Abstract
We are on the verge of a tectonic socio-political shift. The impetus for transformation is tangible in policy-making, social criticism and intellectual critique. This book tries to make sense of this moment of radical instability by orienting analysis towards three cardinal points in modern social life: capitalism, socialism and democracy. Working on the intersection of the concepts and focusing on specific features of the contemporary social order, the analyses collected here offer a survey of some of the pressing issues and debates surrounding twenty-first century capitalism. In addition to exploring directly the relationship between capitalism, socialism and democracy (Chap. 2), contributions to this volume examine privatization and the governance of the commons as the leading dichotomy that has structured debates on economic organization (Chap. 3), financialization as a key mechanism of capitalism’s expansion and transformation (Chap. 4), and technology and work as central institutions in the consolidation of capitalism, as well as its potential overcoming (Chap. 5). In seeking to discern the parameters of radical progressive change, we review variegation within global capitalism (Chap. 6), cosmopolitanism, development and human rights (Chap. 7), feminist theory and social solidarity (Chap. 8), the ecological trauma as a catalyst for seeking an alternative to capitalism beyond the horizon of socialism (Chap. 9), and capitalist crisis (Chap. 10). The exigencies of radical progressive transformation are clear; the available paths are many, as this volume displays and offers a rudimentary map with which to navigate this shifting terrain.
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Notes
- 1.
Homi Kharas and Wolfgang Fengler, “Global Poverty is Declining but not Fast Enough,” Brookings November 7, 2017, accessed February 13, 2019, https://www.brookings.edu/blog/future-development/2017/11/07/global-poverty-is-declining-but-not-fast-enough/
- 2.
Reporters Without Borders, “Austria: Freedom Party attacks Austria’s public broadcaster again” (1 May 2019); Reporters Sans Frontières, ‘Qui possède les medias en France?’, (7 Dec 2017); OHCHR. ‘France: UN experts denounce severe rights restrictions on “gilets jaunes” protesters’ (2019). Amnesty International. ‘France: New security law risks dystopian surveillance state’, (3 Feb 2021.); “Should politicians be prosecuted for statements made in the exercise of their mandate?” a Council of Europe report pursuant to Parliamentary Assembly’s Resolution 2381 of 21 June 2021.
- 3.
The World Bank announced in June 2020 that the measures adopted to contain the epidemic have triggered the deepest recession since the Second World War (World Bank press release, June 9, 2020: https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/06/08/covid-19-to-plunge-global-economy-into-worst-recession-since-world-war-ii 2020; accessed 27 July 2021).
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Azmanova, A., Chamberlain, J. (2022). Introduction. In: Azmanova, A., Chamberlain, J. (eds) Capitalism, Democracy, Socialism: Critical Debates. Philosophy and Politics - Critical Explorations, vol 22. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-08407-2_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-08407-2_1
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