New Labour's moral capitalism!

In a speech on 19 January 2012, the Labour Party leader Ed Miliband demanded a moral capitalism with a special emphasis on the protection of consumers. What he overlooks, however, is that the real causes of inequality and exploitation are rooted in the social relations of production. Interventions at the level of consumption will not rectify this.

The Rise and Fall of the Welfare State - new book by Asbjørn Wahl!

In the highly important book The Rise and Fall of the Welfare State (Pluto Press, 2011) Asbjørn Wahl reveals the underlying structural dynamics of the welfare state. It was the structural power of trade unions, gained through intensive social struggles, which had forced employers into the class compromise of the welfare state, not consensus politics and tripartite co-operation. Hence, today too when defending the welfare state against the neo-liberal onslaught, the emphasis has to be on labour’s power in society.

Samir Amin at Nottingham University: video interview!

Samir Amin, the internationally renown political economist and one of the leading thinkers of the past half century, spent time at Nottingham University/UK from 29 November to 3 December 2011. This included the presentation of the Annual Lecture of the Centre for the Study of Social and Global Justice on 1 December 2011 as well as participation in the workshop on ,'Free Trade, Trade Unions and the Problem of Transnational Solidarity’, 2 and 3 December 2011.

In an exclusive, wide-ranging video interview Samir Amin speaks to Ceasefire’s Sara Motta about the Arab uprisings, the ‘liberal virus’ and the autumn of capitalism.

Prof. Andreas Bieler
Professor of Political Economy
University of Nottingham/UK
Andreas.Bieler@nottingham.ac.uk

Personal website: http://www.andreasbieler.net
10 January 2012