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The book addresses how power and power resources remain important analytically as well as empirically dimensions for analysing contemporary capitalism. It provides a theoretical framework for studying, understanding, and explaining changes in the world of work and how that leads to changes in contemporary capitalist societies. Changes in the world of work are closely related to increasing inequality, growing social unrest, and societal polarisation. Hence the book seeks to deepen our understanding of how developments in the sphere of work have implication far beyond the direct impact on workers. The book focuses on how workers and unions utilise their various power resources to off-set the power advantage of employers and capital in the sphere of labour politics, which have crucial linkages with both cultural life, politics, and the market. Although workers'and unions'power and influence have been declining almost universally across the world, the argument in the book is that they still hold power resources that can challenge and sometimes alter outcomes in another direction than what employers and capital wants. Hence the theory can help understand the possibilities that workers and unions still have and how these resources affect the outcomes of the labour-capital struggle. A core contribution of the book is that it develops theoretical propositions about power resource theory, provides clear definitions of the core concepts as well as apply the power resource theory to a range of new or emerging topic fields like global value chains, minimum wages, and migrant workers.

Bernie Sanders'socialist advocacy in the United States, communist China's economic successes and a Marxist revival are inspiring many to muse about improved strategies for building superior socialist futures. Socialist Economic Systems provides an objective record of socialism's promises and performance during 1820–2022, identifies a feasible path forward and provides a rigorous analytic framework for the comparison of economic systems. The book opens by surveying pre-industrial utopias from Plato to Thomas More, and libertarian communal designs for superior living. It plumbs all aspects of the revolutionary and democratic socialist political movements that emerged after 1870 and considers the comparative economic, political and social performance of the USSR and others from the Bolshevik Revolution onwards. The book also provides case studies for all revolutionary Marxist–Leninist regimes, and supplementary discussions of Mondragon cooperatives, Israeli kibbutzim, Nordic corporatism and European democratic socialism. It investigates the theoretical and practical complexities of command-planning, reform communism, market communism, worker economic management and egalitarianism. It examines communism as an engine of economic growth, and a mechanism for improving people's quality of existence, including living standards, labor self-governance, egalitarianism, social justice, and prevention of crimes against humanity before addressing the perennial question of what needs to be done next. A suggested path forward is elaborated drawing lessons from the warts-and-all historical performance of socialist economies during 1917–2022 and failed socialist prophesy. The evidence indicates that the key to 21st-century socialism success lies in empowering workers of all descriptions to govern democratically for their mutual protection and welfare without the extraneous imposition of priorities imposed by other movements. The book is essential reading for anyone interested in socialism, political economy, comparative economic systems, and political and social history.

Over a hundred years after the first socialist revolution broke the global monopoly of capitalism, a new class of socialist-oriented socioeconomic development is coming to the fore. Capitalism is still dominant worldwide, although its hegemony is no longer undisputed, and humankind is now faced with a key existential challenge. This book proposes an alternative path to overcoming the worldwide crisis of globalized capitalism. It offers a novel, balanced and historically rooted interpretation of the successes and failures of socialist economic construction throughout the last century. The authors apply a multidisciplinary, holistic and purpose-based methodology to draw basic lessons from stylized facts, emerging in different areas of knowledge, ranging from political economy to biology, and from key national socioeconomic experiences, with a particular focus on China. The book is divided into three parts. The first is mainly theoretical and general in nature, identifying the major contributions bequeathed by the hard sciences to their social counterparts. Consistent with these findings, the authors offer a stylized interpretation of the contemporary state-of-the-art of the debate on the core concepts of economic science and advance a few elementary theories about what socialism in the 21st century could look like. The second and third parts analyze and discusses the core features of a few select experiences, which have evolved in certain countries since 1917, some of which are still unfolding. The book will find an audience among academics, researchers and students in the fields of economics, political science, history, and geography, as well as, policy makers, particularly in developing countries.

