Capital and Imperialism: Theory, History, and the Present

Utsa Patnaik and Prabhat Patnaik's book "Capitalism and Imperialism" argues that capitalism has always required the taking of land, raw materials, and bodies from noncapitalist modes of production and is doomed to a protracted crisis.

\n Format: Paperback / softback
\n Length: 424 pages
\n Publication date: 01 May 2021
\n Publisher: Monthly Review Press,U.S.
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The dominant economic powers of the world, supported by the theories of mainstream economists, believe that capitalism is a self-contained and self-generating system. However, this is far from the truth. In their groundbreaking book, which received the Paul A. Baran-Paul M. Sweezy Memorial Award, radical political economists Utsa Patnaik and Prabhat Patnaik argue that the accumulation of capital has always required the appropriation of land, raw materials, and bodies from noncapitalist modes of production. They begin by thoroughly debunking the mainstream economic theories.

Looking at the history of capitalism, from the beginnings of colonialism over half a millennium ago to the present-day neoliberal regimes, the Patnaiks discover that capitalism, in order to survive, must metastasize itself in the practice of imperialism and the immiseration of countless people. A few hundred years ago, colonialism began to create vast, virtually free markets for new products in burgeoning cities in the West. However, even after slavery was generally abolished, millions of people in the Global South continued to fall victim to the ongoing lethal exigencies of the marketplace. Even after the Second World War, when decolonization led to the end of the so-called "Golden Age of Capitalism," neoliberal economies stepped in to reclaim the Global South, imposing drastic "austerity" measures on working people.

However, the Patnaiks argue that this neoliberal economy, which lives from bubble to bubble, is doomed to a protracted crisis. In its demise, we are beginning to see – finally – the transcendence of the capitalist system.

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Dimension: 210 x 140 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9781583678909\n \n