It's Crisis Time!

CORPORATE POWER AND OWNERSHIP IN CONTEMPORARY CAPITALISM

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I would like to announce the recent publication of my new book:

Corporate Power and Ownership in Contemporary Capitalism:
The Politics of Resistance and Domination (London: Routledge, 2009)

For more information see URL: http://www.routledge.com/9780415467889

Blurb:
Despite the influence corporations wield over all aspects of everyday life, there has been a remarkable absence of critical inquiry into the social constitution of this power. In analysing the complex relationship between corporate power and the widespread phenomenon of share ownership, this book seeks to map and define the nature of resistance and domination in contemporary capitalism.

Drawing on a Marxist-informed framework, this book reconnects the social constitution of corporate power and changing forms of shareholder activism. In contrast to other texts that deal with corporate governance, this study examines a diverse and comprehensive set of themes, from socially responsible investing to labour-led shareholder activism and its limitations. Through this ambitious and critical study, author Susanne Soederberg demonstrates how the corporate governance doctrine represents an inherent feature of neoliberal rule, effectively disembedding and depoliticising relations of domination and resistance from the wider power and paradoxes of capitalism.

Examining corporate governance and shareholder activism in a number of different contexts that include the United States and the global South, this important book will be of interest to students and scholars of international political economy, international relations and development studies. It will also be of relevance to a wider range of disciplines including finance, economics, and business and management studies.

“Soederberg should be thanked for revealing the elephant in the room – that corporations, along with their governance, power, ownership and management, are profoundly political, yet undemocratic. Through careful analysis, wide-ranging research and elegant writing she deconstructs comforting myths and shows us the true and unsettling politics and impacts of corporations in the world today. A must read – and also a good read – for anyone seeking true understanding of current economic, social and environmental upheavals.” — Joel Bakan, Professor of Law, University of British Columbia, Canada, and author/filmmaker of The Corporation

“In a capitalism deep into its second major crisis in 75 years, Soederberg’s book is very welcome. It critically examines the real (as opposed to the ideologically glossed) mechanisms enabling the crisis-producing decisions of corporate boards of directors. She performs a valuable deconstruction of the mythologies of mainstream ‘corporate governance’ literature.” — Richard D. Wolff, Department of Economics, University of Massachusetts and the New School University, New York

“This book presents a much-needed and powerful critique of the ‘corporate governance doctrine’ that was promoted both by the US state and by dominant capitalist interests in many societies to underpin the priority given to ’shareholder value’, to take advantage of workers’ pension funds, and to direct labour and social movement challenges to corporate decisions into what Soederberg appropriately calls the ‘marketization of resistance’. As empirically rich as it is theoretically strong, this is another important contribution by one of the most creative political economy scholars writing today.’ — Leo Panitch, Canada Research Chair in Comparative Political Economy and Distinguished Research Professor of Political Science, York University, Toronto

Cheers,
Susanne
Susanne Soederberg, DPhil
Canada Research Chair (Global Political Economy)
Associate Professor in Global Development Studies and Political Studies
Mackintosh-Corry, Room A-406
Queen’s University
Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6 Canada
Tel: 613.533.6000 x 78391
Fax: 613.533.2986
Email: soederberg@queensu.ca
Homepage: http://www.queensu.ca/devs/faculty/ProfileSoederberg.html

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

Is Another Crisis!

BEYOND THE CRISIS

http://www.iippe.org

INTERNATIONAL INITIATIVE FOR PROMOTING POLITICAL ECONOMY (IIPPE)

and

GREEK SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION OF POLITICAL ECONOMY

FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE IN POLITICAL ECONOMY

RETHYMNON, CRETE, SEPTEMBER 10-12, 2010

“BEYOND THE CRISIS”

Pre-amble: Following its three previous highly successful international research workshops for students in Crete, Naples and Ankara, the International Initiative for Promoting Political Economy (IIPPE) is now holding its FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE IN POLITICAL ECONOMY, co-organised with the Greek Scientific Association of Political Economy, and open to application from all engaged in political economy. Summaries of papers for consideration for inclusion (maximum 1000 words) should be submitted by 31st of March 2010 to iippe@soas.ac.uk with subject heading IIPPE CONFERENCE 2010. Full papers are required to be made available by 30 June 2010 for pre-circulation to Conference participants. It will be possible to attend the Conference without submitting a paper but numbers will be limited. There will be some funding available for those who are unable to rely upon institutional support for participation, with special provision for research students.

