How the World Works : The Story of Human Labor from Prehistory to the Modern Day : The Story of Human Labor from Prehistory to the Modern Day

A sweeping history of the full range of human labor. Few authors are able to write cogently in both the scientific and the economic spheres. Even fewer possess the intellectual scope needed to address science and economics at a macro as well as a micro level. But Paul Cockshott, using the dual lenses of Marxist economics and technological advance, has managed to pull off a stunningly acute critical perspective of human history, from pre-agricultural societies to the present. In How the World Works , Cockshott connects scientific, economic, and societal strands to produce a sweeping and detailed work of historical analysis. This book will astound readers of all backgrounds and ages; it will also will engage scholars of history, science, and economics for years to come. "In "The Robbery of Nature," John Bellamy Foster and Brett Clark, working within a system begun by Karl Marx and German chemist Justus von Liebig, examine capitalism's plundering of nature via commodity production, and how it has led to the current anthropogenic rift in the Earth System. Departing from much previous scholarship, Foster and Clark adopt a materialist and dialectical approach, bridging the gap between social and environmental critiques of capitalism. The ecological crisis, they explain, extends beyond questions of traditional class struggle to a corporeal rift in the physical organization of living beings themselves, raising critical issues of social reproduction, racial capitalism, alienated speciesism, and ecological imperialism"-- Provided by publisher "Paul Cockshott, using the dual lenses of Marxist economics and technological advance, provides a critical perspective of human history, from pre-agricultural societies to the present. In "How the World Works," Cockshott connects scientific, economic, and societal strands to produce a detailed work of historical analysis"-- Provided by publisher