Search results for ""Author Riccardo Bellofiore""

The last two decades have seen a reshaping of the international economy together with a radical weakening in the conditions of the working class. New productive techniques and methods in the organization of labour have been implemented on a world-wide scale partly as a consequence of the financialization of capital. The geographical diffusion of market relations has continued and with it the dominance of capital in all realms of social reproduction. In charting this change, the book offers an alternative view of contemporary capitalism.It has been suggested that we are entering a new phase where the 'globalization' of economic activities is fully achieved, where 'post-Fordist' regulation has overcome the crisis of Keynesian capitalism, and where the dominant tendency is towards the 'end of work'. In contrast to this view, the authors of this book argue that current internationalization is not a structure, but a contradictory process and that new patterns in the division of labour while successful in increasing the pressure over workers have not been able to supersede Fordism entirely. They conclude that the slow growth of the economies, caused by neoliberal economic policies, is a crucial factor in explaining unemployment and the fragmentation of labour.

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This book makes a difference compared with the mass of existing crisis literature. Exploring a variety of heterodox approaches, it clearly discusses the important issues behind the well known facts: the dynamics of capitalism leading to the current crisis, the character of the crisis as mainly financial or as a result of changing conditions in production and consumption, the 'rationality' of money, credit and debt, and the gender perspective of the crisis. Here you can find interesting alternatives to sterile mainstream discussions.'- Michael Heinrich, University of Technology and Economics, Germany'An excellent assemblage of scholarly thought on the current economic mess in Europe and America. Drawing on a range of left traditions in political economy, from Marx to Keynes to Minsky, the authors offer original takes on crisis theory, financial fragility and austerity. The book s great strength is the depth of analysis of money, debt and speculation, and how they are implicated in the malfunctioning of contemporary capitalism. A salutatory challenge to the aridity of so much of conventional economics.'- Richard A. Walker, University of California, US'The Great Recession has shaken up the economics profession, underscoring the urgency of developing new and innovative ways of understanding the changes in the global economy. This excellent and thoughtful volume offers a series of heterodox analyses that will do just that. It will prove valuable to economists ready to question neoclassical and even Keynesian assumptions about how macroeconomies function in order to develop more relevant models and policies that fit our current system.'- Stephanie Seguino, University of Vermont, USThe Great Recession has punctuated the long history of capitalism and is a necessary outcome of contemporary capitalism's great contradictions, both in its Anglo-Saxon configuration and European neo-mercantilism posture. To be properly understood it is vital to take into account the ongoing structural transformation of the crisis in its multiple dimensions.Through expert contributions, this book explores the integral role of finance, class and gender in analyzing the great recession, alongside offering plural theoretical interpretations of the crisis. The Great Recession and the Contradictions of Contemporary Capitalism presents a comprehensive insight into the global crisis, focusing on debt, asset inflation and financial fragility. Key areas such as global imbalances, monetary reform and the management of public finance are examined, and a unique investigation into the Italian experience of the crisis is offered. The book concludes with novel concepts on the gender dimension of the crisis and the analogies between a nuclear and financial chain reaction. Both the financial and real aspects of this modern phenomenon are addressed in this timely book.Academics and students of economics, international political economy, sociology and political science will benefit from the comprehensive and original perspective this book offers.Contributors: R. Bellofiore, F. Chesnais, M. Desai, G. Duménil, D. Levy, L. Marazzi, J. Michell, A. Parguez, S. Rossi, J. Toporowski, V. Valli, A. Vercelli, G. Vertova

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This scholarly book conducts an extensive exploration into the central ideas of Karl Marx, focussing on the key concepts that have defined his thought and legacy. Bringing together a wealth of internationally renowned contributors, across different generations, Marx: Key Concepts analyses in depth Marx’s theories of (surplus) value, money, and capital, and their reception in classical and contemporary economic, sociological and philosophical debates. Chapters cover Marx’s core writings on the meaning of critique of political economy, materialism, dialectical method, real abstraction, absolute value, money, automatic Subject, reproduction, original accumulation, material interchange, domination, social reproduction, and pre-capitalist modes of production.Rediscovering the theoretical stratified density of the basic notions in Capital, the book provides crucial insight into the complexity and global significance of Marx’s ideas and their relevance for the understanding of contemporary society, politics and economy. This book will be essential reading for academics, scholars and researchers interested in the history and the methodology of economic thought, social science, political economy, sociology, and political theory.

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Storming Heaven is the only book which looks at Italian workerist theory and practice, from its origins in the anti-Stalinist left of the 1950s to its heyday twenty years later. It focuses on the theme of workerism, or 'operaismo', which includes the refusal of work, class self-organisation, mass illegality and the extension of revolutionary agency, of of which are still practiced today by workers across the world. Emphasising the dynamic nature of class struggle as the distinguishing feature of workerist thought, Storming Heaven reveals how this form of radical politics developed alongside emerging social movements to great effect. It assesses the strengths and limitations of workerism as first developed by Antonio Negri, Mario Tronti, Sergio Bologna and others. This edition includes a new chapter looking at the debates around operaismo and Autonomia since the book originally appeared in 2002, and is updated with a new foreword and afterword.

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Storming Heaven is the only book which looks at Italian workerist theory and practice, from its origins in the anti-Stalinist left of the 1950s to its heyday twenty years later. It focuses on the theme of workerism, or 'operaismo', which includes the refusal of work, class self-organisation, mass illegality and the extension of revolutionary agency, of of which are still practiced today by workers across the world. Emphasising the dynamic nature of class struggle as the distinguishing feature of workerist thought, Storming Heaven reveals how this form of radical politics developed alongside emerging social movements to great effect. It assesses the strengths and limitations of workerism as first developed by Antonio Negri, Mario Tronti, Sergio Bologna and others. This edition includes a new chapter looking at the debates around operaismo and Autonomia since the book originally appeared in 2002, and is updated with a new foreword and afterword.

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