The Political Economy of Global Capitalism

Presenting an account of global capitalism, this book looks at why globalization has taken place and why it is so widely perceived as a threat. It offers an analysis that takes an open approach inclusive of non-economic issues such as social divisions based on gender and race, and the relation of humankind to nature.

Drawing together the debates on the global scope of capitalism, this book provides a comprehensive account of global capitalism today. Hugo Radice looks at why globalization has taken place and why it is so widely perceived as a threat. He presents a balanced analysis that takes an open approach inclusive of non-economic issues such as social divisions based on gender and race, and the relation of humankind to nature. This book contends that the political economy of global capitalism generates, and has entrenched, huge inequalities between countries and regions and that the central source of conflict is the social order that maintains these extreme inequalities of wealth and power. It aims to renew theories of imperialism and underdevelopment that sought to explain the injustices of global capitalism while taking into account the significant recent changes in the world economy and political governance.

Part 1: Globalization and the Critique of Political Economy
1. The Globalization Debate
2. Hegemony and World Order
3. Imperialism and Underdevelopment
Part 2: Varieties of Capitalism: Convergence and differentiation
4. Institutions and Institutional Change
5. Anglo-Saxons and Others: Mapping convergence and Differentiation
Part 3: The Global Political Economy of Nations and Regions
6. The British Case: National Disentigration and Global Integration
7. East-Central Europe: What Sort of Capitalism Restored
8. The New Imperialism: The Political Economy of Industrialization in Mexico and South Korea
Part 4: Contesting Global Capitalism
9. The New Internationalism from Below