A System in Crisis: The Dynamics of Free Market Capitalism

Mounting hostility to the hegemony of the United States - as dramatically highlighted by September 11, but existing in far wider circles than simply the Muslim world; stock markets around the world falling to unanticipated lows; environmental destruction, as shown by the failure of the Johannesburg Summit in August 2002, continuing unchecked; and sluggish economic growth, unprecedented income inequality, and ever larger numbers of desperately poor people: something fundamental, these authors argue, is wrong. Globalization - a mere euphemism for capitalism in its current global, imperialist projection -- is a system in crisis.

This book explores the dimensions of this crisis as the United States tries to impose itself on the world under the guise of its war on terrorism, and the economic, ecological and political manifestations of that crisis. James Petras and Henry Veltmeyer proceed in the second part of their book to show how resistance to capitalist globalization is being organized among very diverse social sectors - rural peasants, indigenous peoples, the unemployed in the Third World, and even amongst urban, middle class elements in the wealthy countries of the North. They conclude their analysis by assessing the possibilities for unifying the diverse forces of opposition to neoliberalism, capitalism and imperialism - and the prospects for an alternative, more human, socialist form of development.

Up-to-date, radical, comprehensive and optimistic, here is a book for those who wish to understand the times we are going through.

James Kurth Department of Political Science,Swarthmore College James Petras Department of Sociology, CUNY Binghampton

Henry Veltmeyer is Professor of Development Studies at Saint Mary's University (Canada) and at the Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas (Mexico). He is author, co-author and editor of over forty books on issues regarding Latin American and world development, including Critical Development Studies: Tools for Change, The Cuban Revolution as Socialist Human Development, and Development in an Era of Neoliberal Globalization. Books co-authored with James Petras include Unmasking Globalization, System in Crisis, and What's Left in Latin America.

James Petras is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Binghampton University and Adjunct Professor in International Development Studies at Saint Mary's University (Canada). He is the author and co-author of over sixty books and numerous other writings on the dynamics of world affairs and Latin American development, including Unmasking Globalization, Social Movements and the State, Multinationals on Trial, What's Left in Latin America, and Social Movements in Latin America. Many of his periodical and political writings are accessible via www.rebelion.org.