Abstract

Like many buzzwords, 'global governance' is as poorly understood as it is popular. In contrast to most mainstream accounts, this book examines global economic governance as an integral moment of contemporary capitalism, presenting a critical insight into its real nature and the interests that it serves.

This book begins by asking what has not been discussed in the mainstream debates and why. Drawing on a Marxist perspective, Susanne Soederberg explores neglected issues including transnational debt and the increasingly coercive nature of US aid to so-called ‘failed states'.

She argues that mainstream understandings fail to engage with the wider contradictions that characterise global capitalism. In consequence, there is no explanation of the changing nature of American empire and capitalist power in the world.
'Well researched and engaging to read, this book will be of great interest to scholars, students and the concerned public'
William I. Robinson, University of California-Santa Barbara
'Breaks new ground in disclosing the cumulative processes by which empire is represented and managed'
Philip McMichael, Professor and Chair of Development Sociology at Cornell University
'[An] acute and revealing examination of the economic difficulties facing the American empire. This book is essential reading for those who want to know why the poor get poorer while the rich talk endlessly, and what we can do to initiate real social change'
Ronnie D. Lipschutz, Professor of Politics, University of California, Santa Cruz
'Indispensable for students of International Polical Economy and a must for political activists geared toward internationally oriented forms of social transformations'
Professor Elmar Altvater, Department of Political Science, Free University, Berlin