Description
Aakar Books The World After The Collapse Of The Soviet Union (HB) by Randhir Singh
About the Book: The World After The Collapse of The Soviet Union Prof. Randhir Singh's Crisis of Socialism-Notes in Defence of aCommitment, dealing with the why and how of the collapse of sovietUnions's 'actually existing socialism', its implications and thequestions of socialism in our time and recognized as a pioneeringwork-" One of the most important, if not the most important book wehave read", "if there were a required reading list for the US left,this should be on it" , and so on-is now being published in sixseparate volumes. This volume, dealing with the situation in the world(Particularly in the third and first world part of it) followingthe collapse and disappearance of the Soviet Union, is essentiallya theoretical exercise focused on the question of socialism in ourtimes. The issues dealt with include socialism in one country, theworld-system theory, post-colonial national projects, the currentlong-term crisis of capitalism (a 'depressed continuum' Meszaroshas called it), globalization, welfare capitalism, the role of thestate, the necessity and possibility of a socialist transcendenceof capitalism, etc. There is a detailed discussion ofglobalization, both as a response to the current crisis ofcapitalism and as a concept that has come up to present theinternational expansion and domination of capitalism in afavourable light, an alternative to Marxist vocabulary with itsconcepts of capitalism, imperialism, etc. Its specificities(including the 'Information Revolution) as also the opposition toit, are noted and analysed. Of the former second world, the chapter on Russia is focused onthe beginnings of capitalist restoration in the country, and thaton China on the country's road to capitalism. The author sees Cubaas 'a hopeful legacy': 'In the midst of the world wide "Crisis ofsocialism" , with the former communist regimes and partiessuccumbing one after another to the lure or power of the market,Cuba has stood almost alone and defiant, so far, against the glo