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Title: A System in Crisis: The Dynamics of Free Market Capitalism by Henry Veltmeyer, James Petras ISBN: 1-84277-365-8 Publisher: Zed Books Pub. Date: 17 January, 2004 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $19.95

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Average Customer Rating: 5 (1 review)

Rating: 5
Summary: The challenge to U.S. hegemony
Comment: "System in Crisis: The Dynamics of Free Market Capitalism" by James Petras and Henry Veltmeyer offers an intelligent and scathing critique of the capitalist state system and an extensive analysis of the myriad grassroots movements that oppose it. The authors posit that the Bush administration has resorted to imperialism as a means of reasserting U.S. control over the world economic system. But by detailing the social, economic and environmental problems that continue to challenge U.S. hegemony, Petras and Veltmeyer believe that U.S. imperialism may be unwittingly accelerating the collapse of capitalism and creating the conditions for a socialist alternative to emerge.

James Petras is a Professor at the State Univesity of New York and Henry Veltmeyer is a Professor at Sanit Mary's University. The collaboration works well in this book. It appears that Dr. Veltmeyer's presence may serve to take some of the sting out of Dr. Petras who is a well-known and prolific writer of sometimes blistering socio-political essays. However, the end result is a no less powerful and intriguing book that is at turns analytical, historical, passionate and persuasive.

The authors begin by challenging postmodern theories about the 'smooth space' of capitalism made popular in the book "Empire" by Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri by explaining how the war against terrorism has been used by President Bush to advanced U.S. interests in contested places around the world. But while the open-ended war against terror has been successful in transferring wealth to corporations and the wealthy and has served to intimidate many dissenters, the authors believe that the deficits associated with war combined with the ongoing decline in domestic manufacturing industries suggests that imperialism alone will not restore the U.S. to international preeminence.

We learn that the brand of neoliberalism championed by the U.S., Europe and Israel has caused political and economic instability in dozens of countries, especially in Central and South America. For example, one chapter in the book is dedicated to the massive worker and peasant mobilizations in Argentina that have sought to restore economic and social justice in the wake of that country's dramatic economic collapse. The authors go on to describe how the U.S. has returned to such Cold War shenanigans as military coups, economic blackmail, covert military actions and other tactics in order to repress similar popular uprisings in places such as Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Venzuela. The authors contend that these efforts have pushed most world governments to the political Right even as economic deprivation pushes many of their citizens to the Left, thereby "setting the stage for a classic confrontation between dictatorial reaction and revolution".

Other chapters are dedicated to the collapse of the cod industry in the Northern Atlantic, the uprisings of indigenous peoples in Ecuador and Mexico, the struggles of Latin American peasants against the state, the anti-globalization movement, and more. The authors convincingly argue that the state's defense of capital is central to class struggle but that popular "direct and collective action" can empower the people to create better lives for themselves. On the other hand, the authors admit that part of the challenge for the Left is to unite these diverse movements in a way that provides a credible socialist challenge to capitalism.

Recent Socialist electoral victories in Spain and India appears to support the authors' thesis in what may prove to be a remarkably prescient work. Kudos to Zed Books for consistently publishing high-quality materials including this book, which I highly recommend to all.