's crises while avoiding catastrophic or defeatist claims. At the same time the volume situates left agency within actual patterns of resistance and class struggle to clarify the potential for transformative change.
The cycle of resistance strengthened by the World Socal Forum and transnational activism is now punctuated by the experience of the Arab Spring, the agency of anti-systemic movements, left think tanks, the Occupy Wall Street Movement, labour unions, left parties in Europe such as Syrizia and Podemos and peoples' budgeting in Kerala, India. On the down side, we are witnessing the waning of the Workers Party in Brazil and serious challenges for South Africa's once powerful labour movement and still formative social justice activism. All these developments are assessed in this volume.
This is the second volume in the Democratic Marxism series. It elaborates on crucial themes introduced in the first volume, Marxism in the 21st Century: Crisis, Critique and Struggle (edited by Michelle Williams and Vishwas Satgar).
The cycle of resistance strengthened by the World Socal Forum and transnational activism is now punctuated by the experience of the Arab Spring, the agency of anti-systemic movements, left think tanks, the Occupy Wall Street Movement, labour unions, left parties in Europe such as Syrizia and Podemos and peoples' budgeting in Kerala, India. On the down side, we are witnessing the waning of the Workers Party in Brazil and serious challenges for South Africa's once powerful labour movement and still formative social justice activism. All these developments are assessed in this volume.
This is the second volume in the Democratic Marxism series. It elaborates on crucial themes introduced in the first volume, Marxism in the 21st Century: Crisis, Critique and Struggle (edited by Michelle Williams and Vishwas Satgar).
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Johannesburg
South Africa
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 228 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
447 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-86814-920-9 (9781868149209)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
10/2015
Abingdon Press
€29.49
Available for download
Persons
Vishwas Satgar is an associate professor of International Relations at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. He is the editor of the Democratic Marxism series, and is the principal investigator for the Emancipatory Futures Studies in the Anthropocene project and a democratic eco-socialist.
William K. Carroll is a member of the Sociology Department at the University of Victoria. He established the Interdisciplinary Program in Social Justice Studies in 2008, serving as its Director until 2012.
Leah Hunt-Hendrix is an Associate Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies. She was a co-founder of Solidaire, a movement support organisation, and she is on the board of directors of three organisations, including the New Economy Coalition.
Isham Christie is currently a labour organiser with the Writers Guild of America East. He was an anti-war and environmental activist with the New Students for a Democratic Society and was intimately involved in the Occupy Wall Street Movement.
Vishwas Satgar is an associate professor of International Relations at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. He is the editor of the Democratic Marxism series, and is the principal investigator for the Emancipatory Futures Studies in the Anthropocene project and a democratic eco-socialist.
William K. Carroll is a member of the Sociology Department at the University of Victoria. He established the Interdisciplinary Program in Social Justice Studies in 2008, serving as its Director until 2012.
Leah Hunt-Hendrix is an Associate Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies. She was a co-founder of Solidaire, a movement support organisation, and she is on the board of directors of three organisations, including the New Economy Coalition.
Isham Christie is currently a labour organiser with the Writers Guild of America East. He was an anti-war and environmental activist with the New Students for a Democratic Society and was intimately involved in the Occupy Wall Street Movement.
Vishwas Satgar is an associate professor of International Relations at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. He is the editor of the Democratic Marxism series, and is the principal investigator for the Emancipatory Futures Studies in the Anthropocene project and a democratic eco-socialist.
Content
Acknowledgements; Acronyms and abbreviations; Introduction: Vishwas Satgar; Contemporary understandings of capitalism's crises and class struggle; From marx to the systemic crises of capitalist civilisation, Vishwas Satgar; Activist understandings of the crisis of 2008, William K. Carroll; Capitalist crisis and left responses in the global north; Occupy and the dialectics of the left in the United States, Leah-Hunt Hendrix and Isham Christie; Austerity and resistance: The politics of labour in the Eurozone crisis, Andreas Bieler and Jamie Jordan; Beyond social democratic and communist parties: Left political organisation in transition in western, Europe Hilary Wainwright; Capitalist crisis and left responses in the global south; Brazil: From neoliberal democracy to the end of the 'Lula Moment', Alfredo Saad Filho; The global financial crisis and 'resilience': The case of India, Sumangala Damodaran; Real wage trends and the labour crisis in South Africa, Niall Reddy; Seize power! The role of the constitution in unifying social justice struggles in South Africa, Mark Heywood.