Overview

In clear and concise terms, Robert Went demythologises globalization. He refutes the myth that globalization is an entirely new phenomenon and that it is an unavoidable process. While recognising that it poses serious strategic challenges to the Left, he argues that these challenges are not insurmountable and that there is hope for advocating real change. Went puts globalization into its historical perspective. He shows that there is no option of returning to the postwar mode of expansion, but that the current trend must be altered. If not, he warns of greater social inequality, levelling of wages, worsening of working conditions, life-threatening ecological deterioration and a pervasive dictatorship of the market. To combat this rampant globalization, Went challenges the Left to rebuild its own movement and offer up a credible alternative. From reviews of the Dutch and German edition `Every category of reader will find in Went an author who understands the art of writing very clearly and accessibly for a broad public'. Het Financiele Dagblad (Amsterdam), 14 March 1996 (The Dutch 'Financial Times') `This sober analysis of the globalization phenomenon is very accessible and smoothly written'. Financieel-Economische Tijd (Brussels), 20 April 1996 '(Went's) greatest merit is that he proves on the one hand that globalization is not storming ahead as fast as many would have us believe; and on the other hand he shows that great societal changes are taking place'. Onze Wereld (Amsterdam), June 1996 (one of the main Dutch Third World solidarity magazines).

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Reviews

'A concise, nicely written summary of the sorts of radical views that motivated the World Trade Organisation protests in Seattle' -- CHOICE

'This is a short and easily readable critique of globalisation theory from a Marxist perspective. Robert Went argues against the triumphalist view that globalisation is 'levelling up' different coutnreis under the benign auspices of the free market. He provides a sober balance sheet of the changes that have taken place in the world capitalist system in the 1980s and 1990s, and concludes that while there are new challenges there are also new opportunities for the left ... A thought-provoking book that is quick to read and provides useful summaries of the arguments.' Bookmarks Review of Books'One of the most succinct critiques of globalization you're likely to see.' Labour Left Briefing'[The] wide-ranging coverage will be a useful foundation for further reading ... This is a concise book presenting a view of globalisation that regards neoliberalism as amenable to modification and resistance through political action.' The Lecturer'A concise, nicely written summary of the sorts of radical views -- the ills of globalization and the forces behind them -- that motivated the World Trade Organization protests in Seattle ... Globalization, the author holds, is neither inexorable nor wholly technologically determined. Instead, it represents in part a series of political decisions restructuring the role of gevernment and creating new international organizations with far-reaching authority. Globalization can therefore be controlled and slowed if its opponents organize effectively toward this end ... Went's book fills a need for anyone seeking a clear, concise statement of a particular radical view, or a short introductory critique of globalization.' CHOICE

Author Information

Robert Went is an economist, currently working as a researcher at the Faculty of Economics and Econometrics of the University of Amsterdam andfor The Netherlands Court of Audit.Tony Smith is Professor of Philosophy at Iowa State University and the author of The Logic of Marx's Capital and Dialectical Social Theory and its Critics.

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