Capitalism stands unrivalled as the most enduring economic system of our times. Since the collapse of the Soviet bloc the world has become a new stage for capital, and yet despite this dominance capitalism is still not widely understood. It remains a subject of enduring interest that is discovered and rediscovered over time by each successive generation of students. Exploring the life of this world-shaping system and the writings of leading thinkers, this study also now takes into account recent developments, including the impact of the Global Financial Crisis and the complexities of China's political economy. Paul Bowles addresses these key questions: - what are the central, unchanging features of capitalism? - how does capitalism vary from place to place and over time? - does capitalism improve our lives? - is capitalism a system which is 'natural' and 'free'? Or is it unjust and unstable? - what about today's global capitalism? - will capitalism destroy or liberate us? This updated edition of a classic text is now supported by a comprehensive documents section, chronology and who's who, as well as a new colour plate section. It offers a concise, lucid and thought-provoking introduction for undergraduate students or anyone with an interest in this most pervasive, long lasting and adaptable yet crisis-ridden of economic systems.

Exploring the life of the world-shaping system of capitalism and the writings of leading thinkers, this book gives an account of recent developments of capitalism, including the impact of the global Climate Crisis, questions around democracy and capitalism, and the impact of COVID-19. Capitalism stands unrivalled as the most enduring economic system of our times. Since the collapse of the Soviet bloc the world has become a new stage for capital, and yet despite this dominance capitalism is still not widely understood. In this volume Paul Bowles addresses some of the key questions around the history of capitalism; What are the central, unchanging features of capitalism? How does capitalism vary from place to place and over time? Does capitalism improve our lives? Is capitalism a system which is ‘natural’ and ‘free’? Or is it unjust and unstable? What about today’s global capitalism? Will capitalism destroy or liberate us? This updated edition of a classic text includes updates to all chapters with the inclusion of more global material, as well as a new chapter focussing on the future of capitalism, the clash of different capitalisms including neoliberal versus state capitalism, and whether we are seeing the end of capitalism and, if so, what post-capitalism might look like.

Exploring the life of the world-shaping system of capitalism and the writings of leading thinkers, this book gives an account of recent developments of capitalism, including the impact of the global Climate Crisis, questions around democracy and capitalism, and the impact of COVID-19. Capitalism stands unrivalled as the most enduring economic system of our times. Since the collapse of the Soviet bloc the world has become a new stage for capital, and yet despite this dominance capitalism is still not widely understood. In this volume Paul Bowles addresses some of the key questions around the history of capitalism; What are the central, unchanging features of capitalism? How does capitalism vary from place to place and over time? Does capitalism improve our lives? Is capitalism a system which is ‘natural’ and ‘free’? Or is it unjust and unstable? What about today’s global capitalism? Will capitalism destroy or liberate us? This updated edition of a classic text includes updates to all chapters with the inclusion of more global material, as well as a new chapter focussing on the future of capitalism, the clash of different capitalisms including neoliberal versus state capitalism, and whether we are seeing the end of capitalism and, if so, what post-capitalism might look like.

THIS PATHBREAKING Work analyzes the evolution of China's financial reforms since 1979. China's reformers have stressed the construction of a more diverse, flexible, and competitive financial system as a crucial element of China's economic reform program. The authors assess the theory and practice of financial reform in light of China's specific characteristics as a large, developing country that still claims to be pursuing the goal of establishing a new form of "socialist" market economy. The authors utilize two approaches. First, they place the overall design and trajectory of. financial reform since 1979 within a broad comparative framework of alternative strategies of financial reform and financial systems. Second, they use a political economy perspective to explore the complex interactions among the political and economic actors- individual, group, or institutional-that affect reform outcomes. Integrating these two approaches, the authors conclude by assessing future directions for feasible and desirable financial reform in China.

Driven by famine from their home in the Rif, Mohamed's family walks to Tangiers in search of a better life. But things are no better there. Eight of Mohamed's siblings die of malnutrition and neglect, and one is killed by Mohamed's father in a fit of rage. On moving to another province Mohamed learns how to charm and steal, and discovers the joys of drugs, sex and alcohol. Proud, insolent and afraid of no-one, Mohamed returns to Tangiers, where he is caught up in the violence of the 1952 independence riots. During a short spell in a filthy Moroccan jail, a fellow inmate kindles Mohamed's life-altering love of literature. A cult classic, For Bread Alone is an astonishing tale of human resilience and an unflinching and searing portrait of the early life of one of the Arab world's most important and widely read authors.

Collectively documents and analyses economic, political, social and environmental crises and the need to find alternatives to the system that generates them. Each contributor supplements their overview with a guide to the critical development studies literature on the topic thereby providing scholars and students with a precis of the key issues as well as a window into essential further readings. Provides a timely and necessary analysis of the systemic changes that are needed to transform the current world to one where economic and social justice and environmental integrity prevail.

International trade must be analysed within the historical context within which it occurs. Behind the statistics on trade flows lie power structures, class interests and international hierarchies. These change over time and how countries respond to them has critical implications for their citizen's well-being. In this book, the history of trade in Australia, Canada and Mexico is analysed. Trade agreements are analysed in detail to explore the new forms that dependence and subordination have taken. Arguing that the free trade agreements are significantly biased in favour of the United States, the contributors analyse how each of the three countries are being subject to specific forms of re-peripheralisation and examine possible alternatives for a progressive future based on an integration in the global economy which enhances, rather than limits, democracy and social justice. By providing an historical and critical account of trade policy in the three countries, the book provides a welcome antidote to the ahistorical accounts of free trade supporters.

This book is the first to focus on state-led ‘extractive bargains,’ designed to reach a social consensus on the extent of extractive activities, how they should be governed and their negative consequences mitigated. These state-led ‘bargains’ have taken a number of different forms and offer varying degrees of promise in meeting environmental and social concerns. The book critically examines ‘bargains’ in states across the Global North and the Global South, incorporates Indigenous issues, and judiciously assesses their prospects for promoting long-term sustainability. It focusses on mineral and fossil fuel extraction in particular including bargains designed to govern the former as the demand for minerals used in “green energy� increases and to limit the use of the latter. The book will be of interest to students and researchers of global studies, global political economy, political science, political sociology, sustainability, environmental sociology, development studies and geography.  

Globalization and money two concepts inextricably linked. In many ways the speed with which financial resources traverse the globe, the opportunities which this provides for the efficient allocation of resources, the possibilities which this creates for financial crises and traders who act as agents removed from the concerns of national citizens have come to symbolize the phenomenon, hopes and fears of globalization .

However, inextricably linked they may be, but well understood they are not. In the case of national currencies, a wide variety of predictions and analyses can be found. For some, national currencies represent barriers to a seamless global economy. Others argue that national currencies will disappear due to the power of international financial markets which will force national governments to adopt more credible currencies and abandon their own. In contrast, others see imperialism or regionalism as the main challenges.

Paul Bowles provides an innovative and systematic analysis of the implications of theories of globalization for national currencies. He critically examines whether, as a result, the world is heading for fewer currencies. He argues that the main force of globalization which is endangering national currencies is that of globalization as neoliberal globalism . However there is no single neoliberal position on money and so the contingent nature of neoliberalism explains why this particular force of globalization operates more strongly in some countries than others. This is demonstrated in case studies of four systemically significant currencies, namely, those of Australia, Canada, Mexico and Norway.

National Currencies and Globalization will be of interest to researchers and students of International Political Economy, Politics, Economics and Finance.

Highly critical and controversial, this comparative volume, uses a well-established centre-periphery model (from World-Systems Theory and Dependency Theory) to study free-trade agreements, focusing on three countries (Australia, Canada and Mexico) with comparable locations within global capitalism as the basis for comparison.

For most of the twentieth century, Australia, Canada and Mexico were engaged in national projects of development. By the end of the twentieth century, all three had departed significantly from these projects under the weight of neoliberal globalism, symbolized by the signing of free trade agreements with the United States. This shift of economic paradigm towards neoliberalism and the political shift in the international political economy to one of unparalleled U.S. hegemony raises the spectre of 're-peripheralisation' for all three countries.

Arguing that 're-peripheralisation' is already underway in all three countries and can only be reversed by adopting alternative projects appropriate to the twenty-first century, this book is a valuable resource for all students of international trade and politics.

Globalization and money - two concepts inextricably linked. In many ways the speed with which financial resources traverse the globe, the opportunities which this provides for the efficient allocation of resources, the possibilities which this creates for financial crises and traders who act as agents removed from the concerns of national citizens have come to symbolize the phenomenon, hopes and fears of 'globalization'.

However, inextricably linked they may be, but well understood they are not. In the case of national currencies, a wide variety of predictions and analyses can be found. For some, national currencies represent barriers to a seamless global economy. Others argue that national currencies will disappear due to the power of international financial markets which will force national governments to adopt more credible currencies and abandon their own. In contrast, others see imperialism or regionalism as the main challenges.

Paul Bowles provides an innovative and systematic analysis of the implications of theories of globalization for national currencies. He critically examines whether, as a result, the world is heading for fewer currencies. He argues that the main 'force of globalization' which is endangering national currencies is that of globalization as 'neoliberal globalism'. However there is no single neoliberal position on money and so the 'contingent' nature of neoliberalism explains why this particular force of globalization operates more strongly in some countries than others. This is demonstrated in case studies of four systemically significant currencies, namely, those of Australia, Canada, Mexico and Norway.

National Currencies and Globalizationwill be of interest to researchers and students of International Political Economy, Politics, Economics and Finance.

THIS PATHBREAKING Work analyzes the evolution of China's financial reforms since 1979. China's reformers have stressed the construction of a more diverse, flexible, and competitive financial system as a crucial element of China's economic reform program. The authors assess the theory and practice of financial reform in light of China's specific characteristics as a large, developing country that still claims to be pursuing the goal of establishing a new form of "socialist" market economy. The authors utilize two approaches. First, they place the overall design and trajectory of. financial reform since 1979 within a broad comparative framework of alternative strategies of financial reform and financial systems. Second, they use a political economy perspective to explore the complex interactions among the political and economic actors- individual, group, or institutional-that affect reform outcomes. Integrating these two approaches, the authors conclude by assessing future directions for feasible and desirable financial reform in China.

