Introduction
-
Costas Panayotakis
Abstract
The introduction offers a sketch of the current conjuncture, while also providing an outline of the book’s argument. It begins with the contrast between the capitalist triumphalism that accompanied the end of the Cold War and the setbacks that capitalism has faced at the beginning of this century. The capitalist world’s main superpower, the United States, has faced a number of challenges, from the World Trade Center attacks to the military fiascos in Afghanistan and Iraq that followed it; but also economic challenges, as manifested by the rise of China and the global financial crisis of 2008. This latter crisis and the global coronavirus pandemic have also adversely impacted the rest of the capitalist world, notably Europe. At the same time, a deepening ecological crisis and a crisis of political democracy are also manifestations of capitalism’s increasingly destructive implications. After the brief overview of the current conjuncture, the introduction outlines how each of the book’s chapters adds to the analysis of capitalist destruction, to the cost–benefit contradiction that capitalism generates, and to the political implications of this contradiction and of its experience by diverse segments of the population for the formation of an anti-capitalist coalition fighting for a more humane, less destructive society.
Abstract
The introduction offers a sketch of the current conjuncture, while also providing an outline of the book’s argument. It begins with the contrast between the capitalist triumphalism that accompanied the end of the Cold War and the setbacks that capitalism has faced at the beginning of this century. The capitalist world’s main superpower, the United States, has faced a number of challenges, from the World Trade Center attacks to the military fiascos in Afghanistan and Iraq that followed it; but also economic challenges, as manifested by the rise of China and the global financial crisis of 2008. This latter crisis and the global coronavirus pandemic have also adversely impacted the rest of the capitalist world, notably Europe. At the same time, a deepening ecological crisis and a crisis of political democracy are also manifestations of capitalism’s increasingly destructive implications. After the brief overview of the current conjuncture, the introduction outlines how each of the book’s chapters adds to the analysis of capitalist destruction, to the cost–benefit contradiction that capitalism generates, and to the political implications of this contradiction and of its experience by diverse segments of the population for the formation of an anti-capitalist coalition fighting for a more humane, less destructive society.
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- Confronting the capitalist virus vi
- Introduction 1
- 1 Rethinking the surplus 8
- 2 Surplus and freedom 18
- 3 Capital’s real subsumption of consumption 33
- 4 Consumerism and capital’s use of science and technology to undercut democracy 54
- 5 Capitalism as a force of destruction 67
- 6 Futile growth and mounting destruction 90
- 7 The crisis of capitalist democracy and the continuing relevance of the communist ideal 99
- Conclusion 123
- References 132
- Index 152
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- Confronting the capitalist virus vi
- Introduction 1
- 1 Rethinking the surplus 8
- 2 Surplus and freedom 18
- 3 Capital’s real subsumption of consumption 33
- 4 Consumerism and capital’s use of science and technology to undercut democracy 54
- 5 Capitalism as a force of destruction 67
- 6 Futile growth and mounting destruction 90
- 7 The crisis of capitalist democracy and the continuing relevance of the communist ideal 99
- Conclusion 123
- References 132
- Index 152