The concept of economic democracy is traditionally identified with workplace democracy and participation at the enterprise level. This is a very important dimension, but the concept of new economic democracy also recognizes that, in a world of increasing complexity, the principles of democratic deliberation and social participation have to be applied to other areas as well.This book takes a fresh look at economic democracy from various perspectives. It provides rich historical narratives of episodes of social participation in the economy and society, more broadly, from the 19th to the 21st century. It dissects the various analytical underpinnings informing the theory of economic democracy connecting it with collective choice, social contract theory, Marxian analysis and libertarian critiques. The book identifies new areas of application of the principles of democratic deliberation and oversight such as the adoption of austerity policies, the signing of free trade agreements, the conduct of central bank policies, international investment treaties and natural resource management. It takes a guided tour through the evolution of economic, social and cultural rights and their impact on the design and implementation of social policy and the welfare/ developmental state.The book expands the notion of economic democracy from factory level to the macro-economy and then to global economic governance. It also discusses the critical links between political democracy and economic democracy and the need for a more democratic and socially equitable economy in the 21st century. This volume will find an audience among economists, political scientists, social activists, philosophers and sociologists.

What will work eventually look like? This is the question at the heart of this timely collection. The editors and contributors—a mix of policy experts, academics, and advocates—seek to reframe the typical projections of the “future” of work. They examine the impact of structural racism on work, the loss of family‑sustaining jobs, the new role of gig work, growing economic inequality, barriers to rewarding employment such as age, gender, disability, and immigration status, and the business policies driving these ongoing challenges. Together the essays present varied and practical insights into both U.S. and global trends, discuss the role of labor activism in furthering economic justice, and examine progressive strategies to improve the experience of work, wages, and the lives of workers. The Many Futures of Work offers a range of viable policies and practices that can promote rewarding employment and steer our course away from low-wage, unstable jobs toward jobs that lead to equitable prosperity and economic inclusion.

Heterodox economics can provide a more complete and robust explanation of economic realities than orthodox (or mainstream) economics. Contemporary Issues in Heterodox Economics: Implications for Theory and Policy Action argues that this greater explanatory power gives heterodox economics the ability to illuminate appropriate policy for the major crises of our time, as well as proffer the basis for a more rounded, pluralist approach to economic theory. The chapters in this wide-ranging volume address some of the key issues facing the global economy, including the growing disparity of income/wealth between persons and economic areas, environmental degradation, issues associated with employment, and the regularity of economic/financial crises. The authors examine potential policy responses such as modern monetary theory, models of public ownership, and the need to move beyond standard concepts of growth. They also explore the deficiencies of orthodox economics, and contend that a more pluralist approach to economics is required in the public sphere, in academia, and in the classroom in order to help face the challenges of the twenty-first century.This book is invaluable reading for students and scholars across the social sciences who are interested in alternatives to mainstream economic thinking.

Avoiding prejudice will be critical to economic success in the fourth industrial revolution. It is not the new and innovative technology that will matter in the next decade, but what we do with it. Using technology properly, with diverse decision making, is the difference between success and failure in a changing world. This will require putting the right person in the right job at the right time. Prejudice stops that happening.Profit and Prejudice takes us through the relationship between economic success and prejudice in labour markets. It starts with the major changes that occur in periods of economic upheaval. These changes tend to be unpopular and complex – and complexity encourages people to turn to the simplistic arguments of ‘scapegoat economics'and prejudice. Some of the changes of the fourth industrial revolution will help fight prejudice, but some will make it far worse. The more prejudice there is, the harder it will be for companies and countries to profit from the changes ahead. Profit is not the main argument against prejudice, but can certainly help fight it.This book tells a story of the damage that prejudice can do. Using economics without jargon, students, investors and the public will be able to follow the narrative and see how prejudice can be opposed. Prejudice is bad for business and the economy. Profit and Prejudice explains why.

