''Socialism or Barbarism'' is a book about

globalism Globalism refers to various patterns of meaning beyond the merely international. It is used by political scientists, such as Joseph Nye, to describe "attempts to understand all the interconnections of the modern world—and to highlight patterns ...

, U.S. socialism and

capitalist Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...

systems by Hungarian

Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

philosopher and economist István Mészáros. It was published in 2001 and is composed of two parts, the first part is an expanded version of an essay of the same title originally published in 2000; the second part consists of an interview conducted in 1998.Naghd (no. 25, Spring 1999)/ Science and Society, 63:3 (Fall 1999) The term "socialism or barbarism" refers to a quote by

Rosa Luxemburg Rosa Luxemburg (; ; pl, Róża Luksemburg or ; 5 March 1871 – 15 January 1919) was a Polish and naturalised-German revolutionary socialist, Marxist philosopher and anti-war activist. Successively, she was a member of the Proletariat party, ...

Summary

Mészáros is convinced that the future of socialism will be decided in the U.S. and sees its main obstacle to be the globalization of Keynesian

neo-liberalism Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...

. He reckons that the 21st century will coincide with the "third stage of capitalism", which Mészáros characterizes as the barbarous global competition for domination between a plurality of free-market capitalist systems. His examination of the history of American capitalism predicts several eminent ramifications to this struggle:

imperialist Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic and ...

driven territorial expansion in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

, the continuation and increase of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

aggression, increased

infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...

weakening with major degradation in the quality of life for the lower class, and eventually a

proxy war A proxy war is an armed conflict between two states or non-state actors, one or both of which act at the instigation or on behalf of other parties that are not directly involved in the hostilities. In order for a conflict to be considered a pr ...

with China via U.S.'s defense treaties with Japan. Much of the book is devoted to applying Marx's nineteenth century theories to current events, such as the environment: What Mészáros prescribes is a labor union socialist solution, specifically the

syndicalist Syndicalism is a revolutionary current within the left-wing of the labor movement that seeks to unionize workers according to industry and advance their demands through strikes with the eventual goal of gaining control over the means of pr ...

form of socialism that Samuel Gompers had abandoned when the

AFL AFL may refer to: Sports * American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues: ** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...

provided the a workforce for the U.S. involvement in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He advocates a Marxist form of socialism:

References

Bibliography

External links

Book Review by the History Cooperative

Mészáros interview with the Monthly Review
{{DEFAULTSORT:Socialism or Barbarism? 2001 non-fiction books Books about foreign relations of the United States Books critical of capitalism Books about globalization Communist books Marxist books Political books Political terminology Works by István Mészáros

Summary

See also

References

Bibliography

External links