Themes: Following the global crisis, the prospects of, and need for, progressive political economy are stronger than for many decades. Orthodox economics is in disarray, but with only a smattering of its own practitioners accepting this, generally by demanding more realism and the incorporation of a few more or less arbitrary behavioural principles. After the collapse of the post-war boom, the recession and slowdown that followed gave birth to extreme forms of monetarism followed by a mild reaction in terms of reliance upon market and institutional imperfections and weakened Keynesianism. The prospects for a radical rethink within orthodoxy and of tolerance to heterodoxy remain bleak. But it is still crucial to sustain critical commentary on orthodoxy’s continuing principles and innovations as a new generation of students and researchers are caught between conforming to its reduced and flawed content and the economic realities of the world around them. Political economy has begun to prosper in the wake of the crisis, not least with the rising popularity of Minsky for example. It is imperative that the strengths and weaknesses of the diverse, often insightful, analyses of the nature, causes and consequences of the financial crisis be debated and fully engaged across competing paradigms and emphases. Nor is the crisis confined to economic effects and causes alone. Interdisciplinary approaches are essential to address the nature of, and prospects for, neo-liberalism, the shifting character of the “new world order”, US hegemony and the rise of China, and the economic and the social and cultural restructuring that have both preceded and will follow upon the crisis. This offers opportunities to engage with activists in understanding the impact and incidence of the crisis and in formulating alternatives and strategies in response to it.

The Conference welcomes proposals for papers that address one or more of these issues or any other issue within political economy. IIPPE working groups are entitled to organise a panel. But we also welcome proposals for panels independently of working groups on well-defined themes, with three or four contributions and contributors specified in advance. These must be submitted, ideally with paper summaries by March 31st, 2010, although earlier submissions have greater chance of acceptance as the Conference programme is filled out.

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

Situationism

THE GAME OF WAR – GUY DEBORD

Class Wargames presents
Guy Debord’s The Game of War

Class Wargames’ film is a 21st century treatise on revolutionary strategy in the cybernetic age. Inspired by Alice Becker-Ho and Guy Debord’s ‘The Game of War’, this movie analyses the modern conditions of neo-liberal capitalism and the methods required to transcend it. Utilising both classical military theory and the insights of Situationism, this film provides an insurrectionary manual for those struggling to build a truly human civilisation.

Visit: http://www.classwargames.net/pages/video.html

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

Despair

WHERE IS THE LABOUR PARTY GOING?

The next of The Commune’s London public forums is on the subject of the social role, degeneration and future course of the Labour Party. The meeting takes place from 7pm on Monday 23rd November at the Lucas Arms, Grays Inn Road, near King’s Cross.

The discussion will be led off by Chris Ford from The Commune, Andrew Fisher from the Labour Representation Committee and David Bailey, Department of Political Science and International Studies, University of Birmingham, and author of ‘The Transition to ‘New’ Social Democracy: the role of capitalism, representation, and (hampered) contestation’.

The Commune London Public Forum on the Labour Party: http://thecommune.wordpress.com/2009/11/01/where-is-the-labour-party-going-23rd-november-london-forum/

The Commune: http://thecommune.wordpress.com/

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

Rethinking Imperialism

RETHINKING IMPERIALISM: A STUDY OF CAPITALIST RULE

Rethinking Imperialism: A Study of Capitalist RulePalgrave-Macmillan 2009

By John Milios, and Dimitris P. Sotiropoulos

For over a century, “imperialism” has been a key concept in Left theory and politics, connoting both the aggressiveness and the characteristics of modern capitalism. This book aims at presenting and assessing imperialism as a theoretical concept. Since a variety of different definitions are assigned to the concept of imperialism, it is necessary to put to the test the rigour of these definitions. The authors of this volume provide a comprehensive evaluation, focusing especially on the tension between Marx’s theoretical system of the Critique of Political Economy and the theories of capitalist expansion and domination that emerge out of the various discourses on imperialism.

The book critically reviews all major (classical and contemporary) theories of imperialism. The authors embark on a critical interrogation of all innovations introduced into theoretical Marxism by theories of imperialism (for example those concerning the stages of historical evolution of capitalism, the capitalist state, internationalization of capital, crises etc.). They show that most of these theories deviate from the theoretical system formulated by Marx, especially in Capital and his other mature economic writings.

Furthermore, these theories seem to poorly interpret historical development. Is there a theory of the capitalist state to justify the thesis that the collapse of colonialism after World War II is so insignificant to the periodization of international capitalist relations (or “global capitalism”) that the “final stage” of capitalism commencing in the last decades of the 19th century is arguably still continuing? To pose the same question differently: on what theoretical grounds can the “early” colonialism, as opposed to the late colonial era (from the late 19th century to World War II), be bracketed off as a distinct period in the history of capitalism? On grounds of Marx’s theory of the CMP this period now has to be revisited. Why does the second colonial period have more affinities with the present-day non-colonial post-World War II era than with the era of early colonialism? Last but not least, is there a tendency towards expansionism that is innate in every form of capitalist domination, i.e. also in the less developed capitalist states that are not to be classified as being in the supposedly “ripe” or “monopoly capitalist” stage?

