Crisis, continuity and change: neoliberalism, the left and the future of capitalism

RIS ID

88661

Publication Details

Castree, N. (2010). Crisis, continuity and change: neoliberalism, the left and the future of capitalism. In N. Castree, P. Chatterton, N. Heynen, W. Larner & M. W. Wright (Eds.), The Point is to Change it: Geographies of Hope and Survival in an Age of Crisis (pp. 185-213). United Kingdom: Wiley-Blackwell.

Abstract

This essay's point of departure is the coincident economic and environmental "crises" of our time. I locate both in the dynamics of capital accumulation on a world-scale, drawing on the ideas of Marx, Karl Polanyi and James O'Connor. I ask whether the recent profusion of "crisis talk" in the public domain presents an opportunity for progressive new ideas to take hold now that "neoliberalism" has seemingly been de-legitimated. My answer is that a "post-neoliberal" future is probably a long way off. I make my case in two stages and at two geographical scales. First, I examine the British social formation as currently constituted and explain why even a leading neoliberal state is failing to reform its ways. Second, I then scale-up from the domestic level to international affairs. I examine cross-border emissions trading-arguably the policy tool for mitigating the very real prospects of significant climate change this century. The overall conclusion is this: even though the "first" and "second" contradictions of capital have manifested themselves together and at a global level, there are currently few prospects for systemic reform (never mind revolution) led by a new, twenty-first century "redgreen" Left.

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Link to publisher version (DOI)

http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9781444397352.ch9