Seventeen Contradictions and the End of Capitalism 1st Edition

by David Harvey (Author)

137 ratings

ISBN-13: 978-0199360260

ISBN-10: 019936026X

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"What I am seeking here is a better understanding of the contradictions of capital, not of capitalism. I want to know how the economic engine of capitalism works the way it does, and why it might stutter and stall and sometimes appear to be on the verge of collapse. I also want to show why this economic engine should be replaced, and with what." --from the Introduction

To modern Western society, capitalism is the air we breathe, and most people rarely think to question it, for good or for ill. But knowing what makes capitalism work--and what makes it fail--is crucial to understanding its long-term health, and the vast implications for the global economy that go along with it.

In Seventeen Contradictions and the End of Capitalism, the eminent scholar David Harvey, author of A Brief History of Neoliberalism, examines the internal contradictions within the flow of capital that have precipitated recent crises. He contends that while the contradictions have made capitalism flexible and resilient, they also contain the seeds of systemic catastrophe. Many of the contradictions are manageable, but some are fatal: the stress on endless compound growth, the necessity to exploit nature to its limits, and tendency toward universal alienation. Capitalism has always managed to extend the outer limits through "spatial fixes," expanding the geography of the system to cover nations and people formerly outside of its range. Whether it can continue to expand is an open question, but Harvey thinks it unlikely in the medium term future: the limits cannot extend much further, and the recent financial crisis is a harbinger of this.

David Harvey has long been recognized as one of the world's most acute critical analysts of the global capitalist system and the injustices that flow from it. In this book, he returns to the foundations of all of his work, dissecting and interrogating the fundamental illogic of our economic system, as well as giving us a look at how human societies are likely to evolve in a post-capitalist world.

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Editorial Reviews

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"The book is a refreshing attempt to innovate Marxist theory, to move beyond the tired dogmatisms and deadend scholasticism that have plagued it for too long and construct a richer, more open theoretical approach...Likewise, it is an important book for activists seeking to craft a politics that, while moving beyond the limitations of spontaneity and structurelessness, can finally transcend the old question of l"reform or revolution," and test the possibilities for reform and revolution through the practical reconstitution of a socialist political alternative for the 21st century left."
--Stephen Maher, lScience & Society

About the Author

David Harvey is Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He is among the top twenty most cited authors in the humanities and is the world's most cited academic geographer. His books include The Limits to Capital, Social Justice and the City, and The Condition of Postmodernity, among many others.

Product details

Publisher : Oxford University Press; 1st edition (April 4, 2014)
Language : English
Hardcover : 352 pages
ISBN-10 : 019936026X
ISBN-13 : 978-0199360260
Item Weight : 1.05 pounds
Dimensions : 8.6 x 1.4 x 5.8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,157,863 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #298 in Macroeconomics (Books)
- #807 in Free Enterprise & Capitalism

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carlos oliveira

I recommend reading each one of the seventeen facets of the ...

Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2017

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This is a fundamental book to understand the many contradictions of the capitalist system. Prof. Harvey goes to the heart of the matter when he shows that capitalismo cannot provides for the future of humanity since it is based on the exploitation of human labor. In reality, modern capitalism is a remake of older exploitation systems such as slavery, using technology and science to hide the fact that it extracts labor from most people in the world without giving the minimum return other than subsistence (this when a job is available). I recommend reading each one of the seventeen facets of the problem as exposed so brilliantly in this book.

17 people found this helpful

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William O. Davis

wrinkles and sores like some bad make-up company late night TV advertising campaign

Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2016

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This book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand that Marxism, Communist revolutionary theory, practice and analysis are still alive in the US and the "modern" world -- contrary to all the celebratory op ed pieces from the Wall Street news services and American pundits. To understand what is going wrong with the US, no matter how much money the government throws away each year on a combination of ill conceived, aggressive, war based foreign policies and failed hand out, paternalistic, even parasitic and costly medical and public "welfare:" programs domestically -- one must understand the inherent contradictions that exist inherently in the capitalist political economic system and the culture it fosters or, rather, festers in a futile attempt to cover up the blemishes, wrinkles and sores like some bad make-up company late night TV advertising campaign. The emporer has no clothes, new or old, and the contradictions are well identified, described, and analyzed by Harvey in this updated critique of monopoly imperialist capitalism, the modern update of Lenin's Imperialism the Highest Stage of Capitalism, and a well done and timely update to Das Kapital in the 21st Century and new Neolliberal assault against humanity and plans to destroy Marxist practice and organization, and, especially the socialist governments with Communist Party leadership in the world today -- like was true in various ways in Cuba and the embargos, the new Cold War with Russia, the Obama "Pivot to Asia" which is really the "Return to Asia of the Victim of the Vietnam War Criminal US Government and War Machine", the interference in EU affairs and rebuilding a nuclear NATO,. the invasions in the Middle East and total destruction of Iraq, Libya, Yemen and now Syria all against International Law, etc. All of that arises out of these contradictions, and the American Capitalist led onslaught under the banners of "Free Trade," "Democracy through regime change," "Globalization," "Open Borders," and "One World Economic Order under the US as Super Power" -- focused and drilled down on, one contradiction at a time, by Harvey, as the banner carrier of Marxism in the US today, and the foster child of Lenin and the contemporary embodiment of Mao and his On Contradiction, all the revolutionary prodigies of Marx and Engels. Right on, Comrade David.

14 people found this helpful

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Trevor Neal

Seventeen Contradictions Review

Reviewed in the United States on November 23, 2014

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'The Seventeen Contradictions and the End of Capitalism' has to be one of the most prophetic books since 'The Limits to Growth.' Employing a Marxist perspective, the author, Dr. David Harvey looks at capitalism systematically in an attempt to discover how crises such as the recession of 2008 originate. He goes on to expose the contradictions at the heart of capitalism. In doing so he has discovered that instead of facing its crises head on, capitalism moves them around.

Summarizing, Dr. Harvey breaks the 17 contradictions down into 3 categories which include seven foundation contradictions, seven moving contradictions, and three dangerous contradictions. Even though he categorizes the contradictions in order to analyze them better, he cautions us readers to view the contradictions as interlinked with each other, illustrating how an analysis of capitalism needs to employ a systematic perspective.

Beginning with an analysis of the ingredients that led to the recession, Dr. Harvey discourses on use value, exchange value, their impact on housing, and how speculation in the exchange value of housing led to a crises that almost rocked capitalism at its foundations. Continuing with an analysis of the other foundation contradictions he discusses capital and labor, private property, and production.

His category of 'moving contradictions' include social trends, cycles, and geographic moves. For example, if a company moves its factory to Mexico in order to capitalize on cheaper labor this is considered a moving contradiction. Technological changes, automation and its displacement of labor, changes in wealth disparity, and uneven geographic development were also considered to be 'moving contradictions.'

The three dangerous contradictions included endless compound growth, the commodification of nature, and the alienation of labor. Compound growth could be the most fatal for capitalism. Compound growth was illustrated by analogy with an ancient tale from India. In the tale a king asks the inventor of chess what he would like as a prize. The inventor answered that he merely wanted one grain of rice to be doubled on each square of the chessboard. The king agreed to grant the inventor his wish until he found out that by the 41st square all the rice in the world would not be enough. Mr. Harvey continues by stating, “Without expansion there can be no capital. A zero-growth capitalist economy is a logical and exclusionary contradiction. It simply cannot exist.” Yet in a world of finite resources capital cannot continue to grow at its current rate.

Dr. Harvey leaves his readers with a sense of dis-ease because he makes a strong case for the possibility of capital imploding upon itself. Capital works most effectively when money and resources circulate. When wealth becomes concentrated as trends show it is now doing, the demand for goods fall. Even though productivity may continue or increase, without demand the goods that are produced end up not being sold. Capitalism has so far been able to circumvent this potential problem by finding new markets or extending credit.

Dr. Harvey's solutions are radical and include the restoration of the commons. He doesn't go so far as to prophesize the end of capitalism. Yet, if capitalism is to survive the future the dystopian society that he predicts would result is truly horrific to the imagination. I found this quote particularly pertinent in conjunction with this theme, 'the issue is not, therefore, that capitalism cannot survive its contradictions but that the cost of doing so becomes unnacceptable to the mass of the population,' delineating two clear choices, a future like that of the movie 'Elysium' or an alternate 'post capitalist' future that has the interests of the mass of humanity at heart.

Even though I am not an economist, I found Mr. Harvey's analysis revealing and insightful. There were points in my reading where I felt he lost his objectivity in his need for eloquence. However, I felt he made a very compelling case. If his argument is valid, the implications are both disturbing and disillusioning; disturbing because he paints a picture of a future in which the mass of humanity is alienated from themselves and nature if we continue taking the direction we are headed. Disillusioning because we may be unwilling to make the changes necessary for an alternative future. Anyone concerned with where society is headed needs to read this book. It makes a compelling case for change and re-assessing the journey that we are on.

16 people found this helpful

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Lou

Highlighting tthe claiming of the commons.

Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2015

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It is a very informative and interesting book. If you wish to know the problems facing the world today, it is an excellent choice. However, it is a little lacking in recommendations and the title suggesting the end of capitalism in general may be exagerated. It does, however, point out a relatively recent development in economics and politics called "the claiming of the commons". Other books such as "The end of money and the future of civilization" by Thomas H. Greco, Jr. can provide further enlightement on the latter.

6 people found this helpful

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DenButler

Knocks that kool-aid right out of your hands!

Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2014

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A well presented, reasonable critique of capitalism. Whatever your dogma regarding western economics, David Harvey knocks that kool-aid right out of your hands! The first section is a must-read for anyone seeking an honest evaluation of capitalism - which is built on a series of dualities. Harvey calls them contradictions, and in a strict sense that is true, but he really refers to the positive and negative aspects of things like money. His explanation of the difference between use value and market value is especially good.

2 people found this helpful

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Sisyphus

I recommend this book to anyone trying to make sense of ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 15, 2016

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David Harvey provides a forensic account of the conditions of capitalism today by exploring their inherent contradictions, informed by his Marxist perspective. I recommend this book to anyone trying to make sense of recent economic event and understand the current system. It is very well written, rendering these ideas accessible to a wide audience (not for economics or social science specialists)

2 people found this helpful

Musti

Legitimate Critique, missing concise ideas for improvement

Reviewed in Germany on January 19, 2020

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I came about this book, when someone who calls himself a 'Marxist' recommended me to read it. He said, that Capitalism was in it's later Stages, and that i should definitely have a look at this, as i devoured many business and investing books in the last months and years.

David Harvey starts off strong, explains many contradictions that relate to capital and the accumuluation of capital, which gave me a few new perspectives on things. Every now and then, he talks about revolutionizing and how capitalism may lead to a state of dystopy.

In some minor instances, he dives into topics, of which he, clearly, doesn't know that much about. For example, he makes some statements about the possible development of technology, which seem very unlikely to happen.

After his conclusion, in the Epilogue, he gives some tips and ideas for improvement, yet i found them not that conclusive and mostly too simple. After having written 300 pages on what's bad and what's wrong and what could go wrong, i would've wished for more of those ideas and a more elaborate explanation, than just 17 bullet points.

All in all, i had many moments, in which i learned something new and gained new perspectives on things, which will allow me to adjust my investing strategies and my mindset when it comes to the future of capitalism. I definitely will read more on the topic of Marxism and the ideas that made Harvey write this book.

mathieu laine

His "Enigma of Capital" is a much better book.

Reviewed in Canada on May 2, 2015

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I read just abut every book and/or paper Harvey published in his distinguished career. I truly admire his work. This last book, unfortunately, is subpar - it felt both disjointed and superficial. His "Enigma of Capital" is a much better book.

2 people found this helpful

Antonio Zito

Great book!

Reviewed in Italy on January 20, 2015

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When it comes to economics you always think at the "economic system" and not at Capital and its daily functioning in the economic world. This book assume a different point of view. It is excellent, pragmatic and goes deep in discussing the real economic world. Five stars.

aeaperes

Muito bom

Reviewed in Brazil on October 12, 2020

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Muito bom, mas demorou bastante pra chegar

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