A Contribution to the Critique of Contemporary Capitalism: Theoretical and International Perspectives

$105.00$179.00

Series: Economic Issues, Problems and Perspectives
BISAC: POL040020

The book is a critique of the capitalist world, including both the injustices it inflicts and the acts of resistance it provokes, which end up reproducing it. It is also a critique of the ideas about this world, especially some of the ideas which are considered to be progressive.

The book talks about why so-called critical thought as it exists is inadequate; why genuine critique is possible and necessary; what its different forms and attributes are; and who it is aimed toward: the masses or academia? It presents what it considers to be the most adequate form of critique: the Marxist critique. This is a critique which explains humanity’s problems, mainly in terms of the conflict-ridden social relations that determine how society’s resources are used. And this is a critique which seeks to transcend the current arrangements to establish popular democracy in all spheres of life, including economic, political and cultural.

The book then employs the principles of the Marxist critique to shed light on specific issues in the world as they exist and on the so-called progressive ideas about these issues. The issues include: poverty and inequality in India; industrial disasters in the US; labour unfreedom in the capitalist North and South; the relation between economic and political power in modern society; social democracy; development of capitalism in rural areas and imperialism; pharmaceutical fraud and the consequent threat to human health in the US, and the Maoist movement, and protest politics (of the ‘anarchist type’), against dispossession and other forms of injustice.

Anyone with an interest in a theoretical understanding of the notion of critique, in the nature of the Marxist critique, and in some of the fundamental issues facing the humanity will benefit from this book. Sociologists, political scientists, human geographers, anthropologists, and experts in development studies will also find some value in this book. Critical scholars in general, who have an interest in understanding power relations in economic and political arenas, will be the main audience. Finally, People involved in NGOs and grassroots movements will also find something useful in the critiques this book offers. Large parts of the book are actually written in a non-academic mode for the non-specialists. (Imprint: Nova)

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1. Thinking Critically: A Critique of Critical Thinking

Chapter 2. Mapping the Marxist Critique of Society: Or, What Really is Marxism?

Chapter 3. Unpacking Politicism and Idealism in State Theory: A Critique of Post-Marxist Critique

Chapter 4. The Discourse on the Political and the Economic in the World‘s Largest Democracy: Where are the Fault(line)s?

Chapter 5. Capitalism and Free Labor in the World Economy: A Critique of Marxist Views

Chapter 6. Development of Capitalism and Capitalist Development in India‘s Rural Areas: A Critical Review of Some Arguments

Chapter 7. Why Poverty Amid Plenty? A Marxist Critique of Social Democracy in the Periphery

Chapter 8. Neoliberalism‘s Class Character: Critical Views on India‘s New Economic Policy

Chapter 9. Science for Profit or People? A Critique of the State and Its Relation to the Drug Companies in the USA

Chapter 10. The State, Business World and Death of Ordinary Working People in the USA: Where Does the Problem Lie?

Chapter 11. Why Are So-Called Radical Movements not as Radical as They Appear?: A Critique of the Maoist Movement in India

Chapter 12. Protest Politics in the World: A Marxist Critique

Works Cited

Acknowledgment

Author’s Contact Information

Index


Audience: Anyone who is interested in a theoretical understanding of the notion of critique, in the nature of the Marxist critique, and in some of the fundamental issues facing the humanity and attempted forms of resistance to injustice, will benefit from the book.


Reviews

“Raju Das’ book is a joyful scream of defiance, but it is also a call to study. His searchlight is a Marxism that is critical of everything, including itself. Whether the focus is on the theory of the state, unfree labor, social class in rural India, pharmaceutical fraud in the USA, the nature of protest politics, or Marxist class theory itself, Das will make you want to join in his boundless sense of struggle and possibility. You will almost feel invited to think critically, even about his specific interventions, because only thus will you and he be truly part of the international movement to build the world-beyond-capitalism that we all so desperately need. Don’t just read this book; put it to good use!” – David Laibman, Editor, Science & Society, Professor (Emeritus), Economics, City University of New York

 

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