Wolfgang Streeck

"This book examines current theories of institutional change. The chapters highlight the limitations of these theories. Instead a model emerges of contemporary political economies developing in incremental but cumulatively transformative processes"--Provided by publisher.

"Revisiting the now-classical literature on neo-corporatism in light of current research and theory, the contributors illustrate the enormous influence of the 'neo-corporatist debate' on modern political science, political sociology, and political economy. Reflecting on a major part of the recent history of social science, they shed light on some of its current core concepts, such as governance, policy networks, and varieties of capitalism. The book traces the evolution of political conflicts concerning social order; from the class conflicts in Europe in the 1970s to the subsequent Latin American and Eastern European battles over democratization and democratic transition, to the debate on the 'democratic deficit' of the European Union." "Paying tribute to the work of Philippe Schmitter, which bridges the themes discussed in the book and which has provided inspiration to an entire generation of social scientists, The Diversity of Democracy will be invaluable to academics, students and researchers with an interest in political science, democratic theory, European integration and the study of democratic transitions as well as Latin America and Eastern European studies."--Jacket.

"The provocative political thinker asks if it will be with a bang or a whimper In How Will Capitalism End? the acclaimed analyst of contemporary politics and economics Wolfgang Streeck argues that capitalism is now in a critical condition. Growth is giving way to secular stagnation; inequality is leading to instability; and confidence in the capitalist money economy has all but evaporated. Capitalism's shotgun marriage with democracy since 1945 is breaking up as the regulatory institutions restraining its advance have collapsed, and after the final victory of capitalism over its enemies no political agency capable of rebuilding them is in sight. The capitalist system is stricken with at least five worsening disorders for which no cure is at hand: declining growth, oligarchy, starvation of the public sphere, corruption and international anarchy. In this arresting book Wolfgang Streeck asks if we are witnessing a long and painful period of cumulative decay: of intensifying frictions, of fragility and uncertainty, and of a steady succession of 'normal accidents'"-- "In How Will Capitalism End? the acclaimed analyst of contemporary politics and economics Wolfgang Streeck argues that capitalism is now in a critical condition. Growth is giving way to secular stagnation; inequality is leading to instability; and confidence in the capitalist money economy has all but evaporated. Capitalism's shotgun marriage with democracy since 1945 is breaking up as the regulatory institutions restraining its advance have collapsed, and after the final victory of capitalism over its enemies no political agency capable of rebuilding them is in sight. The capitalist system is stricken with at least five worsening disorders for which no cure is at hand: declining growth, oligarchy, starvation of the public sphere, corruption and international anarchy. In this arresting book Wolfgang Streeck asks whether we are witnessing a long and painful period of cumulative decay: of intensifying frictions, of fragility and uncertainty, and of a steady succession of "normal accidents.""--

¿Está el capitalismo entrando en su fase terminal? A pesar de que la cuestión de la «crisis definitiva» de este sistema socioeconómico ha sido recurrente en todos los momentos decisivos del largo siglo XX (Gran Guerra de 1914, crisis de 1929, Segunda Guerra Mundial, crisis de la década de 1970), tras los cuales el capitalismo ha sido capaz de mutar para desencadenar a continuación escenarios de crisis todavía más formidables y complejos que en el caso precedente, la respuesta ofrecida en este libro es rotundamente afirmativa. Las tendencias de crisis detectadas en la actualidad (crisis de endeudamiento, crisis bancaria y financiera, crisis de la democracia, crisis ecológica y crisis geopolítica) se aproximan en opinión de Streeck a límites difícilmente superables en el marco de reproducción actual del capitalismo realmente existente. Tal y como muestra éste libro, desde la década de 1970 este ha entrado en una senda de estancamiento jalonado por una sucesión de crisis financieras asociadas a cortos periodos de crecimiento, que han desembocado en la crisis sistémica iniciada en 2007 y que lejos de reabsorberse con facilidad sigue erosionando de modo consistente las posibilidades de crecimiento y las respuestas políticas democráticas a un nuevo paradigma de comprensión y gestión de la actividad económica y financiera. La crisis de rentabilidad se ha traducido en un incremento de la redistribución oligárquica de la renta y la riqueza y ésta en una creciente desigualdad estructural, que mina gravemente los sistemas democráticos e impone modos de gestión política altamente autoritarios. Como consecuencia de todo ello, el capitalismo democrático, empujado por sus contradicciones internas y en ausencia de un sujeto político antagonista similar al que en otro tiempo representó el movimiento obrero, parece haber entrado en una espiral de descomposición, frente a la cual la única alternativa consiste en «ganar tiempo» por parte de las clases y elites dominantes, que apuestan ciegamente por la reconstrucción sin matices del actual modelo de explotación y privilegio. Si se comparte este análisis, la tarea de la crítica y la política de los nuevos movimientos antisistémicos ya no consiste en propugnar soluciones parciales o en elaborar esquemas para una reforma imposible, sino en optar audazmente por la construcción, en el entorno de caos sistémico creado por las elites económicas y políticas actuales, de un horizonte genuinamente poscapitalista.

"The financial crisis keeps us on edge and creates a diffuse sense of helplessness. Well-nigh unfathomable problems lead to measures that seem like emergency operations on the open heart of the Western world, performed with no knowledge of the patient's clinical history. The gravity of the situation is matched by the paucity of our understanding of it, and of how it came about in the first place. In this book, compiled from his Adorno Lectures given in Frankfurt, Wolfgang Streeck lays bare the roots of the present financial, fiscal and economic crisis, seeing it as part of the long neoliberal transformation of postwar capitalism that began in the 1970s. Linking up with the crisis theories of that decade, he analyses the subsequent tensions and conflicts involving states, governments, voters and capitalist interests--a process in which the defining focus of the European state system has shifted from taxation through debt to budgetary "consolidation." The book then ends by exploring the prospects for a restoration of social and economic stability. Buying Time is a model of enlightenment. It shows that something deeply disturbing underlies the current situation: a metamorphosis of the whole relationship between democracy and capitalism"-- "The financial and economic crisis that began in 2008 still has the world on tenterhooks. The gravity of the situation is matched by a general paucity of understanding about what is happening and how it started. In this book, based on his 2012 Adorno Lectures given in Frankfurt, Wolfgang Streeck places the crisis in the context of the long neoliberal transformation of postwar capitalism that began in the 1970s. He analyses the subsequent tensions and conflicts involving states, governments, voters and capitalist interests, as expressed in inflation, public debt, and rising private indebtedness. Streeck traces the transformation of the tax state into a debt state, and from there into the consolidation state of today. At the centre of the analysis is the changing relationship between capitalism and democracy, in Europe and elsewhere, and the advancing immunization of the former against the latter"--