Showing papers on "Capitalism published in 1974"
TL;DR: In this paper, the conditions of capital accumulation in South Africa are analyzed and the implications of this situation for strategies of socialist change are briefly evaluated, with the focus on the extra economic coercion of black labour.
Abstract: This article analyses the conditions of capital accumulation in South Africa, and seeks to explain the authoritarian and racially discriminatory features of the South African social structure in terms of (a) the specific historical processes of change (mercantile colonial conquest, primitive accumulation in mining and farming) and (b) the specific features of contemporary capitalism, notably the capital-intensive structure of industry. The authoritarianism embodied, for example, in the extra-economic coercion of black labour is seen as reflecting the circumstances of the struggle between capital and labour under conditions where capital-labour contradictions exist alongside the contradiction between South African capitalism and the ‘dependent’ societies it has preserved/recreated. The implications of this situation for strategies of socialist change are briefly evaluated.
195 citations
TL;DR: This paper argued that dependence is dead; long live dependence and the class struggle and pointed out the limitations of dependence in the context of a world system in which the political units are not co-extensive with the boundaries of the market economy.
Abstract: “Dependence” has become the latest euphemism in a long list of such terms. No doubt its original intent was critical. The term itself emerged out of the “structuralist” theories of Latin American scholars and was meant as a rebuttal to “developmentalist” or “modernization“ theories and “monetarist” policy views. Andre Gunder Frank has traced its intellectual origins and its limitations in a recent combative paper entitled “Dependence is dead; long live dependence and the class struggle.” We live in a capitalist world economy, one that took definitive shape as a European world economy in the sixteenth century (see Wallerstein 1974) and came to include the whole world geographically in the ninteenth century. Capitalism as a system of production for sale in a market for profit and appropriation of this profit on the basis of individual or collective ownership has only existed in, and can be said to require, a world system in which the political units are not co-extensive with the boundaries of the market economy. This has permitted sellers to profit from strengths in the market whenever they exist but enabled them simultaneously to seek, whenever needed, the intrusion of political entities to distort the market in their favor. Far from being a system of free competition of all sellers, it is a system in which competition becomes relatively free only when the economic advantage of upper strata is so clear-cut that the unconstrained operation of the market serves effectively to reinforce the existing system of stratification.
177 citations
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01 Jan 1974
TL;DR: Rodinson's "Islam and Capitalism" as mentioned in this paper is a learned, engaged rebuttal of the cultural reductionism of Max Weber and others who have tried to explain the politics and society of the Middle East by reference to some unchanging entity called "Islam," typically characterised as instinctively hostile to capitalism.
Abstract: "Islam and Capitalism" is a learned, engaged rebuttal of the cultural reductionism of Max Weber and others who have tried to explain the politics and society of the Middle East by reference to some unchanging entity called 'Islam,' typically characterised as instinctively hostile to capitalism. Maxime Rodinson looks at the facts, analysing economic texts with his customary common sense, to show that Muslims never had any trouble making money.
175 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1974
TL;DR: The permanent war economy, American capitalism in decline, The Permanent War economy as discussed by the authors, American Capitalism in Decline, American Capitalism In Decline, American capitalism decline, and American Capitalism Decline
Abstract: The permanent war economy; American capitalism in decline , The permanent war economy; American capitalism in decline , کتابخانه دانشگاه امام صادق(ع)
167 citations
103 citations
TL;DR: In fact, the deterioration in the conditions of the indigenous inhabitants had been known for some years since the beginning of the capitalist offensive in the north-eastern lowlands of Ethiopia, namely the Awash Valley as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: This article was written before information on the great Ethiopian famine of 1973 had reached the outside world. Since I was not then aware of the catastrophe, the facts given here should not be regarded as a reconstruction of the causes of the famine. On the contrary, the deterioration in the conditions of the indigenous inhabitants had been known for some years – in fact, since the beginning of the capitalist offensive in the north-eastern lowlands of Ethiopia, namely the Awash Valley. I had already predicted the famine in late 1971 in two reports, 1 and in discussions with officials of the Ethiopian Government.
