Walden Bello - Böcker

Hunger and malnutrition stalk the countries of the South. Over the last twenty years, as the populations of these countries have increased, so too has mass poverty on a grotesque scale. In this fiercely critical study of Western aid giving, Walden Bello offers a persuasive argument that recolonisation of the Third World has been carried out through the agencies of the International Banks.Bello argues that neoliberalism or doctrinal free-market ideology came to power in the United States with an agenda to ‘discipline the Third World’ and the consequences of such a policy has resulted in lower barriers to imports, the removal of restrictions on foreign investments, privatisation of state owned activities, a reduction in social welfare spending, wage cuts and devaluation of local currencies. Recipients of ‘structural adjustment’ loans from the West, have been forced to accept these polices, with disastrous consequences. Hailed as a classic study of global poverty, Dark Victory is now reissued with a substantial new epilogue by the author.

We live in an age of counterrevolution. Liberal elites around the world are weaponising their fascistic narratives, creating political enemies of the 'other' as a means of consolidating even more power and wealth. While scapegoating minorities is nothing new, we have never seen it happen quite like this before.Today, global capitalism is financialised, tech-driven and violently mercantilist. This collection of essays from leading researchers reveals new forms of the radical right, neo-nationalism, authoritarian neoliberalism, illiberalism and democratic backsliding.Looking beyond the simplistic headlines, they reveal the deep systemic shifts that have been building for decades. Exploring India, Eastern Europe, the US, Argentina, Germany and more, Backlash draws the systemic connections between these seemingly nationalist movements, providing crucial information for those on the left looking for weaknesses in the terrifying rise of the right.

'Walden Bello is the world's leading no-nonsense revolutionary.' - Naomi Klein, author of The Shock DoctrineIn this eye-opening and often scathing book, Walden Bello provides a forensic dissection of contemporary capitalism's multiple crises. Trenchant but constructive, Bello's analysis of the collapse of the global real economy, covering such issues as the Wall Street meltdown, the disintegration of the Greek economy, and the rise of China, emphasizes the ever more pressing need to engage in a radical process of deglobalization towards a decentralized, pluralistic world system. Only then will we be able to construct a fairer and more equitable society.A stirring call to arms for all those interested in global economic justice.

'Walden Bello is the world's leading no-nonsense revolutionary.' - Naomi Klein, author of The Shock DoctrineIn this eye-opening and often scathing book, Walden Bello provides a forensic dissection of contemporary capitalism's multiple crises. Trenchant but constructive, Bello's analysis of the collapse of the global real economy, covering such issues as the Wall Street meltdown, the disintegration of the Greek economy, and the rise of China, emphasizes the ever more pressing need to engage in a radical process of deglobalization towards a decentralized, pluralistic world system. Only then will we be able to construct a fairer and more equitable society.A stirring call to arms for all those interested in global economic justice.

Emerging relatively unscathed from the banking crisis of 2008, China has been viewed as a model of both rampant success and fiscal stability. But beneath the surface lies a network of fissures that look likely to erupt into the next big financial crash. A bloated real-estate sector, roller-coaster stock market, and rapidly growing shadow-banking sector have all coalesced to create a perfect storm: one that is in danger of taking the rest of the world’s economy with it.Walden Bello traces our recent history of financial crises – from the bursting of Japan’s ‘bubble economy’ in 1990 to Wall Street in 2008 – taking in their political and human ramifications such as rising inequality and environmental degradation. He not only predicts that China might be the site of the next crash, but that under neoliberalism this will simply keep happening. The only way that we can stop this cycle, Bello argues, is through a fundamental change in the ways that we organise: a shift to cooperative enterprise, respectful of the environment, and which fractures the twin legacies of imperialism and capitalism.Insightful, erudite and passionate, Paper Dragons is a must-read for anyone wishing to prevent the next financial meltdown.

How to manage the global economy - and, more fundamentally, whether humanity wishes it to go in an ever more market-oriented, transnational corporation-dominated, and capital-footloose direction - is the most important international question of our time. In this short and trenchant history of those bodies -- the World Bank, IMF, WTO, and Group of Seven -- which have promoted this economic globalization, Walden Bello:- Points to their manifest failings;- Examines the major new ideas put forward for reforming the management of the world economy;- Argues for a much more fundamental shift towards a decentralized, pluralistic system of global economic governance allowing countries to follow development strategies sensitive to their own values and particular mix of constraints and opportunities.

