La crisis. Salir de la crisis del capitalismo o salir del capitalismo en crisis

by Samir Amin

La crisis actual no es ni una crisis financiera ni la suma de crisis sistémicas múltiples (energética, alimentaria, ecológica, climática), sino la crisis del capitalismo oligopólico, que ha alcanzado el estado de senilidad. El principio de acumulación sin fin que define al capitalismo es sinónimo de crecimiento exponencial, y éste, como el cáncer, lleva en sí la muerte. Y son las contradicciones internas propias del proceso de acumulación del capital las responsables del hundimiento financiero del 2008. Por eso, la profundización de la crisis no podrá evitarse, ni siquiera aceptando la hipótesis de una recuperación exitosa —aunque temporal— del sistema de dominación del capital por parte de los oligopolios. En estas condiciones, la radicalización posible de las luchas no debe verse como algo imposible. ¿Conseguirán converger estas luchas para abrir el camino a la larga ruta de transición al socialismo mundial?

Genres: Economics, History, Politics, Nonfiction

250 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 2009

About the author

The Arabic profile: سمير أمين

Samir Amin (Arabic: سمير أمين) (3 September 1931 – 12 August 2018) was an Egyptian-French Marxian economist, political scientist and world-systems analyst. He is noted for his introduction of the term Eurocentrism in 1988 and considered a pioneer of Dependency Theory.

Reviews

[Rhys · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great title.

I think the answer Amin gives is: 'neither'.

I thought his arguments about the industrialization of agriculture in the 'peripheral' countries was cogent: industrial agriculture = genocide. (That is, where are the people displaced by this transition to go? The economy can't grow fast enough to absorb them all).

I also agreed with his conclusions that various social movements are necessary but not sufficient to end capitalism: "One needs to be really naïve and extraordinarily optimistic to think that these forces [social movements] acting in very different fields could give the necessary coherence to a movement that would help societies move towards greater justice and democracy" (p.171). In other words, a unified class is required to end capitalism ... say, some notion like the 'proletariat'?

On the negative side, the prose was often opaque. (And Samir Amin has a bad habit of referring to his other books without explication, leaving the reader of the current book in the dark).

[Ricado · Rating 5 out of 5]

Samir Amin condense his life's work of fifty years into this gem of 192 pages. This is an important contribution to the body of knowledge of the crisis of capitalism that would either plunge humanity and the planet into barbarism or emancipation. This book lucidly analyze the origin of capitalism's current crisis and questions the theoretical foundations of both left and right oriented scholars. In fact he goes further in arguing that the foundation upon which these analysis are build are indubitably eurocentrism.

For Amin the current crisis is more than just a financial crisis but a "systemic crisis of the capitalism of the oligopolies". The concentration of power in the hands of the oligopolies have lead to a decline in democracy. The rule by plutocracies, oligarchs and the collective triad of imperialism (USA, Europe and Japan) presents a novel view of explaining the crisis. A Marxist at heart the book presents us with more then a cogent analysis of the current crisis but is in essence a call to action for the people of the centre and the periphery. In this regard Amin has concrete proposals on how to take the oppressed people of the world out of this historical impasse.

The solution which capitalism of the oligopolies (plutocracies) offer is accumulation by dispossession (pauperization, dispossession of land of the peasantries, plundering the resources of the South) which is a central feature of capitalism throughout its development. This new wave of restructuring leaves humanity either with a choice of "revolution or decadence", lucid transition or chaos or what Rosa Luxemburg called for socialism or barbarism. Anyone interested to understand the current crisis of capitalism this book presents an integrated analysis and calls for a new system based on solidarity and cooperation between the people of the South and North

[Leonardo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Me pareció un libro bastante malo. Entiendo que es un recopilado de artículos sueltos, o eso parece. Es hiper autoreferencial, mucho más que Zizek. Al parecer el centro de la discusión está en quien merece más el rol de "la voz de Marx en la actualidad". Cuesta por momentos darse cuenta que es un libro relativamente nuevo, y no uno escrito en los 60´s (se pone re obsesivo con Bandung). Ignora la crítica posmoderna durante todo el libro, y solo le dedica un palo al pasar a Tony Negri (sin explicación) en la anteúltima página.

Si me resultó interesante algunos comentarios sobre África o Asia. Me hace pensar en cuantas cosas uno desconoce justamente porque hay toda una maquinaria destinada a que aprendas tal o cual cosa y no tal otra, o que no aprendas nada en su defecto.