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Capitalist Globalization: Consequences, Resistance, and Alternatives
Author(s): Martin Hart-Landsberg (Author)
- Publisher: Monthly Review Press,U.S.
- Publication Date: 1 Jun. 2013
- Language: English
- Print length: 208 pages
- ISBN-10: 1583673539
- ISBN-13: 9781583673539
Book Description
“Globalization,” surely one of the most used and abused buzzwords
of recent decades, describes a phenomenon that is typically
considered to be a neutral and inevitable expansion of market
forces across the planet. Nearly all economists, politicians, business
leaders, and mainstream journalists view globalization as the
natural result of economic development, and a beneficial one at
that. But, as noted economist Martin Hart-Landsberg argues, this
perception does not match the reality of globalization. The rise of
transnational corporations and their global production chains was
the result of intentional and political acts, decisions made at the
highest levels of power. Their aim – to increase profits by seeking
the cheapest sources of labor and raw materials – was facilitated
through policy-making at the national and international levels, and
was largely successful. But workers in every nation have paid the
costs, in the form of increased inequality and poverty, the destruction
of social welfare provisions and labor unions, and an erratic
global economy prone to bubbles, busts, and crises.
This book examines the historical record of globalization and restores
agency to the capitalists, policy-makers, and politicians who
worked to craft a regime of world-wide exploitation. It demolishes
their neoliberal ideology – already on shaky ground after the 2008
financial crisis – and picks apart the record of trade agreements
like NAFTA and institutions like the WTO. But, crucially, Hart-
Landsberg also discusses alternatives to capitalist globalization,
looking to examples such as South America’s Bolivarian Alliance
for the Americas (ALBA) for clues on how to build an international
economy based on solidarity, social development, and shared prosperity.
,”datePublished”:”1 Jun. 2013″,”isbn”:”9781583673539″,”numberOfPages”:208,”inLanguage”:”English”,”description”:””Globalization,” surely one of the most used and abused buzzwordsof recent decades, describes a phenomenon that is typicallyconsidered to be a neutral and inevitable expansion of marketforces across the planet. Nearly all economists, politicians, businessleaders, and mainstream journalists view globalization as thenatural result of economic development, and a beneficial one atthat. But, as noted economist Martin Hart-Landsberg argues, thisperception does not match the reality of globalization. The rise oftransnational corporations and their global production chains wasthe result of intentional and political acts, decisions made at thehighest levels of power. Their aim – to increase profits by seekingthe cheapest sources of labor and raw materials – was facilitatedthrough policy-making at the national and international levels, andwas largely successful. But workers in every nation have paid thecosts, in the form of increased inequality and poverty, the destructionof social welfare provisions and labor unions, and an erraticglobal economy prone to bubbles, busts, and crises.This book examines the historical record of globalization and restoresagency to the capitalists, policy-makers, and politicians whoworked to craft a regime of world-wide exploitation. It demolishestheir neoliberal ideology – already on shaky ground after the 2008financial crisis – and picks apart the record of trade agreementslike NAFTA and institutions like the WTO. But, crucially, Hart-Landsberg also discusses alternatives to capitalist globalization, looking to examples such as South America’s Bolivarian Alliancefor the Americas (ALBA) for clues on how to build an internationaleconomy based on solidarity, social development, and shared prosperity.”,”url”:”https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1583673539/”,”bookFormat”:”http://schema.org/EBook”,”additionalType”:”http://schema.org/PDF”,”fileSize”:”39 MB”,”accessibilityFeature”:[“login required”,”member access only”],”accessibilitySummary”:”PDF version available to authenticated members only. File size: 39 MB.”}
