Capitalism in the Age of Globalization: The Management of Contemporary Society

194 Pages·2014·5.99 MB·English

by  Samir Amin

critique confronts the world. Without dogma,
without new principles, it refuses to conform and
instead demands insurrection of thought. It must
be ruthless, unafraid of both its results and the
powers it may come into conflict with. Critique takes
the world, our world, as its object, so that we may
develop new ways of making it.
influence is a step from critique toward the
future, when effects begin to be felt, when the
ground becomes unstable, when a movement
ignites. These critiques of the state of our world
have influenced a generation. They are crucial
guides to change.
change is when the structures shift. The books
in this series take critique as their starting point
and as such have influenced both their respective
disciplines and thought the world over. This series
is born out of our conviction that change lies not
in the novelty of the future but in the realization of
the thoughts of the past.
These texts are not mere interpretations or reflections,
but scientific, critical, and impassioned analyses of
our world. After all, the point is to change it.
TiTles in The criTique influence change series
Reclaiming Development
An Alternative Policy Manual
by Ha-Joon Chang and Ilene Grabel
Realizing Hope
Life Beyond Capitalism
by Michael Albert
Global Governance and the New Wars
The Merging of Development and Security
by Mark Duffield
Capitalism in the Age of Globalization
The Management of Contemporary Society
by Samir Amin
Ecofeminism
by Maria Mies and Vandana Shiva
Debating Cultural Hybridity
Multicultural Identities and the Politics of Anti-Racism
edited by Pnina Werbner and Tariq Modood
Deglobalization
Ideas for a New World Economy
by Walden Bello
A Fundamental Fear
Eurocentrism and the Emergence of Islamism
by Bobby S. Sayyid
Grassroots Post-modernism
Remaking the Soil of Cultures
by Gustavo Esteva and Madhu Suri Prakash
Patriarchy and Accumulation on a World Scale
Women in the International Division of Labour
by Maria Mies
MORE CRITICAL PRAISE FOR CAPITALISM IN THE AGE OF
GLOBALIZATION
‘This world-class economist is a serious Nobel
Prize contender’
Economic Development and Social Change
‘Amin’s global intellectual reach enables him to deal
with a wide variety of issues with magnificent ease
and simplicity’
International Journal of Middle East Studies
‘An easily accessible sampling of this pioneering
analyst’s reflections about the dynamics of late
twentieth-century capitalism and its implication
for poor countries and poor people’
Solon Barraclough, former director, UNRISD
aBOuT The auThOr
Samir Amin is a renowned radical economist,
the director of the Forum du Tiers Monde (Third
World Forum) in Dakar, Senegal, and chair of the
World Forum for Alternatives.
capiTalism
in The age Of
glOBalizaTiOn
The managemenT
Of cOnTempOrary
sOcieTy
samir amin
WiTh a fOreWOrd By
JOhn
Bellamy
fOsTer
Zed Books
London & New York
Capitalism in the Age of Globalization: The Management of Contemporary Society
was first published in 1997 by Zed Books Ltd,
7 Cynthia Street, London N1 9JF, UK and
Room 400, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USA
This edition was published in 2014
www.zedbooks.co.uk
Copyright © Samir Amin 1997, 2014

Foreword © John Bellamy Foster 2014
The right of Samir Amin to be identified as the author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988
Typeset by illuminati and Photosetting and Secretarial Services, Yeovil, Somerset
Cover designed by www.alice-marwick.co.uk
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by
any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise,
without the prior permission of Zed Books Ltd.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data available
Grateful acknowledgement is made for permission to reprint Chapter 2, originally
published as ‘Fifty Years is Enough’, in Monthly Review, April 1995; Chapter 3,
originally published as ‘Replacing the International Monetary System?’ in Monthly
Review, October 1993; and Chapter 7, originally published in African Development.
Introduction and Chapter 6 are translated by Patrick Camiller.
Chapter 1 is translated by Beatrice Wallerstein.
ISBN 978 1 78032 984 0
Contents
Acronyms ix
Foreword by John Bellamy Foster xi
Preface to the critique influence change edition xv
Introduction xxxi
1 The Future of Global Polarization 1
Unequal Development and the Historical Forms of Capitalism 1
The Present World System and the Five Monopolies of the Centre 3
An Alternative Humanist Project of Globalization 5
Obstacles to the Realization of this Project 6
Possible Future Scenarios and their Inadequacy 8
Renewing a Perspective of Global Socialism 10
2 The Capitalist Economic Management of the Crisis of Contemporary
Society 12
The ‘Laws of History’: Capitalism Expansion Not Synonymous
with Development 14
The Institutional Structure: The Bretton Woods Institutions 17
The IMF 18
The World Bank 23
GATT–WTO 26
Globalization: The Necessity of International Economic Management 31
Reforming Bretton Woods 39
3 Reforming International Monetary Management of the Crisis 46
Background 46
Flexible Exchange Rates are No Solution 47
Reform Proposals Emanating from the Mainstream 49
An Alternative Vision: Polycentric Regionalization 51
4 The Rise of Ethnicity: A Political Response to Economic Globalization 55
The Postwar Cycle (1945-90) and the New Globalization 56
The Disintegration of the State and the New Ethnic Ideologies
in the Third World 61
Globalization and the Crisis of the Nationhood 64
The Current Management of the Crisis and its Alternatives 72
Further Thoughts on Universalism versus Particularism and the
Socialist Response to Nationalism 79
5 What are the Conditions for Relaunching Development in the South? 93
Development off the Agenda 93
Contemporary Society is in Crisis, but there is Not Yet a Crisis
of Capitalism 95
Solutions: Liberalism without Borders? 98
Nationalism 99
The Dangers of Anti-Democratic Regression: The Ethnic Assault,
Religious Fundamentalism and Neo-Fascism 101
Reflections on a Counter-Project: Some Basic Propositions 103
6 The Challenges Posed by Globalization: The European Case 108
The Lack of Political Complimentarity in the Postwar European
Economic Community Project 108
The EC’s Achievements: A Balance-Sheet 113
The Future of European Integration in the Age of Globalization 118
A Different Future: A Radical Vision for Europe 130
7 Ideology and Social Thought: The Intelligentsia and the
Development Crisis 134
Social Theory and the Critique of Capitalism: Marxism,
Postmodernism and the Social Movements 134
The Intelligentsia vis-à-vis Mental Operatives 140
Development: Contrasting Critiques 142
The Analyses and Strategies put forward by the Third World
Intelligentsia 147
A New Agenda: Analysing the Diversity of the Third World and
Reconstructing the Social Power of the Popular Classes 148
Index 153
Acronyms
CODESRIA Council for the Development of Social Research in
Africa
EBRD European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
ECLA Economic Commission for Latin America
EU–ACP Association of the European Union with Africa,
the Caribbean and Pacific
G7 Group of Seven
GATT–WTO General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade–World Trade
Organization
ICVA International Council of Voluntary Agencies
NAFTA North American Free Trade Agreement
NIEO New International Economic Order
OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development
TRIMs Trade-Related Investment Measures
TRIPS Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights
UNCTAD UN Conference on Trade and Development
UNDP UN Development Programme