Like many buzzwords, 'global governance' is as poorly understood as it is popular. In contrast to most mainstream accounts, this book examines global economic governance as an integral moment of contemporary capitalism -- presenting a critical insight into its real nature and the interests that it serves. This book begins by asking what has not been discussed in the mainstream debates and why. Drawing on a Marxist perspective, Soederberg explores neglected issues including transnational debt and the increasingly coercive nature of US aid to so-called ‘failed states'. Soederberg argues that mainstream understandings fail to engage with the wider contradictions that characterise global capitalism. In consequence, there is no explanation of the changing nature of American empire and capitalist power in the world. Furthermore, Soederberg argues that global governance acts to normalise and legitimise increasingly austere forms of capitalist expansion, which may be regarded as a deepening and broadening of neoliberalism.
Author(s): Susanne Soederberg
Series: Critical Introductions to World Politics
Edition: annotated edition
Publisher: Pluto Press
Year: 2006
Language: English
Pages: 215
Tables......Page 4
1. Global Governance in Question......Page 10
2. Transcending Common Sense: Towards an Historical- Materialist Critique of Global Governance......Page 33
3. Global Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility......Page 62
4. Managing Sovereign Default within the Transnational Debt Architecture......Page 105
5. Global Governance and Development Assistance: The Case of America™s Millennium Challenge Account......Page 136
6. Conclusion: Beyond Global Governance?......Page 166
Notes......Page 173
Bibliography......Page 188
Index......Page 208
3.2 Growth of the World's Largest Firms, 1962 - 82......Page 67
3.3 Stock of FDI in the South by Major Countries, 1967 and 1983......Page 80
3.4 FDI Outward Stock, by Home Region and Economy, 1980 - 2002......Page 81
3.5 FDI Inward Stock, by Host Region and Economy, 1980 - 2002......Page 82
3.6 Top 20 of the Financial Times Global 500 Rankings 2004......Page 86
4.1 Global Current Account Balances, 1981 - 2001......Page 111
4.2 Long- Term Debt......Page 120
5.1 Net Capital Flows to Developing Countries, 1997 - 2003......Page 150
5.2 Eligibility Criteria for the MCA......Page 160
