:: Analysis
The Rise and Demise of Extractive Capitalism
James Petras and Henry Veltmeyer :: 04.07.2012General Propositions: Reprimarization of economy (Rep E) involves a shift from diversified import substitution industrialization to increased dependence on agro-mineral export.
China: Rise, Fall and Re-Emergence as a Global Power: Some Lessons from the Past
03.06.2012Introduction: The study of world power has been blighted by Eurocentric historians who have distorted and ignored the dominant role China played in the world economy between 1100 and 1800.
The Global Crises of Capitalism; Whose Crises, Who Profits?
02.18.2012Introduction: From the Financial Times to the far left, tons of ink has been spilt writing about some variant of the Crises of Global Capitalism. While writers differ in the causes, consequences and cures, according to their ideological lights, there is a common agreement that the crises threatens to end the capitalist system as we know it.
New book by James Petras. Coming soon from Ashgate Publishing “A World to Win. Beyond Neoliberalism”
Ashgate Publishing :: 11.30.2011The world is at the crossroads of social change, in the vortex of forces that are bringing about a different world, a post-neoliberal state. This groundbreaking book lays out an analysis of the dynamics and contradictions of capitalism in the twenty-first century.
The New Authoritarianism: From Decaying Democracies to Technocratic Dictatorships and Beyond
11.27.2011Introduction We live in a time of dynamic, regressive, regime changes. A period in which major political transformations and the dramatic roll back of a half century of socio-economic legislation are accelerated by a prolonged and deepening economic crises and a world-wide financier led offensive.
Social Opposition in the Age of Internet: Desktop Militants and Public Intellectuals
11.12.2011Invited paper to be read at the Symposium on Re-Publicness Sponsored by the Chamber of Electrical Engineers. Ankara Turkey, December 9 10, 2011
European and US Working Class Politics: Right, Left and Neutered
08.22.2011The deepening economic crises in Europe and the United States are provoking contrasting socio-political responses from the working and middle classes. In Europe, especially among the Mediterranean countries (Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy) unemployed youth, workers and lower middle class public employees have organized a series of general strikes, occupations of public plazas and other forms of direct action.
Organized Political Terrorism: The Norwegian Massacre, the State , the Media and Israel
07.30.2011The Lone Assassin: A Fascist Superman Travels Faster than a Speeding Bullet Versus the Police Moving Slower than an Arthritic Turtle
PASOK: Pan Hellenic Socialist Kleptocrats
07.05.2011The Pan Hellenic Socialist Party (PASOK) has totally abdicated any pretense of being a sovereign government, handing over present and future macro and micro policymaking to the European Central Bankers, the IMF and the power within the European Union/Germany, France).
Afghanistan: Why Civilians are Killed
06.08.2011Introduction: The recent rash of civilian killings by NATO forces in occupied Afghanistan raises several basic questions: Why do US NATO air and ground forces kill so many civilians, so persistently, over such long stretches of time, in regions throughout the country?
Dominique Strauss-Kahn: The Colonial Predator Legacy
05.23.2011The attempted rape and sexual abuse of an African cleaning woman by the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn (DSK) embodies, in microcosm, the entire historical and contemporary legacy of colonial neo-colonial relations.
James Petras New Book: The Arab Revolt and the Imperialist Counterattack
Clarity Press :: 05.05.2011FROM THE PREFACE: The popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia have overthrown the public face of the imperial-backed dictatorships in the region, and inspired supporters of popular democracy worldwide.
The Assassination of bin Laden: Its Use and Abuse
05.05.2011The assassination of bin Laden has been celebrated as a great strategic victory by the White House, the European capitals and all the major mass media outlets throughout the world. The killing has served as a major propaganda tool to enhance the standing of the US military in the eyes of the domestic public and to serve as a warning to overseas adversaries.
Capitalism and Class Struggle
04.25.2011The class struggle continues to play a central role in the process of capitalist accumulation, albeit it takes different forms depending on the socio-economic context.
Libya and Obamas Defense of the “Rebel Uprising”
04.09.2011Over the past two weeks Libya has been subjected to the most brutal imperial air, sea and land assault in its modern history. Thousands of bombs and missiles, launched from American and European submarines, warships and fighter planes, are destroying Libyan military bases, airports, roads, ports, oil depots, artillery emplacements, tanks, armored carriers, planes and troop concentrations.
Billionaires Flourish, Inequalities Deepen as Economies “Recover”
03.23.2011The bailouts of banks, speculators and manufacturers served their real purposes: the multi-millionaires became billionaires and the later became multi-billionaires.
Conceptual and Theoretical Issues of Interdisciplinary Studies
03.09.2011James Petras. Bartle Professor Emeritus Binghamton University and Adjunct Professor St. Marys University (Halifax, Canada)
The Velvet Revolution
03.06.2011Speaking of democratic revolutions… Play written in June 2008
Greek P.M.: Zionism and the IMFs Last Best Friend
02.25.2011In the midst of the Arab uprisings throughout the Middle East, at a time when even the European (EU) has publically condemned Israels blockade of Gaza and its illegal land seizures in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou promised a visiting delegation of American Jewish leaders, that he would do everything possible to undermine EU opposition and promote Israeli economic, diplomatic and political interests in Europe.
Rethinking Imperialist Theory
12.21.2010Almost all theories of contemporary imperialism lack any but the crudest sociological analyses of the classes and political character of the governing groups which direct the imperial state and its polices. The same is true about the theorizing of the imperial state which is largely devoid of institutional analyses.
Trends to Barbarism and Prospects for Socialism
11.01.2010Paper presented at the Third Conference Civilization or Barbarism, Serpa, Portugal. October 30 to November 1, 2010
Imperialism and Imperial Barbarism
09.19.2010Imperialism, its character, means and ends has changed over time and place. Historically, western imperialism, has taken the form of tributary, mercantile, industrial, financial and in the contemporary period, a unique militarist-barbaric form of empire building.