How to manage the global economy - and, more fundamentally, whether humanity wishes it to go in an ever more market-oriented, transnational corporation-dominated, and capital-footloose direction - is the most important international question of our time. In this short and trenchant history of those bodies -- the World Bank, IMF, WTO, and Group of Seven -- which have promoted this economic globalization, Walden Bello:- Points to their manifest failings;- Examines the major new ideas put forward for reforming the management of the world economy;- Argues for a much more fundamental shift towards a decentralized, pluralistic system of global economic governance allowing countries to follow development strategies sensitive to their own values and particular mix of constraints and opportunities.

The empire seems unassailable, but the empire is weak - and precisely because of its imperial ambitions. Walden Bello dissects the dilemmas confronting America in its quest for global domination. Despite the enormity of the U.S. defence budget, American forces are already overextended - and will become more so as each local 'victory' breeds simmering resistance. The empire faces looming economic breakdown, the result of its gargantuan military costs, record-breaking budget deficits, and exploitative trade and investment relations. On the political front, bitter disillusionment is spreading in response to America's failure to champion liberal democracy, crony capitalism and gross inequalities of income.Dilemmas of Domination reveals a not-too-distant future in which the empire's hidden weaknesses will yield fatal challenges to American supremacy.

Violent protests across the global South, in response to rocketing food prices from 2006 to 2008, highlighted an intrinsic flaw in the modern system of world trade-one that poses a serious threat to regional and international stability. In The Food Wars, Walden Bello traces the evolution of this crisis, examining its eruption in Mexico, Africa, the Philippines and China. Daring in vision and impassioned in tone, The Food Wars speaks out against the obscene imbalance in the most basic commodities between northern and southern hemispheres.

In this important policy- and campaign-relevant volume, economists, intellectuals and NGO leaders from both North and South confront what has now become the central issue of the new globalized world economy. Ever since the Asian crisis of 1997 threatened a chain-reaction of economic destabilisation, governments, the IMF, even the G7, and even George Soros, have concluded that something needs to be done. This volume examines the range of different ideas and approaches they have come up with. Among the issues examined are:* How do we go about renewing the process of governance of the global economy?* Can the IMF be reformed?* Do we need a new World Financial Authority?* Is there a case for capital controls?* Could an international bankruptcy procedure be set up for countries, emulating the US's Chapter 11 for companies?* Is the Tobin Tax on foreign currency transactions part of the solution?* What effective steps need to be taken in relation to the most deeply indebted countries?Contributors include Walden Bello, John Cavanagh, Susan George, Carlos Fortin, Martin Khor, Rodney Schmidt and others. They set their suggestions in the context of understanding what has happened during the past two decades of neo-liberalism's hegemonic position over economic thinking and policy. And they put up for discussion a fundamental recasting of economic institutions and strategies on the basis of democratically controlled, environmentally compatible alternative lines.As the political momentum for serious institutional reform at the global level mounts, the ideas in this book will increasingly be on the international policy agenda.

Mellan 2006 och 2008 skenade priserna på den globala livsmedelsmarknaden. Följden blev en allvarlig situation i utvecklingsländerna, där stora befolkningsgrupper drabbades av akut hungersnöd, samtidigt som politiska oroligheter uppstod på en rad håll. I Matkrigen granskar den filippinske forskaren och aktivisten Walden Bello hur den globala livsmedelsförsörjningen har påverkats av det kapitalistiska industrijordbrukets utbredning. Utifrån exempel från Afrika, Asien och Latinamerika visar Bello hur det rådande frihandelssystemet har misslyckats med att skapa de utlovade effekterna i form av bättre tillgänglighet och lägre priser. Istället har systemet ensidigt gynnat de stora jordbruksbolagen, samtidigt som den lokala och hållbara livsmedelsproduktionen i det globala Syd har slagits ut. För att komma till rätta med denna förödande och farliga situation krävs ett grundläggande paradigmskifte som sätter de mänskliga och miljömässiga behoven framför vinstintresset. Walden Bello är professor i sociologi vid University of the Philippines i Manila och har länge varit en tongivande röst inom den globala rättviserörelsen. För närvarande representerar han partiet Akbayan i det filippinska parlamentet.