Global Governance In Question

'Global governance is the latest buzzword. Now comes a study that brings clarity and critical analysis to this ill-defined topic.'
William I. Robinson, University of California-Santa Barbara


'[An] acute and revealing examination of the economic difficulties facing the American empire.'

Ronnie D. Lipschutz, Professor of Politics, University of California, Santa Cruz


'Indispensable for students of international political economy and a must for political activists.' Professor Elmar Altvater, Department of Political Science, Free University, Berlin


'Soederberg breaks new ground in disclosing the cumulative processes by which empire is represented and managed.'

Philip McMichael, Professor and Chair of Development Sociology at Cornell University


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.

Series Introduction Acknowledgements Acronyms Tables 1. Global Governance in Question 2. Common Sense Assumptions: Toward an Historical Materialist Critique of Global Governance 3. Global Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility 4. Global Governance and Transnational Debt 5. Global Governance and Development Aid 6. Beyond the Common Sense of Global Governance: New Research and Political Directions References Index