The authors propose a conceptualization of the international level which comes into a striking contrast with the majority of contemporary approaches of globalization or “new imperialism”. Their interpretation perceives the international level as a complex interlinkage of different (national-state) economic and social structures, each of which evolves at a different and unequal rate as a result primarily of the different class and political correlation of forces that have crystallized within it.

The book addresses the contemporary contradictions and trends of development of the “international capitalist system” and the evolving global economic crisis, formulating a fundamental reinterpretation of imperialism. Important in this line of reasoning remains the notion of imperialist chain, which is formulated in accordance with Marx’s concept of social capital and his theory of the capitalist mode of production. It thus defends the thesis that internal-national relationships and processes always have priority over international relations.

It is precisely the fundamental discovery of Marxism that the class struggle (which is at the same time economic, political and ideological and is thus consummated within each national-state entity) is the driving force of history. It is through these class correlations and relations of domination that international relations, with all the concomitant interdependence on other social formations, take effect. If imperialism is a permanent possibility emerging out of the structures of the capitalist mode of production, the historical form it will ultimately acquire for a particular social formation depends on the way in which the “external” situation (that is to say the international correlation of forces) over-determines but also constrains the practices that emerge out of the evolution of the internal class correlations.

Contents:
Introduction
* Classical Theories of Imperialism: A New Interpretation of Capitalist Rule, Expansionism, Capital Export, the Periodization and the “Decline” of Capitalism.
* Post World-War II “Metropolis-Periphery” Theories of Imperialism.
* Theories of Imperialism as Alternatives to Classical and Metropolis-Periphery Approaches.
* The State as a Vehicle of both Capitalist Expansionism and Decolonization: Historical Evidence and Theoretical Questions.
*Capitalist Mode of Production and Social Formation: Conclusions Concerning the Organization of Capitalist Power.
* Capitalist Mode of Production and Monopolies.
* Is Imperialism the Latest Stage of Capitalism? Reflections on the Question of Periodization of Capitalism and Stages of Capitalist Development.
* Internationalisation of Capital.
* Financialization: Market Discipline or Capital Discipline?
* The “Global” Level and the Concept of Imperialist Chain.
Epilogue: Rethinking Imperialism and Capitalist Rule.

John Milios, is Professor of Political Economy and the History of Economic Thought at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Greece. He has authored more than two hundred (200) papers published or forthcoming in refereed journals (in Greek, English, German, French, Spanish, Italian and Turkish), and has participated as invited speaker in numerous international conferences. He has also authored or co-authored some eleven scholarly books. He is director of the quarterly journal of economic theory Thesseis (published since 1982 in Greek) and serves on the Editorial Boards of several scholarly journals.

Dimitris P. Sotiropoulos is Visiting Lecturer of Political Economy at the Department of Sociology, University of the Aegean, Greece. He has published papers in refereed journals (in Greek, English and German). His research interests include: theories of Political Economy, theories of Imperialism, theory of Value and Money. He is also a member of the Editorial Board of the quarterly journal of economic and political theory Thesseis (published since 1982 in Greek).

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

Workplace

WORKPLACE: A JOURNAL FOR ACADEMIC LABOR – ISSUE 16

The Editors of Workplace: A Journal for Academic Labor are pleased to announce the release of Workplace #16 on:

“Academic Knowledge, Labor, and Neoliberalism”

Check it out at: http://m1.cust.educ.ubc.ca/journal/index.php/workplace/issue/current

Table of Contents

Articles

Knowledge Production and the Superexploitation of Contingent Academic Labor – by Bruno Gulli

The Education Agenda is a War Agenda: Connecting Reason to Power and Power to Resistance – by Rich Gibson, E. Wayne Ross
   
The Rise of Venture Philanthropy and the Ongoing Neoliberal Assault on Public Education: The Eli and Edith Broad Foundation – by Kenneth Saltman

Feature Articles

Theses on College and University Administration: A Critical Perspective – by John F. Welsh
   
The Status Degradation Ceremony: The Phenomenology of Social Control in Higher Education – by John F. Welsh

Book Reviews

Review of ‘The Last Professors: The Corporate University and the Fate of the Humanities’ (Desi Bradley)

Authentic Bona fide Democrats Must Go Beyond Liberalism, Capitalism, and Imperialism: A Review of Dewey’s Dream: Universities and  Democracies in an Age of Education Reform (Richard A. Brosio)

Review of Capitalizing on Disaster: Taking and Breaking Public Schools (Prentice Chandler)