76 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1974
TL;DR: The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844 has long been considered a social, political, and economic classic as discussed by the authors, and it contains many of the ideas he was later to develop in collaboration with Karl Marx.
Abstract: Friedrich Engels' first major work, The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844, has long been considered a social, political, and economic classic. The first book of its kind to study the phenomenon of urbanism and the problems of the modern city, Engels' text contains many of the ideas he was later to develop in collaboration with Karl Marx. In this book, Steven Marcus, author of the highly acclaimed The Other Victorians, applies himself to the study of Engels' book and the conditions that combined to produce it.Marcus studies the city of Manchester, centre of the first Industrial Revolution, between 1835 and 1850 when the city and its inhabitants were experiencing the first great crisis of the newly emerging industrial capitalism. He also examines Engels himself, son of a wealthy German textile manufacturer, who was sent to Manchester to complete his business education in the English cotton mills.Touching upon several disciplines, including the history of socialism, urban sociology, Marxist thought, and the history and theory of the Industrial Revolution, Engels, Manchester, and the Working Class offers a fascinating study of nineteenth-century English literature and cultural life.
61 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine certain aspects of Marx's treatment of rising resource productivity and technological change under capitalism, and examine how they are made, and by what instruments, that enables us to distinguish different economical epochs.
Abstract: It is not the articles made, but how they are made, and by what instruments, that enables us to distinguish different economical epochs. [Marx 1906, p. 200] The purpose of this paper is to examine certain aspects of Marx's treatment of rising resource productivity and technological change under capitalism. Many of the most interesting aspects of Marx's treatment of technological change have been ignored, perhaps because of the strong polemical orientation which readers from all shades of the political spectrum seem to bring to their reading of Marx. As a result, much has been written about the impact of the machine upon the worker and his family, the phenomenon of alienation, the relationship between technological change, real wages, employment, etc. At the same time, a great deal of what Marx had to say concerning some 300 years of European capitalist development has received relatively little attention. This applies to his views dealing with the complex interrelations between science, technology, and economic development. It is a well-known feature of the Marxian analysis of capitalism that Marx views the system as bringing about unprecedented increases in human productivity and in man's mastery over nature. Marx and Engels told their readers, in The Communist Manifesto , that “the bourgeoisie, during its rule of scarce one hundred years, has created more massive and more colossal productive forces than have all preceding generations together.
53 citations
TL;DR: For example, this article argued that mainstream economics is losing ground as a result of the emergence of new professional groups devoted to radical political economics, such as the Union of Radical Political Economics (URPE).
Abstract: The following headline appeared in the 11 February 1972 issue of the Wall Street Journal: "The Unorthodox Ideas of Radical Economists Win A Wider Hearing." On 18 March 1972 the following appeared in Business Week: "Radicals gain professional chic. Their academic status rises as their critique of capitalism gains depth and new listeners." Whether radical economists are gaining professional chic or acquiring more status is less important than the fact that they are challenging mainstream views about the subject matter of economics and how the U.S. economy works. Mainstream orthodoxy not only is experiencing erosion as a result of its own inabilities to explain many current economic realities, but also is losing ground as a result of the emergence of new professional groups. Among these are the new grouping of institutional economists and the Union of Radical Political Economics (URPE), whose more than 1,850 members are devoted to radical scholarship and activities.' Perhaps of even greater importance is the fact that the elementary economics course is no longer monopolized by mainstream economics
37 citations
TL;DR: For example, this article pointed out that "with the economy on the brink of crisis and the administration's policies adrift, radicals justifiably feel vindicated in their long-run or secular analysis of the contradictions in modern American capitalism." But there is some confusion about the state and direction of economic activity and the government's probable policy response.
Abstract: With the economy on the brink of crisis and the administration's policies adrift, radicals justifiably feel vindicated in their long-run or secular analysis of the contradictions in modern American capitalism. But there is some confusion about the state and direction of economic activity and the government's probable policy response. We have explanations of the secular functions of Keynesianism and some understanding of its contradictions," but, with the principal exception of the brilliant 30-year-old essay by Kalecki on "The Political Aspects of Full Employment," radical theorists have done little to explain and interpret the political-economic function of short-run macro-policy, i.e., monetary and fiscal policy, and its class implications.This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.
