Review:
'This is a bold and engaging book that demonstrates the uneven progress of commodification across the so-called developed and developing worlds. Marshalling powerful evidence of the persistence of subsistence work, non-monetised and not-for-profit forms of exchange, Colin Williams challenges the 'commodification thesis'. Far from being a foregone conclusion, commodification is revealed as an incomplete and deeply contested process. 'A Commodified World' rejects the linear narrative of ever-deeper capitalist penetration, inviting readers to imagine and strive towards a future in which work is no longer defined in purely monetary terms.' --Peter Jackson, Professor of Human Geography, University of Sheffield
From the Author:
'There is no alternative capitalism'; this is a widespread
belief. I decided to write this book to contest this view and to open up
the future of work to other possibilities. Not only do neo-liberals
continuously repeat this mantra but so too do many on the left. In doing
so, they close-off what is considered possible and feasible. In this book,
however, by mapping how capitalism is far from hegmonic, my intention has
been to open up how we imagine the future of work and the feasibility of
alternatives beyond capitalism. The alternatives to capitalism, far from
being weak, small-scale, marginal and peripheral compared with capitalism,
are here shown to be strong, often large-scale, everywhere in the world and
even growing. The message, therefore, is that the future of work is far
from confined to the ever greater incursion of commodification into every
nook and cranny of the world. This book discusses the range of alternatives
futures that are possible and how we might start to moved towards a
post-capitalist society.
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