Review of Pedagogy and Praxis in the Age of Empire: Towards a New Humanism (Abraham P. Deleon)

Review of Cary Nelson and the Struggle for the University: Poetry, Politics, and the Profession (Leah Schweitzer)

Review of Rhetoric and Resistance in the Corporate Academy (Lisa Tremain)

Read the Workplace Blog: http://blogs.ubc.ca/workplace/
Join us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=24374363807&ref=ts

E. Wayne Ross
Professor
Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy
University of British Columbia
2125 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
Canada
604-822-2830
wayne.ross@ubc.ca
http://www.ewayneross.net

Critical Education: http://www.criticaleducation.org
Cultural Logic: http://www.eserver.org/clogic
Workplace: A Journal for Academic Labor: http://www.workplace-gsc.com

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The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

Andrew Kliman

THE PERSISTENT FALL IN PROFITABILITY UNDERLYING THE CURRENT CRISIS

A message from Andrew Kliman

Dear Colleagues,

I have just posted a first draft of a longish (27,000 word) paper at: http://akliman.squarespace.com/persistent-fall

It’s entitled “The Persistent Fall in Profitability Underlying the Current Crisis: New Temporalist Evidence.”

It looks at the rates of profit of U.S. corporations, 1929-2007, with emphasis on the period since the early 1980s. The accompanying spreadsheet files will be posted at the same location soon, as soon as I can clean them up.

Comments are welcome.

Best,

Andrew

Andrew Kliman
http://akliman.squarespace.com:  “I Ain’t Gonna Work on Piero’s Farm No More”

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The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

Speed of Life

NEW ISSUES OF FAST CAPITALISM

A message from Jeremy Hunsinger

We have just posted two new issues of Fast Capitalism at www.fastcapitalism.com.  A somewhat expanded version of issue 5.1, on the legacy of the Telos journal, will be co-published as a pulp book by Telos Press in 2010.  It is fair to say that Fast Capitalism derives from Telos–a key journal of critical theory and engaged philosophy started by graduate students at SUNY-Buffalo in 1968.
 
 Very soon, we will post FC 6.1–an exciting multi-media issue on biography and identity edited by Audrey Sprenger, our new audio/visual editor.  I’ll let you know when that issue is up and running.

Fast Capitalism: ttp://www.uta.edu/huma/agger/fastcapitalism/home.html

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

Tate Britain

ANTHROPOLOGIES OF THE PRESENT

Two Talks in the Series ANTHROPOLOGIES OF THE PRESENT
Tate Britain, London SW1

Tuesday, 17 November 2009, 18.30–20.00

Kristin Ross, ‘Democracy for Sale’
Setting out from the controversy over Ireland’s ‘no’ vote to the European constitution, this talk will consider the current global stakes of the more radical form of democracy associated with the Paris Commune. Kristin Ross is Professor of Comparative Literature, New York University. Her books include The Emergence of Social Space (1988) and May ‘68 and its Afterlives (2002).

Tuesday, 8 December 2009, 18.30–20.00

Kojin Karatani, ‘The End of Capitalism?’
Capitalism may be on the verge of extinction, but it will not end by itself, because states do everything possible to prolong its life. This talk will consider the role of the state in this context and the counter-politics it provokes. Kojin Karatani is the author of Architecture as Metaphor (1995) and Transcritique: On Kant and Marx (2003) and a founder of the New Associationist Movement in Japan.

Peter Osborne, an editor of the journal Radical Philosophy, will act as Chair and Respondent.

The Auditorium, Tate Britain, Millbank, London SW1
£8 each talk (£6 concessions) – price includes drink reception afterwards
Tate.org.uk/tickets or tel. 020-7887-8888

Anthropologies of the Present at Tate Britain: http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/eventseducation/talks/anthropologiesofthepresent.htm
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The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

MySpace Profiel: http://www.myspace.com/glennrikowski

NEW TEXTS ON LOREN GOLDNER’S WEBSITE

http://home.earthlink.net/~lrgoldner/

Article on the origins of Turkish communism and of the reactionary
ideology of “anti-imperialism” in the 1917-1925 period (Nov 2009)

“Socialism in One Country” Before Stalin, and the Origins of
Reactionary “Anti-Imperialism”: The Case of Turkey, 1917-1925 (2009)

http://home.earthlink.net/~lrgoldner/turkey.html

Ssangyong Motor Strike in South Korea Ends in Defeat and Heavy
Repression (2009)

http://home.earthlink.net/~lrgoldner/ssangyong.html

General Perspectives on the Capitalist Development State and Class
Struggle in East Asia (2009)

http://home.earthlink.net/~lrgoldner/asiamarx.html

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk