After the end of America's longest (20-year) war in Afghanistan and Iraq that cost more than $6 trillion and nearly half a million lives, what does the future hold for America and the American people in the 21st century? In this timely and important book, Berch Berberoglu provides an eye-opening account of the history of the American Empire from its inception to the present, with prospects for its future. Examining the worldwide expansion of the American Empire over the course of its turbulent history in great detail, Berberoglu assesses America's imperial legacy in a sober way, highlighting its failure to come to terms with the enormous cost of this adventure in imperial overreach. But Berberoglu sees light at the end of the long, dark tunnel, when the American people will awaken and lead the way to a new America after empire in the coming decades of the 21st century.

After the end of America's longest (20-year) war in Afghanistan and Iraq that cost more than $6 trillion and nearly half a million lives, what does the future hold for America and the American people in the 21st century? In this timely and important book, Berch Berberoglu provides an eye-opening account of the history of the American Empire from its inception to the present, with prospects for its future. Examining the worldwide expansion of the American Empire over the course of its turbulent history in great detail, Berberoglu assesses America's imperial legacy in a sober way, highlighting its failure to come to terms with the enormous cost of this adventure in imperial overreach. But Berberoglu sees light at the end of the long, dark tunnel, when the American people will awaken and lead the way to a new America after empire in the coming decades of the 21st century.

Written by a team of experts on the contemporary global capitalist political economy who are able to shed light on the inner workings of global capitalism and the capitalist globalization process that has led to the growth and development of capitalism from the national to the global level, this groundbreaking volume provides critical analyses of the causes and consequences of the Great Recession of 2008-2009. Through a careful examination of the origin, development and aftermath of the catastrophic economic crisis from which the world is still trying to recover, editor Berch Berberoglu and his colleagues demonstrate that those most responsible for the economic collapse are the ones least affected by its devastating impact felt most severely by working people around the world. Ultimately, this book argues that it is only through the systematic restructuring of the world economy by the working class that society will be able to prevent the boom and bust cycle of global capitalist crises and usher in a more egalitarian socialist economy and society.

Neoliberal globalization is in deep crisis. This crisis is manifested on a global scale and embodies a number of fundamental contradictions, a central one of which is the global rise of authoritarianism and fascism. This emergent form of authoritarianism is a right-wing reaction to the problems generated by globalization supported and funded by some of the largest and most powerful corporations in their assault against social movements on the left to prevent the emergence of socialism against global capitalism. As the crisis of neoliberal global capitalism unfolds, and as we move to the brink of another economic crisis and the threat of war, global capitalism is once again resorting to authoritarianism and fascism to maintain its power. This book addresses this vital question in comparative-historical perspective and provides a series of case studies around the world that serve as a warning against the impending rise of fascism in the 21st century.

Neoliberal globalization is in deep crisis. This crisis is manifested on a global scale and embodies a number of fundamental contradictions, a central one of which is the global rise of authoritarianism and fascism. This emergent form of authoritarianism is a right-wing reaction to the problems generated by globalization supported and funded by some of the largest and most powerful corporations in their assault against social movements on the left to prevent the emergence of socialism against global capitalism. As the crisis of neoliberal global capitalism unfolds, and as we move to the brink of another economic crisis and the threat of war, global capitalism is once again resorting to authoritarianism and fascism to maintain its power. This book addresses this vital question in comparative-historical perspective and provides a series of case studies around the world that serve as a warning against the impending rise of fascism in the 21st century.

