Symposium on The Making of Global Capitalism
Abstract
The 1980s marked a period of far-reaching
changes in the structure of global capitalism, including significant
shifts in the geography of manufacturing and the international division
of labour; rapid growth of once peripheral economies; the emergence of
powerful new international organizations; the rising significance of
finance to the global economy; and heightened instability. Not
surprisingly, the decades since have witnessed a sustained debate about
the forces driving these changes, the challenges they pose for social
welfare, and their implications for developing successful resistance
strategies. Notwithstanding these debates, a dominant narrative has
emerged and it has assumed the status of common sense among
progressives: that the capacity of nation-states to shape economic
development has been reduced substantially; that markets have been
generally deregulated; that the burgeoning financial sector is wholly
speculative and unproductive; and that the US state is no longer the
dominant imperial power that it once was. Leo Panitch and Sam Gindin’s
recent book, The Making of Global Capitalism: The Political Economy of American Empire,
challenges virtually every element of this narrative. States, they
argue, have not been sidelined, nor has the significance of American
state power receded in the making of a global capitalist order nor in
the management of the system’s inherent instabilities. Panitch and
Gindin’s focus on the role of the US state has perhaps contributed to
the attention it has garnered among Canadian political economists, who
have long been concerned with the impact of American power on the
development of Canadian political economy. To advance this discussion,
this issue of SPE features assessments of the book by three prominent
Canadian scholars—William Carroll, Marjorie Cohen, and Mel
Watkins—together with a response from the authors.
Studies in Political Economy:
Online ISSN 1918-7033
Print ISSN 0707-8552
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