1. Global capital and global labor; 2. Notes on transnational state apparatuses; 3. Beyond the theory of imperialism; 4. The 'Great Recession': financial speculation and militarized accumulation; 5. Policing global capitalism; 6. Interregnum: a new crisis of hegemony.
This book discusses the nature of the new global capitalism.
William I. Robinson is a Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he is also affiliated with the Latin American and Iberian Studies Program and with the Global and International Studies Program. He has previously published seven books, among them, the award-winning Promoting Polyarchy (Cambridge, 1996), A Theory of Global Capitalism (2004), and the award-winning Latin America and Global Capitalism (2008). He has published some fifty articles in academic journals such as Sociological Forum, Theory and Society, International Studies Review, International Sociology, Cambridge Review of International Affairs, International Relations, Global Society, Globalizations, Race and Class, New Political Economy, Third World Quarterly, and Radical Philosophy and hundreds of essays, books chapters, and articles in the popular press. He is a member of the editorial board of fifteen academic journals. In 2013 Robinson was elected chair of the Political Economy of the World-System section of the American Sociological Association (ASA). He is a member of the ASA, the Latin American Studies Association, the Global Studies Association, and the International Studies Association. He was a founding writer for and editor of Pensamiento Propio, a monthly journal of the Coordinadora Regional de Investigaciones Economicas y Sociales.
'In this thoughtful and informative study, William I. Robinson
carries forward the theory of global capitalism that he has
presented in earlier work, applying it to the severe crises of an
unprecedented moment of human history, when decisions directly
affect the prospects for decent survival. The perspective that he
develops is a most valuable one, broadly researched and carefully
analyzed, addressing issues of utmost importance.' Noam Chomsky,
Institute Professor (retired), Massachusetts Institute of
Technology
'In this wide-ranging book, William I. Robinson offers a compelling
analysis of the recent turns in global capitalism. Moving from the
local to the global with grace and conviction, Robinson traces the
mutations in contemporary capitalism, showing how they have led to
the rise of a truly globalized capitalist class and state
apparatus. He argues convincingly for the obsolescence of
traditional political economic categories in the face of these
changes and presents a robust alternative framework, of which he is
undoubtedly one of the leading proponents. And perhaps most
importantly, he urges us to realize the moral and ethical stakes in
this endeavor. This is a work of profound importance for all
students of contemporary political economy.' Vivek Chibber, New
York University
'William I. Robinson has written an outstanding, gripping, and
comprehensive look at the reorganization of global capitalism and
its implications - potential and actual - for the masses of the
world's people. Not only does this book suggest a unique and
provocative way of understanding today's global capitalism, with
the rise of a transnational capitalist class, but it also offers
insights into the challenges that must be undertaken in order to
construct a strategy for a fundamental social transformation to
rescue this planet and its inhabitants from the dangers derived
from a very toxic capitalism. This book spoke to the questions with
which I have been grappling, and it spoke in clear and direct
terms. I could not more strongly recommend this book.' Bill
Fletcher, Jr, writer/activist; coauthor of Solidarity Divided; and
author of 'They're Bankrupting Us': And 20 Other Myths about
Unions
'This is a welcome update of William I. Robinson's theory of global
capitalism. In the current debates over the deepening of
inequality, the persistence of stagnation, and the slide toward
oligarchy throughout the industrialized world, Robinson's
perspective is essential.' Craig N. Murphy, Research Professor,
Department of Conflict Resolution, Human Security, and Global
Governance, McCormack Graduate School and Co-Director, Center for
Governance and Sustainability, University of Massachusetts,
Boston
'William I. Robinson's critique of global managerial and corporate
rulers on geopolitical, economic, and ecological grounds is tightly
argued, convincing, and urgently needed. Looking at it from the
vantage point of BRICS debates, his contribution is a welcome
corrective to those anticipating a rebalanced world or even an
anti-imperialist project - for instead, he describes a deepening
crisis of globalized capitalism. It is impossible not to conclude
that, as does Robinson, 'only mass movements can generate
counterdefinitions of the global order and its crisis'.' Patrick
Bond, Senior Professor, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South
Africa
'Robinson is one of the most prominent thinkers about global
capitalism and transnational capitalist class theory, and his new
work is challenging and vitally important … In fact, the work is
essential reading for all those who want to understand contemporary
capitalism and are concerned with the fate of our planet. In other
words, everyone should read this book.' Jerry Harris, Race and
Class
'Robinson decisively documents the fragmentation of production in
the new global capitalism in which labor, design, manufacturing,
assembly, and shipping-once localized processes occurring in a
single factor-have been broken down into their own industries and
are carried out all over the world … The index is excellent, and
the book is recommended for those seeking an alternative view of
the evolving, market-based, global political economy … Summing up:
recommended.' I. Walter, Choice
'Building upon decades of work, William Robinson's Global
Capitalism and the Crisis of Humanity is at once a theoretical
summa and an attuned take on the bumpiness - to put it lightly - of
our contemporary moment.' Christopher Taylor, American Journal of
Sociology
'Those readers who are searching for an explanation of the recent
electoral results in places as dissimilar as Austria and the
Philippines, not to mention the ongoing U.S. primary presidential
contest, will surely find this book captivating. … Readers trying
to make sense of local and national political, economic, and
military developments anywhere in our planet will [also] benefit
from the global capitalism framework presented in this book.' Aldo
Caliari, Academic Council on the United Nations System
(www.acuns.org)
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