People's
Democracy
(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of
India (Marxist) No. 06
February 09, 2003
(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of
India (Marxist) |
Vol.
XXVII No. 06 February 09, 2003 |
New
from
LeftWord
The Empire of Capital
Ellen
Meiksins
Wood
In
this
era
of
‘globalisation’,
we
hear
a
great
deal
about
a
‘new
imperialism,’
the
hegemony
of
global
capital
and
its
chief
enforcer,
the
US.
Today,
with
the
US
promising
an
endless
‘war
against
terrorism’
and
a
policy
of
‘pre-emptive
defence,’
this
notion
seems
more
plausible
than
ever.
But
what
does
imperialism
mean
in
the
absence
of
colonial
conquest
and
direct
imperial
rule?
In
this
lucid
and
lively
book,
Ellen
Meiksins
Wood
explores
the
new
imperialism,
against
the
contrasting
background
of
older
forms,
from
ancient
Rome,
through
medieval
Europe,
the
Arab
Muslim
world,
the
Spanish
conquests,
and
the
Dutch
commercial
empire.
Tracing
the
birth
of
a
capitalist
imperialism
back
to
the
English
domination
of
Ireland,
Wood
follows
its
development
through
the
British
Empire
in
America
and
India.
The
book
brings
into
sharp
relief
the
nature
of
today’s
new
capitalist
empire,
in
which
the
political
reach
of
imperial
power
cannot
match
its
economic
hegemony.
The
global
economy
is
administered
not
by
a
global
state
but
by
a
system
of
multiple
local
states,
policed
by
the
most
disproportionately
powerful
military
force
the
world
has
ever
known
and
enforced
according
to
a
new
military
doctrine
of
war
without
end,
in
purpose
or
time.
Ellen
Meiksins
Wood,
for
many
years
Professor
of
Political
Science
at
York
University
in
Toronto,
Canada,
was
an
editor
of
the
New
Left
Review
from
1984
to
1992,
and,
Co-Editor
of
Monthly
Review
from
1997
to
2000.
ISBN
81-87496-29-0;
Demy
8vo,
pp.
vi
+
153,
hardcover:
Rs
275
(Rs
165.00
for
Members;
192.50
for
Associate
Members)/
$
18
($
10.80
for
Members)
Cheques/drafts
should
be
in
favour
of
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Books.
Add
Rs
45/$
2.50
to
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drawn
on
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outside
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as
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charges.
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free
for
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orders.