Political Sociology in a Global Era provides a critical analysis of the origins, nature, development, and transformation of the state and society historically and today, examining the class nature and social basis of politics and the state in different societal settings. The book emphasizes the centrality of class relations in explaining political power and the role of the state in class-divided societies by providing powerful theoretical and empirical analyses of themes in political sociology in an era of globalization. It examines in detail the major political issues and events of our time, and makes them relevant to the study of power and politics today. Some of the features of this text include: Introduces a global political sociology emphasizing the dynamics of power relations Provides a critical analysis of the role of politics and the state within the world-historical process Describes classical and contemporary theories of politics and the state Explains the origins and development of the state, discussing the nature of the state, its class basis, and contradictions in different types of societies Considers the dynamics of the capitalist state and traces its development in Europe and the United States from the 18th century to the present Details the role of the advanced capitalist state in the global political economy at the current, advanced stage of late capitalism Discusses the social movements that have been actively struggling against the capitalist state from earlier times to the present, including the Arab Spring, focusing on recent developments in both advanced capitalist and less-developed capitalist societies where mobilization of the masses has led to struggles against the capitalist state on a global scale Offers an original analysis of global capitalism and places it in the context of the current crisis of the global capitalist system

Political Sociology in a Global Era provides a critical analysis of the origins, nature, development, and transformation of the state and society historically and today, examining the class nature and social basis of politics and the state in different societal settings. The book emphasizes the centrality of class relations in explaining political power and the role of the state in class-divided societies by providing powerful theoretical and empirical analyses of themes in political sociology in an era of globalization. It examines in detail the major political issues and events of our time, and makes them relevant to the study of power and politics today. Some of the features of this text include: Introduces a global political sociology emphasizing the dynamics of power relations Provides a critical analysis of the role of politics and the state within the world-historical process Describes classical and contemporary theories of politics and the state Explains the origins and development of the state, discussing the nature of the state, its class basis, and contradictions in different types of societies Considers the dynamics of the capitalist state and traces its development in Europe and the United States from the 18th century to the present Details the role of the advanced capitalist state in the global political economy at the current, advanced stage of late capitalism Discusses the social movements that have been actively struggling against the capitalist state from earlier times to the present, including the Arab Spring, focusing on recent developments in both advanced capitalist and less-developed capitalist societies where mobilization of the masses has led to struggles against the capitalist state on a global scale Offers an original analysis of global capitalism and places it in the context of the current crisis of the global capitalist system

The deep economic recession that has occurred in all major sectors of the U.S. and global economy is a manifestation of the underlying contradictions of the capitalist system that has resulted in the accumulation of vast fortunes on one side and impoverishment, debt, and destitution on the other. In short, the crisis of global capitalism is the result of the immense disparities in wealth and income and a consequent widening gap between capital and labor. This ground-breaking book brings together a team of experts on the contemporary global capitalist political economy who are able to shed light on the inner workings of global capitalism and the capitalist globalization process that has led to the growth and development of capitalism from the national to the global level, with all its fundamental internal dynamics and contradictions operating on a world scale. It will make an important contribution to understanding the underlying causes of the current global economic crisis and show the way out of this crisis by way of a powerful critique of the global capitalist system that will ultimately go through a major economic, political, and social transformation. Analysis of the global capitalist crisis raises questions regarding the process of capitalist globalization, especially now that neoliberal economic policies have failed. Does this signal the end of capitalist globalization and the collapse of the global capitalist system? This book will take up these questions and entertain the possibility of a new beginning in the global political economy through an analysis of the next period of post-capitalist developments worldwide that may set the stage for the rise of socialism across the globe.

Written by a team of experts on the contemporary global capitalist political economy who are able to shed light on the inner workings of global capitalism and the capitalist globalization process that has led to the growth and development of capitalism from the national to the global level, this groundbreaking volume provides critical analyses of the causes and consequences of the Great Recession of 2008-2009. Through a careful examination of the origin, development and aftermath of the catastrophic economic crisis from which the world is still trying to recover, editor Berch Berberoglu and his colleagues demonstrate that those most responsible for the economic collapse are the ones least affected by its devastating impact felt most severely by working people around the world. Ultimately, this book argues that it is only through the systematic restructuring of the world economy by the working class that society will be able to prevent the boom and bust cycle of global capitalist crises and usher in a more egalitarian socialist economy and society.

