Neoliberalism in Crisis, Accumulation, and Rosa Luxemburg's Legacy, Volume 21 (Research in Political Economy)

This paper examines the recent process of transformation within the World Bank as a series of reactive mediations to the crisis-laden course of capitalist development on a global scale over the last two decades. Two aspects of the Bank’s attempt to construct a new development agenda as a response to contradictions emergent within neoliberal-style social restructuring are highlighted. First, it has embraced the theoretical trends and policy implications of institutional economics. Second, it has refashioned its relations with client countries and their civil societies under the rubrics of “ownership,” “participation” and “empowerment.” The paper proceeds to indicate why the Bank’s current reformulation of development theory presents itself within mainstream theoretical paradigms as an appropriate prescription to counter the crisis of neoliberal-style social restructuring. Concurrently, on the basis of a materialist critique of capitalist development, the paper proceeds to indicate the substantive limits to these present reforms by indicating their theoretical weaknesses and their practical contradictions. Explores three key themes pertinent to the critique of political economy: the disciplinary role of capital under neoliberalism, accumulation and finance, and the life and theories of Rosa Luxemburg. This book contains essays that critically examine the concrete aspects of political economy, such as the changing role of the World Bank. This volume of "Research in Political Economy" sets out to explore three key themes pertinent to the critique of political economy: the disciplinary role of capital under neoliberalism, accumulation and finance, and the life and theories of Rosa Luxemburg. While the sections focus on different aspects of political economy, taken as a whole, they complement each other in striking a balance between concrete and abstract Marxist analyses. The essays in the first section critically examines the more concrete aspects of political economy, such as the changing role of the World Bank vis-a-vis the Third World, the Millennium Challenge Account - a newly forged 'official development compact' put forward by the Bush II administration, the disciplinary strategies tied to labour restructuring in Argentina, the political economy of financial fragility on a global scale, and a cultural critique of the "Documenta11". The essays in the second section explore analytically dimensions of Marx's theory of the monetary circuit, Rudolf Hilferding's banking theory, Henryk Grossman's Law of Accumulation, and the evidence surrounding supposed value-price correlations. The articles in the third section of the volume are devoted to the person and theoretical contribution of Rosa Luxemburg, the famous Polish-German theoretician and revolutionary leader This volume of Research in Political Economy sets out to explore three key themes pertinent to the critique of political economy: (1) the disciplinary role of capital under neoliberalism, (2) accumulation and finance, and (3) the life and theories of Rosa Luxemburg. While the sections focus on different aspects of political economy, taken as a whole, they complement each other in striking a balance between concrete and abstract Marxist analyses. The essays in the first section critically examines the more concrete aspects of political economy, such as the changing role of the World Bank vis-a-vis the Third World, the Millennium Challenge Account - a newly forged 'official development compact' put forward by the Bush II administration, the disciplinary strategies tied to labour restructuring in Argentina, the political economy of financial fragility on a global scale, and a cultural critique of the Documenta11. The essays in the second section explore analytically dimensions of Marx's theory of the monetary circuit, Rudolf Hilferding's banking theory, Henryk Grossman's Law of Accumulation, and the evidence surrounding supposed value-price correlations. The articles in the third section of the volume are devoted to the person and theoretical contribution of Rosa Luxemburg, the famous Polish-German theoretician and revolutionary leader Responding to neoliberalism in crisis : discipline and empowerment in the World Bank's new development agenda / Marcus Taylor American imperialism and new forms of disciplining the "non-integrating gap" / Susanne Soederberg The logic of neoliberal finance and global financial fragility : towards another Great Depression? / Anastasia Nesvetailova Disciplining labour, producing poverty : neoliberal structural reforms and the political conflict in Argentina / Viviana Patroni Global high culture in the era of neo-liberalism : the case of Documenta11 / Karyn Ball Marx and the theory of the monetary circuit / Andrew B. Trigg Hilferding's theory of banking in the light of Steuart and Smith / Costas Lapavitsas Economic crisis and socialist revolution : Henryk Grossman's Law of accumulation, its first critics and his responses / Rick Kuhn Spurious value-price correlations : some additional evidence and arguments / Andrew J. Kliman The coherence of Luxemburg's theories and life / Estrella Trincado Aznar "Like a candle burning at both ends" : Rosa Luxemburg and the critique of political economy / Riccardo Bellofiore. At the turn of the millennium, the leading international organization of global capitalist development - the World Bank - was undergoing a period of upheaval and transition.