A Cacophony of Crises Systematic Failure and Reasserting People’s Rights
Johannes Dragsbaek Schmidt
Aalborg University
A cacophony of crises challenges neoliberalism and marks a fundamental reversal in capitalism itself. This is a systemic failure of the capitalist mode of production to renovate and renew itself through a multiplicity of environmental and resource crises and the financial crises which has important links with the real economy. Capitalism cannot survive by simply inventing new institutions – global or national – or by shifting to another phase. New nationalisms and protectionisms loom on the horizon, while darker shades of xenophobia are another possible scenario. A further possibility lies in the emergence of informalized labor markets and economies as a result of the last phase of neoliberal globalization. Informalization or disposessed surplus labor has some revolutionary potential. The paper discusses various alternatives based on the new economy of the informalized sectors.
Keywords: crisis, neo-liberalism, globalization, nationalism, protectionism, labor, capital, informalization, alternatives