'Dr Donghyun Park is a prominent and rare economist in Asia who can combine frontline economic theories, lively data, and real-time policy analyses. Capitalism in the 21st Century is a masterful book by Dr Park, providing a comprehensive understanding of heterogenous trajectories of economies around the globe and more fundamental mechanisms of the modern capitalistic system. This is a'must-read'for those who are interested in comparative economic systems, global economy, and international development.'Yasuyuki SawadaChief Economist, Asian Development BankProfessor of Economics, University of Tokyo'Donghyun Park makes clear that capitalism gets a bad rap, in large part because of too much emphasis on capital as in financial engineering, and too much emphasis on capitals as in government protectionism. Park argues a compelling case that genuine capitalism, which is about entrepreneurship, is necessary to solve the big problems most people face around the globe.'Adam S PosenPresident, Peterson Institute of International EconomicsGlobal capitalism is currently suffering from an unmistakable malaise, epitomized by wide and growing inequality that is eroding popular support for capitalism. Such anti-capitalist sentiment, coupled with a growing anti-globalization mood, delivered Brexit in a UK referendum and swept Donald Trump to the US presidency. In Capitalism in the 21st Century, internationally well-regarded economist Dr Donghyun Park articulately explains why more capitalism is needed to tackle global problems such as climate change and inhumane poverty. While defending capitalism against its unfair demonization, the author makes a positive case for entrepreneurial capitalism, which creates wealth and jobs as well as drives human progress. According to the author, reforming the financial industry, which has become a self-serving leviathan, and more fundamentally, tweaking the economic role of the government, which stifles growth-promoting entrepreneurship, are critical to restoring the vitality of capitalism. The book is explicitly written in such a way that the general reader without any background in economics or finance can easily understand it.Related Link(s)

In common with most other advanced capitalist economies of the Global North, the UK has experienced a decline in the manufacturing industry and an increase in the service sector in recent decades. At the same time, there has been a substantial manufacturing growth in a number of countries in the Global South, especially China and India. Why have these changes occurred? What have been their economic and ecological consequences? How can we best understand the way the contemporary economy functions?This book explores the answers to these questions, proposing that the contemporary capitalist economy is best understood as a complex socio-spatial system of co-production involving relations between people, things and non-human entities. It is argued that these people typically have conflicting and competitive interests yet can come together to resolve their differences or find ways of regulating their conflicting interests. National states continue to have a critical role in establishing these systems of regulation. At the same time, many companies draw on the knowledge of their customers while others enrol animals, insects and plants as co-producers. As a result, the improbable processes of commodity production and capital accumulation continue more or less routinely; with problems and occasional crises overcome in a variety of ways.Co-produced Economies will be of interest to students of economic geography, political economy and economic development, and more generally to social scientists interested in issues of the causes and consequences of economic change. It will also be of relevance to policy makers seeking to develop economic policies in the increasingly volatile global economy and in the context of growing environmental concerns.

In the ruins of the 2007-2008 financial crisis, progressives the world over clamoured to resurrect the economic theory of John Maynard Keynes. The crisis seemed to expose the disaster of small-state, free-market liberalization and deregulation. Keynesian political economy, in contrast, could put the state back at the heart of the economy and arm it with the knowledge needed to rescue us. But what it was supposed to rescue us from was not so clear. Was it the end of capitalism or the end of the world? For Keynesianism, the answer is both. Geoff Mann's In the Long Run We're All Dead is a thoroughgoing critique of Keynes for our post-crash world, and an accessible and historically grounded introduction to his masterwork The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money. Mann argues that Keynesianism is thus modern liberalism's most persuasive internal critique, meeting two centuries of crisis with a proposal for capital without capitalism and revolution without revolutionaries.

This book investigates the changing nature of economic policies following the Global Financial Crisis of 2007–9. Well-respected, international scholars come together to discuss the level of economic growth following the crisis, concerns over inequality in industrialised countries, and labour market policies.

Why do critics and celebrants of globalization concur that international trade and finance represent an inexorable globe-bestriding force with a single logic? The Known Economy shows that both camps rest on the same ideas about how the world is scaled. Two centuries ago romantic and rationalist theorists concurred that the world was divided into discrete nations, moving at different rates toward a'modernity', split between love and money. Though differing over whether this history is tragedy or triumph, they united in projecting an empty'international'space in which a Moloch-like global capitalism could lurk.The Known Economy tracks the colonial development of national accounting and re-examines the ways gender and heteronormativity are built in to economic representation. It re-interprets the post-WWII spread of standardized economic statistics as the project of international organizations looking over the shoulders of national governments, rather than the expanding power of national governments over populations.