TL;DR: The authors examines the apparent paradox of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations: although Smith unqualifiedly treats high wages as desirable, he treats high profits as undesirable, and the interpretation of Smith presented in answering this question revolves primarily around the belief that easily earned high profits destroy the effectiveness with which the capitalist carries out his social role.
Abstract: This paper examines the following apparent paradox. Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations is universally regarded as a book that powerfully presented the social case for giving the businessman the maximum degree of freedom of action. And yet, although Smith unqualifiedly treats high wages as desirable, he treats high profits as undesirable. Why did so eloquent a spokesman for capitalism and laissez faire treat high profits with such unrelieved hostility? The interpretation of Smith presented in answering this question revolves primarily around the belief that easily earned high profits destroy the effectiveness with which the capitalist carries out his social role.
Posted Content•
TL;DR: In this paper, a review essay is scheduled to appear in the Winter 1974/75 issue of the Journal of interdisciplinary history (JSH), with the title "A review essay for interdisciplinary histories".
Abstract: This review essay is scheduled to appear in the Winter 1974/75 issue of the Journal of interdisciplinary history
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors apply Marxian class analysis to the Argentine political crisis and reveal principal and second-order contradictions in so-called primary and secondary contradictions of monopoly capitalism, respectively.
Abstract: March 11 and May 25, 1973, are important dates that mark deep-running processes of social and political change in Argentina. The first date represents the closure of a period opened in 1966, during which foreign monopoly capital launched a strong offensive in the productive structure of Argentina and tried to consolidate itself politically through an au thoritarian regime similar to that in power in Brazil. Such offensive clashed with the inter ests of various social classes. Their resistance drove Argentina through a series of politi cal convulsions that finally isolated the regime. Therefore, it is in Argentina that the de velopment of the contradictions of monopoly capitalism has met its most radical response. The proletariat was a leading actor in the struggle. Secondary contradictions played a large role as well. Portantiero analyzes these contradictions. His theoretical paper applies Marxian class analysis to the Argentine political crisis. It elucidates principal and second ary contradictions in so...
TL;DR: The relationship between religion and entrepreneurial activity has been an ongoing subject of sociological interest since Weber (1958) first identified the association between Protestantism and the rise of capitalism in Western Europe.
Abstract: The relationship between religion and entrepreneurial activity has been an ongoing subject of sociological interest since Weber (1958) first identified the association between Protestantism and the rise of capitalism in Western Europe. One recent collection of papers on the subject (Eisenstadt, 1968) indicates that the topic remains highly controversial, and that the debate moves in two general directions. Some analysts challenge (or support) the factual and/or theoretical validity of Weber's analysis as it applies to Western Europe, or to Protestantism (Green, 1959). Another branch of research attempts to apply the idea on a different level, finding other religious groups for which the theory is valid, in other parts of the world. Most such studies have been made in East and Southeast Asia, but there is a scattering of articles on other countries as well (Eisenstadt, 1968). Bellah (1963) cites several studies of merchant groups in Asia which conform to the Protestant ethic pattern, but points out that they seldom transform the norms of the whole society as Protestantism did in parts of Europe. Their impact is limited to a subgroup within society. These studies suggest that the Weberian thesis might apply on an intra-societal level in cultures different from Europe. The present study attempts to support this idea by positing a relationship between religious ethic and capitalism among a group of merchants in Tunisia who are members of a distinct religious sect within Islam.
TL;DR: In the years following World War I, British and American diplomats and businessmen fashioned a cooperative approach to the problems of international oil rivalries, building an informal entente which was institutionalized at the private level, surrounded with the mystique of enlightened capitalism, and masked behind tortured concessions to competitive symbols as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: In the years following World War I, British and American diplomats and businessmen fashioned a cooperative approach to the problems of international oil rivalries, building an informal entente which was institutionalized at the private level, surrounded with the mystique of enlightened capitalism, and masked behind tortured concessions to competitive symbols.
TL;DR: The authors argued that the cultural, intellectual, and political sides of social reality must be given their proper importance in order to understand the full development of all human capacities through the overcoming of alienation at every level in social reality.
