A Theory of Global Capitalism: Production, Class, and State in a Transnational World (Themes in Global Social Change)
by William I. Robinson
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Book Summary Information
Author: William I. RobinsonEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2004-02-06
ISBN: 0801879272
Number of pages: 224
Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press
Book Reviews of A Theory of Global Capitalism: Production, Class, and State in a Transnational World (Themes in Global Social Change)
Book Review: A correct formulation of the problem...
Summary: 5 Stars
The final chapter of Robinson's book opens with important words once written by Karl Marx: "The correct formulation of the problem already indicates its solution." Robinson's paradigm-shifting articulation of the problem of global capitalism as a hegemonic transnational phenomenon calls for a transnational counterhegemonic response -- a solution that is imaginatively new, materially realizable, and desperately needed.
There is much to praise in this work, particularly in its move to transcend outdated frameworks and epistemological standards to arrive a problem that spells out possible solutions. By deconstructing the role of the nation-state in the global economy and pointing to the significance of transnational production and the rise of a transnational class and the transnational state, Robinson opens up the door and lets class, agency and culture back into the room.
I have engaged with a variety of critical literature that has sought to place the disempowered at the center of analysis in order to legitimize the voice of the "other." While I still believe that this kind of work is important, I have been frustrated with its tendency to fragment struggles by arriving at an array of different problems and respective solutions due to a lack of agreement on the most appropriate unit of analysis. As a critical theorist, Robinson avoids this by critiquing nation-state-centrism and tracing class relations to the material world. He argues that the globalist bloc "achieved hegemony in the last twentieth century because it came to exercise a commanding influence over material life around the world, including the ability to provide rewards and impose sanctions, and because it achieved an ideological dominance by developing both an alternative ideology and a viable alternative program to global capitalism" (174).
This book has major insights for anyone critical of the world in which they live. I approached this book critically, weary of another `big picture' grand narrative story, and finished with a heightened sense of awareness about the world in which I live. Don't be intimidated by the word 'theory' in the title. This book is for everyone.
One last note: While I was reading Robinson's book, I was reminded of a documentary called Mickey Mouse Monopoly-- a film that takes a critical look at the Disney Company's role in shaping global culture through its enormous corporate power (you can watch the entire documentary in ten minute sections on youtube.com). Robinson correctly emphasizes the importance of culture in his book, noting how such cultural icons as Coca Cola, Mickey Mouse, Big Macs, and Nike are "symbolic of the real material domination of TNCs" (31). As Robinson further notes "the ownership and merger of media worldwide is a major area of transnationalization...and their tight control over the worldwide flow of information and images are issues of cultural domination" (129). The Disney Corporation is an example of a transnational corporation participating in a larger global capitalist hegemonic project, and demonstrates careful attention to policing its image and representation. In the documentary the narrator describes Disney as "a transnational media conglomerate owning TV and radio networks, cable systems, internet sites, music studios, media production companies, magazines, sports teams, theaters and theme parks." The narrator continues to raise questions of democracy and Disney's tendency to present a "very limited world view skewed and dominated by corporate interests."
The documentary ends with a revealing quote from Disney's own Michael Eisner in an internal memo: "we have no obligation to make history, we have no obligation to make art, we have no obligation to make a statement, to make money is our only objective."
Dr. Gail Dines, professor of Women's Studies at Wheelock College, poses the following concerns: "What kind of society do we want to live in? Do we want to live in a society were seven global corporations control our culture? At the moment the only people at the table are the holders of corporate power. That's not a democracy."
So, what kind of society do you want to live in? Read Robinson's book and let's talk.
Summary of A Theory of Global Capitalism: Production, Class, and State in a Transnational World (Themes in Global Social Change)
In this book, sociologist William I. Robinson offers a theory of globalization that follows the rise of a new capitalist class and a transnational state. Growing beyond national boundaries, this new class comprises a global system in which Japanese capitalists are just as comfortable investing in Latin America as North Americans are in Southeast Asia. Their development of global, interconnected industries and businesses make them drivers of world capitalism.Robinson explains how global capital mobility has allowed capital to reorganize production worldwide in accordance with a whole range of considerations that allow for maximizing profit making opportunities. As a result, production systems that were once located in a single country have been fragmented and integrated externally into new globalized circuits of accumulation. What this means, however, is not simply that factories are located overseas where labor might be cheaper, but rather that the whole production process is broken down into smaller parts and each of those parts moved to a different country, depending on where investment might be highest. Yet at the same time, this worldwide decentralization and fragmentation of the production process has taken place alongside the centralization of command and control of the global economy in transnational capital.
In turn, this economic organization finds a political counterpart in the rise of a transnational state. The leaders of global businesses and industries think about themselves and how they live in new ways. Hegemony in the twenty-first century, Robinson argues, will be exercised not by a particular nation-state but by this new global ruling class through the machinery of this transnational state. Robinson observes, for example, that global elites, regardless of their nationality, increasingly tend to share similar lifestyles and interact through expanding networks of the transnational state. Globalization is in this way unifying the world into a single mode of production and a single global system and bringing about the integration of different countries and regions into a new global economy and society. But the new global capitalism is rife with contradictions, such as the growing rift between the global rich and the global poor, concludes Robinson. The twenty-first century is likely to harbor ongoing conflicts and disputes for control between the new transnational ruling group and the expanding ranks of the poor and the marginalized. Sure to stir controversy and debate, A Theory of Global Capitalism will be of interest to sociologists and economists alike.
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