A groundbreaking debunking of moderate attempts to resolve financial crisesIn the ruins of the 2007–2008 financial crisis, self-proclaimed progressives the world over clamored to resurrect the economic theory of John Maynard Keynes. The crisis seemed to expose the disaster of small-state, free-market liberalization and deregulation. Keynesian political economy, in contrast, could put the state back at the heart of the economy and arm it with the knowledge needed to rescue us. But what it was supposed to rescue us from was not so clear. Was it the end of capitalism or the end of the world? For Keynesianism, the answer is both. Keynesians are not and never have been out to save capitalism, but rather to save civilization from itself. It is political economy, they promise, for the world in which we actually live: a world in which prices are “sticky,” information is “asymmetrical,” and uncertainty inescapable. In this world, things will definitely not take care of themselves in the long run. Poverty is ineradicable, markets fail, and revolutions lead to tyranny. Keynesianism is thus modern liberalism's most persuasive internal critique, meeting two centuries of crisis with a proposal for capital without capitalism and revolution without revolutionaries.If our current crises have renewed Keynesianism for so many, it is less because the present is worth saving, than because the future seems out of control. In that situation, Keynesianism is a perfect fit: a faith for the faithless.

Since its onset in late 2007, few expected the Great Recession to be protracted for over half a decade across the world. The Rise and Fall of Global Austerity explains the origins and history of austerity, severe implications of the idea of it and how the continuation of the Great Recession was a by-product of austerity measures. Covering austerity policies that are in place in the United States, Europe, and other countries, E Ray Canterbery explains why austerity is detrimental for economies, economic policy and the general health of populations around the world. He highlights the connection between public debt and austerity policies and shows how the austerity lobby works in the United States to achieve its goals. Besides presenting a critique of the rationale for austerity, Canterbery also recommends monetary, fiscal, and incomes policy remedies, and stresses why economic growth and full employment are more ideal and pragmatic antidotes to the Great Recession.

The interventions of crisis management during the 2007 to 2011 financial crisis were not simply responses to a set of given developments in markets, banking or neo-liberal capitalism. Nor can those interventions be adequately explained as the actions of sovereign state officials and institutions. Instead, Langley argues, processes of crisis governance are shown to have established six principal technical problems to be acted upon: liquidity, toxicity, solvency, risk, regulation, and debt and that the governance of these technical problems, is shown to have been strategically assembled in order to secure the continuation of a particular, financialized way of life that depends upon global financial circulations. Contributing to interdisciplinary debates in cultural economy and the social studies of finance, and grounded in extensive empirical research, this book offers an innovative analysis of how the contemporary global financial crisis was governed. Through an exploration of the interventions made by central banks, treasuries, and regulatory authorities in the Anglo-American heartland of the crisis between 2007 and 2011, experimental and strategic apparatuses of crisis governance are shown to have emerged. These discrete apparatuses established the six technical problems to be acted upon, but also shared certain proclivities and preferences. Crisis governance assembled discourses and devices of economy in relation with sovereign monetary, fiscal, and regulatory techniques, and elicited an affective atmosphere of confidence. It also sought to secure the financialized way of life which turns on the opportunities ostensibly afforded by uncertain financial circulations, and gave rise to post-crisis technical fixes designed to advance the resilience of banking and the macro-prudential regulation of financial stability. Thus, the consensus that prevails across economics, political economy, and beyond - wherein sovereign state institutions are cast as coming to the rescue of the markets, banking, or neo-liberal capitalism - conceals a great deal more than it reveals about the governance of the global financial crisis.

This volume reassesses the nature of the current global economic crisis and its implication for the 21st century, through the unique lens of Marx's theory of the value-form as the unconscious matrix of modern society.Going beyond orthodox Marxist and postmodernist accounts, the author offers fresh new readings of Marx, Benjamin, Foucault, and Žižek. Here he argues that capitalism has not only entered its greatest crisis since WWII, but has in fact reached its historical limit and is in terminal decline. In this light, the book seeks to answer how a rerun of Keynesian regulations could possibly resolve the crisis. It also inquires as to whether a Green New Deal might succeed when the gap between work to be had and work to be done widens, and what alternatives neo-Marxian approaches offer considering the failure of Marxism in the 20th century.This far-reaching, critical examination of the crisis not only builds on critical theory, but also offers new readings of key theorists that will appeal to anyone interested in political theory, critical theory, and political economy.

'From the World Development Indicators'--Cover.