Speculations On The Stationary State

In: New left review: NLR, Heft 59, S. 5-26

Abstract

Argues that it is unlikely that capitalist renewal involving new phases of accumulation will emerge from what appears to be a protracted economic shake-out. It is far more likely that the coming era will resemble what classical political economists called a "stationary state" of civilization. It is contended that the capacity for sustainable growth is being hindered by the coming together of "a crisis conjunctural of accumulation with ongoing epochal shifts in world capitalism." Such dimensions of this dual crisis as its technological bases, demographic patterns, & the international division of labor are explored, along with possible forms of politics that could develop in the aftermath of neo-liberalism. A return to an earlier Keynesianism & the hope of a transition to green capitalism are both seen as unlikely & there are currently no large-sale movements demanding radical reforms. It is concluded that the world is experiencing a "period of inconclusive struggles between a weakened capitalism & dispersed agencies of opposition" that signal the beginning of a new kind of "worldlessness & drift.". Adapted from the source document.