Critical Encounters: Capitalism, Democracy, Ideas

by Wolfgang Streeck

An anthology of long-read book reviews by one of the European left’s foremost political economists

From the acclaimed author of How Will Capitalism End? comes an omnibus of long-form critical essays engaging with leading economists and thinkers. Critical Encounters draws on Wolfgang Streeck’s inimitable writing for the London Review of Books and New Left Review , among other publications. It opens with treatments of two contrasting historical eras—factory capitalism and financialization—and three of the world’s major the United States, France and Germany. A middle section surveys the hollowing out of Western democracies and reviews Yanis Varoufakis’s “strange but indispensable” memoir of the eurozone crisis.

Delving into the world of ideas, Streeck discusses the work of Quinn Slobodian, Mark Blyth, Jürgen Habermas and Perry Anderson. Finally, he zooms out to compare his home discipline of sociology to natural history, giving a remarkable and non-deterministic reading of Charles Darwin.

In the preface, Streeck reflects on the art (or craft) of book reviewing and the continuing merits of the book form. Critical Encounters also includes a series of “Letters from Europe,” penned as the coronavirus descended upon the Continent.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Essays, Theory, Sociology, Economics, Germany

224 pages, Hardcover

Published November 10, 2020

Reviews

[Daniel Schotman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Be prepared as it will leave you with a list of books that you would want to read after this book. So only read this if you have the time to do so ass he is discussing some really interesting books and ideas.

[Leif · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a collection of reviews written without the thought of homogeneity, this is a surprisingly strong and entertaining read. Streeck's sense of humour is subtly wicked and his negative takes are brilliantly incisive, whether marvelling over the intellectual naivete of Adults in the Room: My Battle with Europe's Deep Establishment or making the literary equivalent of drive-by-shootings of classical and neoliberal economists whose intellectual poverty is only equalled by their powers in actually existing policies. When Streeck especially likes a book, as for example Globalists: The End of Empire and the Birth of Neoliberalism, his intellectual rhapsody is as educational as it is entertaining. I found his review of The Origin of Species a little superficial, however, but aside from that this is a book well worth reading, especially for those who have followed Streeck through his books primarily.

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author admits that the book doesn't have to be read cover to cover, but insisted there are some underlying themes running throughout it. Alas I found many of the chapters interesting but struggled to navigate what I felt were quite a detached collection of writings. I ended up glossing over a lot of the pages and skipping large parts of the book. Perhaps something to return to one day

[Brian Washines · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting series of articles about books on economics, ideas, politics, and even evolution. Can be approached from any order or angle. I chose to use the lateral approach, as I do with any book. A good, enlightening read.

[Rhys · Rating 4 out of 5]

"After democracy, Bonapartism ..."

A coherent and interesting group of book reviews.