The deep economic recession that has occurred in all major sectors of the U.S. and global economy is a manifestation of the underlying contradictions of the capitalist system that has resulted in the accumulation of vast fortunes on one side and impoverishment, debt, and destitution on the other. In short, the crisis of global capitalism is the result of the immense disparities in wealth and income and a consequent widening gap between capital and labor. This ground-breaking book brings together a team of experts on the contemporary global capitalist political economy who are able to shed light on the inner workings of global capitalism and the capitalist globalization process that has led to the growth and development of capitalism from the national to the global level, with all its fundamental internal dynamics and contradictions operating on a world scale. It will make an important contribution to understanding the underlying causes of the current global economic crisis and show the way out of this crisis by way of a powerful critique of the global capitalist system that will ultimately go through a major economic, political, and social transformation. Analysis of the global capitalist crisis raises questions regarding the process of capitalist globalization, especially now that neoliberal economic policies have failed. Does this signal the end of capitalist globalization and the collapse of the global capitalist system? This book will take up these questions and entertain the possibility of a new beginning in the global political economy through an analysis of the next period of post-capitalist developments worldwide that may set the stage for the rise of socialism across the globe.

Social Theory provides a sophisticated yet highly accessible introduction to classical and contemporary social theories. The author's concise presentation allows students and instructors to focus on central themes. The text lets theorists speak for themselves, presenting key passages from each theorist's corpus, bringing theory to life. The approach allows instructors the opportunity to help students learn to unpack sometimes complex prose, just as it offers inroads to class discussion. Chapters on Addams and early feminism, on Habermas and the Frankfurt School, on Foucault, and on globalization and social movements round out contemporary coverage. The book presents and explains key theories, just as it provides an introduction to central debates about them.

Social Theory provides a sophisticated yet highly accessible introduction to classical and contemporary social theories. The author's concise presentation allows students and instructors to focus on central themes. The text lets theorists speak for themselves, presenting key passages from each theorist's corpus, bringing theory to life. The approach allows instructors the opportunity to help students learn to unpack sometimes complex prose, just as it offers inroads to class discussion. Chapters on Addams and early feminism, on Habermas and the Frankfurt School, on Foucault, and on globalization and social movements round out contemporary coverage. The book presents and explains key theories, just as it provides an introduction to central debates about them.

This handbook on social movements, revolution, and social transformation analyzes people's struggles to bring about social change in the age of globalization. It examines the origins, nature, dynamics, and challenges of such movements as they aim to change dominant social, economic, and political institutions and structures across the globe. Departing from a theoretical introduction that explores major classical and contemporary theories of social movements and transformation, the contributions collected here use a class-based approach to examine key cases of social movements, rebellions, and revolutions worldwide from the turn of the twentieth to the early twenty-first centuries. Against this wide-ranging background, the handbook concludes by charting the varied and competing future developments and trajectories of social movements, revolutions, and social transformations.

This handbook on social movements, revolution, and social transformation analyzes people's struggles to bring about social change in the age of globalization. It examines the origins, nature, dynamics, and challenges of such movements as they aim to change dominant social, economic, and political institutions and structures across the globe. Departing from a theoretical introduction that explores major classical and contemporary theories of social movements and transformation, the contributions collected here use a class-based approach to examine key cases of social movements, rebellions, and revolutions worldwide from the turn of the twentieth to the early twenty-first centuries. Against this wide-ranging background, the handbook concludes by charting the varied and competing future developments and trajectories of social movements, revolutions, and social transformations.

Social classes and class conflict have defined social relations ever since the division of society into hostile classes based on the exploitation and oppression of one class by another. This has become especially important in modern capitalist society through the globalization process, where class divisions have solidified with enormous inequalities in wealth and income that are the most glaring in the history of humanity. Class and Class Conflict in the Age of Globalization presents a macro-sociological analysis of class and class conflict through a comparative-historical perspective. Focusing on class as the motive force of social transformation, Berberoglu explores class relations and class conflict in a variety of social settings, stressing the centrality of this phenomenon in defining social relations across societies in the age of globalization. Going beyond the analysis of class and class conflict on a world scale, the book addresses the role of the state, nation/nationalism, and religion, as well as the impact of race and gender on class relations in the early twenty-first century.