Abstract: [ HE SOCIAL THOUGHT of Louis Althusser1 began as a direct attack against Marxist humanists.2 Most closely identified in France with the writings of Henri Lefebvre, Roger Garaudy, and Maximilien Rubel, Marxist humanism emphasized the active and creative role of men and women in the shaping of history. For too long, the humanists argued, Marxism has been identified with a determinism that limited the role of human beings in history to one of passivity, and with an economism that restricted the understanding of human affairs to the sphere of work relations. Not only must Marxism be understood as a doctrine of human freedom, humanists contended, but the cultural, intellectual, and political sides of social reality must be given their proper importance. To prove their case, the humanists referred to Marx's 1844 Manuscripts citing examples of Marx's concern with the full development of all human capacities through the overcoming of alienation at every level of social reality. Thus the Marxist argument against the political economists was not that capitalism impoverished the workers through exploitation, but that in every area of everyday life it inhibited, distorted, oppressed-in short, alienated-the powers of human beings to determine their own lives.
TL;DR: This article employed a principal component analysis to derive a measure of the relative contribution to the stratification process of economic performance and nativity variables in the 1880-1920 Boston area economy, and found that strong economic growth at the turn of the century continued to undermine American nativism.
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01 Jan 1974
TL;DR: In this article, the social and economic laws governing the society transitional between capitalism and socialism are discussed, and the authors propose a ten thesis on the social, economic, and social laws that govern the transition from capitalism to socialism.
Abstract: (1974). Ten thesis on the social and economic laws governing the society transitional between capitalism and socialism. Critique: Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 5-21.
TL;DR: The Peruvian regime is generally seen not as the typical Latin American caudillo government but rather as an essentially in stitutional effort as mentioned in this paper, and the regime has emphasized its aim to promote a drastic change in national values, to create a new Peruvian man, one dedicated to "solidarity, not individualism".
Abstract: The Peruvian regime is generally seen not as the typical Latin American caudillo government but rather as an essentially in stitutional effort. Although a government of force, it is widely re garded as relatively unrepressive. More important, although the nation's force for order, the military has set out to transform many basic areas of national life. Major structural reforms have affected land tenure and water rights, labor-management rela tions, the educational system, the state's role in the economy and in the communications media, the role of foreign enterprise in Peru's economy, and even fundamental concepts of economic and political relationships. Particularly noteworthy has been the regime's announced determination to move steadily away from capitalist principles by creating a new "social property" eco nomic sector (based on collective ownership of the means of production), destined to become the "predominant" mode of economic organization. And the regime has emphasized its aim to promote a drastic change in national values, to create a "new Peruvian man," one dedicated to "solidarity, not individualism." From various foreign perspectives, Peru's current process of military-directed change is regarded with hope. For many on the international Left, Peru's approach seems especially signif icant, particularly now that the "Chilean way" has been so abruptly closed. From this vantage point, Peru is contrasted with Brazil. Leftist intellectuals have lost their jobs and rights and some have suffered torture in Brazil; many of their counter parts in Peru are advising the regime or are at least sympathetic to it. Bishops in Brazil condemn their regime; Peruvian bishops generally support theirs. The Brazilian regime promotes cap italist expansion, national and foreign, while the Peruvian gov ernment announces its aim to move away from capitalism. And while Brazil ties itself ever more closely to the United States,
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors present the latest variant of the convergence theory, which is aimed at the ideological and political "erosion" of socialism through appeals to abandon the ideological or political struggle of the opposing social systems -capitalism and socialism -and to unite efforts in the name of the salvation of the very planet of people.
Abstract: Of late, in connection with the development of the revolution in science and technology, among the forecasts of the future by bourgeois scientists the gloomy predictions of bourgeois ecolo-gists who are frightening mankind with the approaching environmental crisis are moving more and more noticeably into the forefront. Bourgeois ecological conceptions take the form of the latest variant of the "convergence" theory, which is aimed at the ideological and political "erosion" of socialism through appeals to abandon the ideological and political struggle of the opposing social systems -capitalism and socialism -and to unite efforts in the name of the salvation of the very planet of people. This ideological diversion is all the more a serious danger in that it speculates on real and alarming facts.