Collectively documents and analyses economic, political, social and environmental crises and the need to find alternatives to the system that generates them. Each contributor supplements their overview with a guide to the critical development studies literature on the topic thereby providing scholars and students with a precis of the key issues as well as a window into essential further readings. Provides a timely and necessary analysis of the systemic changes that are needed to transform the current world to one where economic and social justice and environmental integrity prevail.

The author reads his short stories, which are based on incidents and situations that he either witnessed or heard while in Morocco.

The Sheltering Sky is a landmark of twentieth-century literature. In this intensely fascinating story, Paul Bowles examines the ways in which Americans' incomprehension of alien cultures leads to the ultimate destruction of those cultures.A story about three American travelers adrift in the cities and deserts of North Africa after World War II, The Sheltering Sky explores the limits of humanity when it touches the unfathomable emptiness and impassive cruelty of the desert.This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.

Inmore than forty essays and articles that range from Paris to Ceylon, Thailand to Kenya, and, of course, Morocco, the great twen-tieth-century American writer encapsulates his long and full life, and sheds light on his brilliant fiction. Whether he's recalling the cold-water artists' flats of Paris's Left Bank or the sun-worshipping eccentrics of Tangier, Paul Bowles imbues every piece with a deep intelligence and the acute perspective of his rich experience of the world. Woven throughout are photographs from the renowned author's private archive, which place him, his wife, the writer Jane Bowles, and their many friends and compatriots in the landscapes his essays bring so vividly to life.

With an introduction by Paul Theroux and a chronology by Daniel Halpern

An American cult figure, Bowles has fascinated such disparate talents as Norman Mailer, Allen Ginsberg, Truman Capote, William S. Burroughs, Gore Vidal, and Tobias Wolff. From "The Delicate Prey" to "Too Far from Home, " this definitive collection celebrates Bowles' masterful artistry in short fiction.

In "Let It Come Down," Paul Bowles plots the doomed trajectory of Nelson Dyar, a New York bank teller who comes to Tangier in search of a different life and ends up giving in to his darkest impulses. Rich in descriptions of the corruption and decadence of the International Zone in the last days before Moroccan independence, Bowles's second novel is an alternately comic and horrific account of a descent into nihilism.

Between 1987 and 1989, Paul Bowles, at the suggestion of a friend, kept a journal to record the daily events of his life. What emerges is not only just a record of the meals, conversations, and health concerns of the author of "The Sheltering Sky" but also a fascinating look at an artist at work in a new medium. Characterized by a refreshing informality, clear-sightedness, and passages of exquisite prose, these pages record with equal fascination the behavior of an itinerant spider, a brutal episode of violence in a Tangier marketplace, and the pageantry and excess of Malcolm Forbes's seventieth birthday party. In "Days," a master observer of the foreign and obscure turns his attentions toward his own daily existence, giving us a startlingly candid portrait of his life in late twentieth-century Tangier.

"A Distant Episode" contains the best of Paul Bowles's short stories, as selected by the author. An American cult figure, Bowles has fascinated such disparate talents as Norman Mailer, Allen Ginsberg, Truman Capote, William S. Burroughs, Gore Vidal, and Jay McInerney.

Capitalism stands unrivalled as the most enduring economic system of our times. Since the collapse of the Soviet bloc the world has become a new stage for capital, and yet despite this dominance capitalism is still not widely understood. It remains a subject of enduring interest that is discovered and rediscovered over time by each successive generation of students.

Exploring the life of this world-shaping system and the writings of leading thinkers, this study also now takes into account recent developments, including the impact of the Global Financial Crisis and the complexities of China s political economy. Paul Bowles addresses these key questions:

- what are the central, unchanging features of capitalism?

- how does capitalism vary from place to place and over time?

- does capitalism improve our lives?

- is capitalism a system which is natural and free ? Or is it unjust and unstable?

- what about today s global capitalism?

- will capitalism destroy or liberate us?

This updated edition of a classic text is now supported by a comprehensive documents section, chronology and who s who, as well as a new colour plate section. It offers a concise, lucid and thought-provoking introduction for undergraduate students or anyone with an interest in this most pervasive, long lasting and adaptable yet crisis-ridden of economic systems.

Set in Guatemala, these spare and beautiful tales are linked by themes of magic, violence, and the fragility of existence. Paul Bowle's translation perfectly captures Rey Rosa's stories of the haunted lives of ordinary people in present-day Central America.

From one of Guatemala's finest young writers, these twenty-six stories--at once brutal and intensely lyrical--are peopled with sorcerers, ghosts, and assassins.

Springing from myth and beliefs indigenous to Central America and North America, where their action occurs, Rey Rosa's tales give the sense of being dreamed. At the same time they can be read as metaphors for the terror and oppression of years of warfare.