Social classes and class conflict have defined social relations ever since the division of society into hostile classes based on the exploitation and oppression of one class by another. This has become especially important in modern capitalist society through the globalization process, where class divisions have solidified with enormous inequalities in wealth and income that are the most glaring in the history of humanity. Class and Class Conflict in the Age of Globalization presents a macro-sociological analysis of class and class conflict through a comparative-historical perspective. Focusing on class as the motive force of social transformation, Berberoglu explores class relations and class conflict in a variety of social settings, stressing the centrality of this phenomenon in defining social relations across societies in the age of globalization. Going beyond the analysis of class and class conflict on a world scale, the book addresses the role of the state, nation/nationalism, and religion, as well as the impact of race and gender on class relations in the early twenty-first century.

This book deals with a topic that is central to the most important and decisive issues and events of our time-the state and revolution in the twentieth century. Social scientists have made numerous attempts to understand the causes of revolutions by examining the underlying factors that contribute to revolutionary uprisings. To further these efforts, this book addresses some of the key issues related to this process through both theoretical and empirical inquiry into the nature and dynamics of the state and revolution as a basis for an understanding of the major socialist revolutions of the twentieth century. The book provides a comparative-historical analysis of the state and socialist revolutions in Russia, China, Vietnam, Cuba, and Nicaragua. The thread that runs through each of the chapters that make up this book, especially the case studies of revolutions taken up for study, is the class nature of the state and the class forces involved in the revolutionary process leading up to the taking of state power, as well as-and more importantly so- the class nature of the forces that have taken power and rule over society in the post-revolutionary period. Applying class analysis to the study of the state and revolution, this book helps us understand the nature and dynamics of class struggles in societies that have gone through a revolutionary process.

This book examines the origins and development of nationalism and national movements in the twentieth century and provides an analysis of the nature and dynamics of nationalism and ethnic conflict in a variety of national settings. Examining the intricate relationship between class, state, and nation, the book attempts to develop a critical approach to the study of nationalism and ethnonational conflict within the broader context of class relations and class struggles in the age of globalization. The book consists of three parts, made up of seven chapters. Part I examines classical and contemporary conventional and Marxist theories of nationalism. Part II provides a series of empirical comparisons of nationalism and ethnic conflict on a world scale, focusing on the Third World, the advanced capitalist countries, and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. A highlight of this section of the book is a detailed comparative case study of the Palestinian and Kurdish nationalism and national movements. Part III provides a political analysis of the relationship between class, state, and nation, and lays out the class nature of nationalism and the role of the state in ethnonational conflicts that are the political manifestations of deeper class struggles that have been the driving force of nationalism and ethnic conflict in the era of globalization. Berberoglu contends that future studies of nationalism and ethnonational conflict must pay closer attention to the dynamics of class forces that are behind the ideology of nationalism by examining national movements in class terms. For only through a careful class analysis of these forces and their ideological edicts will we be able to clearly understand the nature of nationalism and ethnonational conflicts around the world.

Globalization and Change: The Transformation of Global Capitalism explores the origins, development, and transformation of globalization from a critical and historical perspective. Berch Berberoglu brings together eight essays authored by prominent sociological scientists from across the nation that examine the dynamics of globalization through an analysis of class relations and class struggles that define the contemporary global political economy. By undertaking a careful examination of the contradictions inherent in capitalist globalization, this book provides a thorough understanding of the issues behind the global capitalist economy and the struggle against globalization, while at the same time offering a viable solution to the growing exploitation of labor throughout the world. This study on global capitalism, informed by class analysis, is essential to anyone interested in the political implications of globalization and the unfolding class struggles.

