Description
Book SynopsisDrawing on his experience in international systems and low-input agriculture, political ecologist Robert Biel explores the interactions of social and physical systems. In the process he reveals the early twenty-first century as a period when capitalism starts parasitising on the chaos it creates, most notably in the link between the two sides of imperialism: militarism (the `war on terror') and speculative finance capital.
Trade Review"There is now a constant flow, if not a flood, of books on the various overlapping crises of the present climate change and ecological destruction, the economic crisis, peak oil etc.. In The Entropy of Capitalism, however, Robert Biel has produced an analysis, synthesizing all of these developments, that certainly deserves a place on your bookshelf. It is a fascinating and insightful book, about which there is too much to say, every page warranting copious marginalia and underlining. David Tyfield, Journal of Critical Realism Overall, The Entropy of Capitalism constitutes an important contribution to the debate on the (un)sustainability of capitalism, and offers an interesting complement to similar theories, like Gunther Teubner’s idea of systemic addiction.’ The book is very thoroughly researched, and made even more interesting by the author’s own involvement in transition initiatives (like Transition Town Brixton) and the urban agriculture movement.” Luigi Russi, The Commons Sense
"There is now a constant flow, if not a flood, of books on the various overlapping crises of the present – climate change and ecological destruction, the economic crisis, peak oil etc.. In The Entropy of Capitalism, however, Robert Biel has produced an analysis, synthesizing all of these developments, that certainly deserves a place on your bookshelf. It is a fascinating and insightful book, about which there is too much to say, every page warranting copious marginalia and underlining. —David Tyfield, Journal of Critical Realism “Overall, The Entropy of Capitalism constitutes an important contribution to the debate on the (un)sustainability of capitalism, and offers an interesting complement to similar theories, like Gunther Teubner’s idea of ‘systemic addiction.’ The book is very thoroughly researched, and made even more interesting by the author’s own involvement in transition initiatives (like Transition Town Brixton) and the urban agriculture movement.” —Luigi Russi, The Commons Sense
Table of ContentsList of Figures Introduction 1. Understanding the Limits and Decay of the Capitalist Mode of Production 2. Capitalism as an Adaptive System 3. The ‘Systemic Turn’ in Capitalist Political Economy 4. The Era of Feedback from Entropy 5. Militarism and State Terrorism as a Response to Crisis 6. Organisation of the Twenty-first Century International System 7. Contradictions in the Contemporary Phase of Imperialist Governance, and the Forces for Change within it References Index
