Abstract

Samir Amin remains one of the world's most influential thinkers about the changing nature of North-South relations in the development of contemporary capitalism. In this highly prescient book, originally published in 1997, he provides a powerful analysis of the new unilateral capitalist era following the collapse of the Soviet model, and the apparent triumph of the market and globalization. Amin's innovative analysis charts the rise of ethnicity and fundamentalism as consequences of the failure of ruling classes in the South to counter the exploitative terms of globalization. This has had profound implications and continues to resonate today. Furthermore, his deconstruction of the Bretton Woods institutions as managerial mechanisms which protect the profitability of capital provides an important insight into the continued difficulties in reforming them. Amin's rejection of the apparent inevitability of globalization in its present polarising form is particularly prophetic - instead he asserts the need for each society to negotiate the terms of its inter-dependence with the rest of the global economy. A landmark work by a key contemporary thinker.
Samir Amin is a renowned radical economist, the director of the Forum du Tiers Monde (Third World Forum) in Dakar, Senegal, and chair of the World Forum for Alternatives.
'The analyses of Samir Amin, based on wide-ranging historical knowledge combined with intelligent use of theory, give us the solid anchors we need to understand current realities. They are often provocative and always prudent, which is why they are mandatory reading.' Immanuel Wallerstein, Yale University 'Samir Amin's writings are informed by depth of political economy and breadth of history. Grounded in the analytical tools of historical materialism and guided by the political perspective of the working people, he is unwavering in his commitment to a better and more humane social order. In Capitalism in the Age of Globalization, Amin shows that there is indeed an alternative to the plunder and pillage of the last five centuries of capitalism and war mongering imperialism. A must read for anyone who is interested in a better world.' Issa Shivji, University of Dar es Salaam 'This world-class economist is a serious Nobel Prize contender' - Economic Development and Social Change 'Amin's global intellectual reach enables him to deal with a wide variety of issues with magnificent ease and simplicity' International Journal of Middle East Studies 'An easily accessible sampling of this pioneering analyst's reflections about the dynamics of late twentieth century capitalism and its implication for poor countries and poor people' Solon Barraclough, senior consultant, UNRISD