Globalization and Change: The Transformation of Global Capitalism explores the origins, development, and transformation of globalization from a critical and historical perspective. Berch Berberoglu brings together eight essays authored by prominent sociological scientists from across the nation that examine the dynamics of globalization through an analysis of class relations and class struggles that define the contemporary global political economy. By undertaking a careful examination of the contradictions inherent in capitalist globalization, this book provides a thorough understanding of the issues behind the global capitalist economy and the struggle against globalization, while at the same time offering a viable solution to the growing exploitation of labor throughout the world. This study on global capitalism, informed by class analysis, is essential to anyone interested in the political implications of globalization and the unfolding class struggles.

This book provides a cogent analysis of the globalization process and the role of the imperial state in twentieth-century capitalist expansion on a world scale. It examines the development of capitalism and the capitalist state across national boundaries and traces the evolution of imperialism and interimperialist rivalries that have come to define the nature of the world political economy. As transnational capital has become a mighty force controlling the economies of advanced and less-developed capitalist countries around the world, capitalism and capitalist relations of production have spread to and dominated societies and social relations in remote parts of the globe. The resulting globalization of capital has given transnationals free reign to impose capitalist practices on a global scale, such that only the biggest and most powerful capitalist monopolies have become the real beneficiaries. Berberoglu argues that while the globalization of capital enriches only a small segment of society- the owners of the transnational corporations - it devastates the great majority of the world's population. The process has immense consequences for working people throughout the world. As workers become aware of this reality and begin to address the issues that affect them, they begin to organize and become involved in class struggle to effect change.

This book offers a timely analysis of work and labor processes and how they are rapidly changing under globalization. The contributors explore traditional sectors of the U.S. and world economies - from auto to steel to agriculture - as well as work under new production arrangements, such as third world export processing zones. Many chapters analyze changing dynamics of gender, nationality, and class. The contributors explain why more intensified forms of control by the state and by capital interests are emerging under globalization. Yet they also emphasize new possibilities for labor, including new forms of organizing and power sharing in a rapidly changing economy.

This book offers a timely analysis of work and labor processes and how they are rapidly changing under globalization. The contributors explore traditional sectors of the U.S. and world economies - from auto to steel to agriculture - as well as work under new production arrangements, such as third world export processing zones. Many chapters analyze changing dynamics of gender, nationality, and class. The contributors explain why more intensified forms of control by the state and by capital interests are emerging under globalization. Yet they also emphasize new possibilities for labor, including new forms of organizing and power sharing in a rapidly changing economy.

The study of class structure is crucial to the understanding of society and social transformation, as these are based on class relations and class struggle. This work presents a class analysis approach to the study of society and social relations. The book provides a critical analysis of major theories of inequality, an analysis of class structure in different societies, and the relationship between class, race, and gender.

In this potentially controversial book, Berch Berberoglu argues that the internationalization of U.S. capital via worldwide expansion of U.S. transnational monopolies has led to the decline of the U.S. domestic economy--bringing about class polarization between labor and capital. The process of decline and polarization was accelerated during the 1980s under the Reagan administration, when a major transfer of wealth from the working class to the wealthy owners of the transnational corporations ushered in a period of irreversible decline and decay. This incisive volume untangles the complex web of social-economic connections that are, at their base, the manifestations of relations of production, distribution, and exchange.

Following a theoretical chapter which outlines the liberal, world system, and class analysis approaches--the three major positions on the rise and fall of global empires--Berberoglu provides an empirical account of the position of the United States in the world political economy in the postwar period. While the bulk of the middle chapters examines this decline and its consequences for the working people of the United States, subsequent chapters address the response of the state and of the labor movement to the social and economic crisis. This highly informative book contains the latest data presented in tables and charts that draw out the most critical elements in the economic and social trends evolving in the United States, and stands alone in its provocative treatment of the current crisis of U.S. capitalism.