Surviving Capitalism: How We Learned to Live with the Market and Remained Almost Human (Anthem Studies in Development and Globalization) - Softcover

Ringmar, Erik

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1843311763 ISBN 13: 9781843311768

Publisher: Anthem Press, 2005

Synopsis

This book investigates the question of economic globalization - whether it is likely to lead to full convergence between political models and ways of life, or whether, even in a completely globalized world economy, there is likely to be scope for alternative solutions. In a fully globalized world, how will we survive capitalism?

About this title

Review:

'Clearly and gracefully written, [Surviving Capitalism] presents an interesting and fertile thesis about the nature of capitalism and how different societies have learnt to cope with it. Pursued in theoretical terms in the first part of the book, the argument is developed with a cogency and subtlety that is rarely found in books in this subject area. The historical sections display broad erudition and abound in relevant and memorable examples. Perhaps most surprisingly, given its potentially deadly subject matter, the book is also consistently enjoyable to read'.

'Surviving Capitalism presents a highly literate cost-benefit analysis of the history of capitalism...fresh, fascinating, relevant, and, yes, humane.' Jeff Madrick, Editor, "Challenge Magazine"

'Clearly and gracefully written, it presents an interesting and fertile thesis about the nature of capitalism and how different societies have learnt to cope with it.' John Gray, Author of "Straw Dogs" (Granta, 2002)

From the Author:

I wrote this book as a way to deal with my own ambivalence regarding capitalism. On the one hand I am fully convinced regarding the importance of capitalism for bringing prosperity and welfare to ever larger groups of people. On the other hand, it seems obvious to me that capitalism is a destructive force which rips at the fabric of social life and isolates and alienates individuals from each other.

What's truly remarkable to me is that we intuitively seem to have understood this contradiction and that we instinctively have developed various ways of dealing with it. While we do what we can to encourage capitalist development we simultaneously do whatever it takes to protect ourselves against its nefarious effects. Looking around for such 'protective responses,' I've discovered more and more of them. The book is a discussion of the more importance ones as they have appeared in Europe and East Asia over the last 1000 years. It's a book about how we have survived capitalism while remaining almost human.

Protective responses have a particular importance during an era of globalisation. We are living at a time when the market increasingly is becoming the arbiter of our lives and when societies are forced to converge along a common market-determined standard. What particularly interests me is what forms of protection we can come up with under these circumstances. My contention is that traditional cultural and social forms have far more staying power than commonly is acknowledged and that out traditional ways of surviving capitalism also can help us resist the forces of social convergence.

At the same time it is difficult not to be worried regarding the future. If our traditional protective arrangements are weakened, the question is whether we can develop new ones. Perhaps new communities can grow up around the internet or other forms of new technology. Most likely however a majority of people will take refuge in relatively poor means of protection. A new class hierarchy will emerge determined by the quality of the protection to which people have access. A privileged few will go on interacting with their friends and families in ever-more rewarding ways; a large, poor and over-worked under-class will mainly spend their time watching tv and doing drugs; the middle-class will cope through a variety of ever-more desperate strategies.

About this edition

• Publisher: Anthem Press
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1843311763
• ISBN 13: 9781843311768
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 200