While many are wondering if another world is possible, few are mapping out avenues to a post-capitalist future. In this groundbreaking analysis of the meltdown, renowned political economists Albo, Gindin and Panitch locate the roots of the crisis in the inner logic of capitalism itself and illuminate how the era of neoliberal free markets has been undergirded by massive state intervention. The authors argue that it’s time to start thinking about transformative alternatives to capitalism – and how to build the collective capacity to get us there. In and Out of Crisis stands to be the enduring critique of the crisis.
About the Authors
Greg Albo teaches political economy at the Department of Political Science, York University, Toronto. He is currently co-editor of the Socialist Register. He is also on the editorial boards of Studies in Political Economy, Relay, Capitalism, Nature, Socialism, Canadian Dimension, The Bullet and Historical Materialism (England). Co-editor of A Different Kind of State: Popular Power and Democratic Administration and author of numerous articles in journals such as Studies in Political Economy, Socialist Register, Canadian Dimension, and Monthly Review.
Sam Gindin is a Canadian academic and intellectual who served as research director of the Canadian region of the United Auto Workers (UAW) union and later as chief economist and Assistant to the President of the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) union after the latter became independent from its American parent organization. Gindin is a graduate of the University of Manitoba. He worked as a research officer for the New Democratic Party of Manitoba and later taught at the University of Prince Edward Island. He obtained his MA in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, but while working on his PhD dissertation in 1974, he took up the position of first director of research for what was then the Canadian section of the UAW. He rose within the union and served as an assistant to both Bob White and Buzz Hargrove, where he participated in major collective bargaining, the formation of union and social policy, and strategic discussions on the structure and direction of the union. He also wrote a book on the history of the CAW entitled The Canadian Auto Workers: The Birth and Transformation of a Union. In 2000, Gindin retired from the CAW. He joined the faculty of York University in the Political Science department as Packer Visitor in Social Justice, where he continues to teach.
Leo Panitch was a Distinguished Research Professor, renowned political economist, Marxist theorist and editor of the Socialist Register. He received a B.A. (Hons.) from the University of Manitoba in 1967 and a M.Sc.(Hons.) and PhD from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1968 and 1974, respectively. He was a Lecturer, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor and Professor at Carleton University between 1972 and 1984. He was a Professor of Political Science at York University since 1984. He was the Chair of the Department of Political Science at York from 1988-1994. He was the General Co-editor of State and Economic Life series, U. of T. Press, from 1979 to 1995 and is the Co-founder and a Board Member of Studies in Political Economy. He was also the author of numerous articles and books dealing with political science including The End of Parliamentary Socialism (1997). He was a member of the Movement for an Independent and Socialist Canada, 1973-1975, the Ottawa Committee for Labour Action, 1975-1984, the Canadian Political Science Association, the Committee of Socialist Studies, the Marxist Institute and the Royal Society of Canada. He was an ardent supporter of the Socialist Project.
What People Are Saying
“Once again, Panitch, Gindin, and Albo show that they have few rivals and no betters in analyzing the relations between politics and economics. … At once sobering and inspiring, this is one of the few pieces of writing … that’s essential to understanding the sources and uses of crisis. Splendid and essential.” - Doug Henwood, Left Business Observer, author of After the New Economy and Wall Street
Table of Contents
Preface
Surveying the Crisis: Is Neoliberalism Over?
Neoliberalism, Finance, and Crises
Finance, Regulation, and the American State
Crisis Management from Bush to Obama
From Finance to Industry: The Crisis in Auto
Labor’s Impasse and the Left
Another Way out of the Crisis? Strategic Considerations for the North American Left
Ten Theses on the Crisis
Suggested Readings
Notes