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Book SynopsisWith so many political establishments and economic institutions undergoing enormous changes, many economic theories are being called into question. The legitimacy of capitalism is being considered by socialist economists the world over, and critiques of Marxism are attempting to put the school of thought into a more modern context. Labor Regime Change in the Twenty-First Century calls into question the validity of various historical interpretations of capitalism, unfreedom and primitive accumulation based on current economic developments.
Trade Review"Tom Brass, one of the United Kingdom's leading Marxist scholars has written a brilliant, theoretically informed, comprehensive critique of past and present, Marxist and non-Marxist writers of capitalist labor regimes and puts forth an alternative theoretical-conceptual framework ... Brass's book is a landmark study that is especially relevant to the emergence of a new genre of development studies which will return the class struggle and the ransition to socialism into the center of theory and practice." James Petras, Science and Society The volume is a timely and important contribution to the literature (especially its Marxist variant) on unfree labour, with a wealth of theoretical and empirical detail, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in the issue of unfreedom in contemporary labour markets
[the] concept of class struggle from above’ (by capital against labour) is hugely important in our current conjuncture, when any attempts to rein in the excesses of capital are framed as class warfare’ or a politics of envy’” Kendra Strauss, Capital and Class
"Tom Brass, one of the United Kingdom's leading Marxist scholars has written a brilliant, theoretically informed, comprehensive critique of past and present, Marxist and non-Marxist writers of capitalist labor regimes and puts forth an alternative theoretical-conceptual framework ... Brass's book is a landmark study that is especially relevant to the emergence of a new genre of development studies which will return the class struggle and the ransition to socialism into the center of theory and practice." —James Petras, Science and Society “The volume is a timely and important contribution to the literature (especially its Marxist variant) on unfree labour, with a wealth of theoretical and empirical detail, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in the issue of unfreedom in contemporary labour markets…[the] concept of ‘class struggle from above’ (by capital against labour) is hugely important in our current conjuncture, when any attempts to rein in the excesses of capital are framed as ‘class warfare’ or a ‘politics of envy’” —Kendra Strauss, Capital and Class
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction 1. The Smithian Inheritance 2. The Marxist Inheritance 3. Semi-Feudalism and Modern Marxism 4. ‘Disguised’ Wage Labour and Modern Marxism 5. Unfreedom as Primitive Accumulation? 6. Germany and the United States: ‘Primitive’ or ‘Fully Functioning’ Accumulation? 7. ‘Medieval Working Practices’? British Agriculture and the Return of the Gangmaster 8. Citizenship and Human Rights – or Socialism? Conclusion Bibliography Index
