The Twilight of Globalisation: Property, State and Capitalism

Synopsis

In the second of his studies of globalization and capitalism, Boris Kagarlitsky asserts that the "Big Brother" of capitalism must be stopped, arguing that this can only be achieved through class struggle and through expropriation of large corporations. He focuses on the objective "external limitations" with which attempts at social transformation have been confronted at the threshold of the 21st century. He argues that to interpret globalization as a completely new phenomenon, and a policy of the ruling echelons, is a falsehood and that there is nothing technologically or economically unique about the process. Transformation of the state in response to globalization is urgently needed, but the "return of the state" to the economy will become a reality only if the state itself changes radically. The author draws on the examples of Russia and the Czech Republic to develop the question of nationalization and state intervention in the economy and shows that even without the participation of the Left, a spontaneous recreation of the state sector is emerging in a response to neo-liberalism. The debate on the national question is further addressed by drawing on the examples of the former USSR and Eastern Europe, and the possibility of parallel economic development in the Third World is also considered.