The Making of an Atlantic Ruling Class

by Kees Van Der Pijl

Overview

With The Making of an Atlantic Ruling Class, Kees van der Pijl put class formation at the heart of our understanding of world politics and the global economy. This landmark study dissects one of the most decisive phenomena of the twentieth century—the rise of an Atlantic ruling class of multinational banks and corporations. A new preface by the author evaluates the book’s significance in the light of recent political and economic developments.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781844678716
Publisher:	Verso Books
Publication date:	09/11/2012
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	7.60(w) x 5.10(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Kees van der Pijl is Professor of International Relations at the University of Sussex and the author of The Foreign Encounter in Myth and Religion; Nomads, Empires, States; Global Rivalries from the Cold War to Iraq; and Transnational Classes and International Relations.

Table of Contents

Preface to the 2012 Edition xi

Acknowledgements xxviii

Introduction xxx

1 Class Formation on an Atlantic Scale 1

1 Determinants of Class Formation 1

Capital Fractions in Marxist Theory 4

2 Hegemonic Concepts of Control 9

The Money-Capital Concept 10

The Pre-Capitalist Critique 12

The Productive-Capital Concept 15

3 Strategies of Internationalization 20

European Regionalism 22

The Concept of Atlantic Unity 26

Conclusions 31

2 The Atlantic Economy in the Liberal Era 35

1 The Pax Britannica 36

2 Wall Street in the Atlantic Circuit 40

3 Continental European Capital 43

3 The Wilson Offensive 50

1 Capitalist Universalism and Anglo-Saxon Chauvinism 50

The Crusade for Democracy 55

Gompers and European Reformism 57

2 The Resurrection of Atlantic Capitalism? 61

The Dawes Plan 63

The Paneuropa Union 67

3 Germany and the Crisis of Liberal Internationalism 69

4 The New Deal Synthesis 76

1 The Rise of the State-Monopoly Tendency 76

The Rockefeller Nexus 78

Hi-Tech Industries of the 1920s 84

2 The Corporate-Liberal Synthesis 90

Corporatism in Labour Relations 94

3 The New Deal Versus Rentier Control 100

The Subordination of Money Capital in Europe 103

5 The Atlantic Charter and the Roosevelt Offensive 107

1 Internationalization of the New Deal 108

Ideologues of Intervention 110

The British Predicament 115

The European Bourgeoisie in Exile 119

2 The Impact on Nazi Europe 121

America's 'Vichy Gamble' 121

The Agony of the Axis Liberals 127

3 The Shift to Cold War Conservatism 131

Atlantic Unity Against the Soviet Threat 134

6 The Marshall Offensive and Capitalist Restoration in Europe 138

1 Corporatist Stalemate in Liberated Europe 138

Contraction of American Involvement 143

2 The 1947 Turning-Point 146

American Unions Versus European Labour 150

3 The Realignment of the European Bourgeoisies 156

Reorientation of European Liberalism 161

The Context of Decolonization 166

Liberalism within Christian Democracy 171

7 The Kennedy Offensive and the New Liberalism 178

1 Centrifugal Tendencies in the 1950s 178

Atlantic Unity Under Stress 182

State Monopolism Revived 188

2 Kennedy's Grand Design 195

The 'Atlantic Partnership' Concept 202

3 The Imperial Imperative 207

Redistribution in the Periphery 208

The Role of the AFL-CIO 212

8 The Meridian of Atlanticism 214

1 The Consolidation of Corporate Liberalism 214

Social Democracy and the 'New Working Class' 215

European Liberals and the Perils of Partnership 221

The Christian Democratic Response 230

2 The Emergence of Atlantic Fordism 233

An Atlantic Format of Labour Relations 237

The Flow of Portfolio Capital 238

3 Vietnam and de Gaulle 241

9 The Crisis of Atlantic Integration 244

1 Europe Versus America 244

Le Défi américaine 245

2 Nixon's New Order 254

The Disintegration of Corporate Liberalism 259

3 The Resurgence of Money Capital 262

A New Empire of High Finance 265

Epilogue: From Trilateralism to Unilateralism 272

Appendix 272

Notes 289

Index 318

Editorial Reviews

The research, clarity, and originality that characterize this book are impressive indeed.”—International History Review

“Poses a question so very important that it must be carefully studied.”—Times Literary Supplement

“The merits of this book are unusually great and most original.”—Gabriel and Joyce Kolko

“The Making of an Atlantic Ruling Class constitutes an important step forward in understanding the international dimension of class formation.”—American Journal of Sociology

“An excellent piece of work.”—Contemporary Sociology

“A masterfully intricate argument.”—Journal of Political and Military Sociology

“This is an important book. It is rich in detail yet highly analytical, innovative and, even more surprisingly, readily accessible.”—Millennium: Journal of International Studies

From the Publisher

This is an important book. It is rich in detail yet highly analytical, innovative and, even more surprisingly, readily accessible.

Millennium: Journal of International Studies

A masterfully intricate argument.

Journal of Political and Military Sociology

An excellent piece of work.

Contemporary Sociology

The Making of an Atlantic Ruling Class constitutes an important step forward in understanding the international dimension of class formation.

American Journal of Sociology

The merits of this book are unusually great and most original.

Gabriel and Joyce Kolko

Poses a question so very important that it must be carefully studied.

Time Magazines Literary Supplement

The research, clarity, and originality that characterize this book are impressive indeed.

International History Review

Its subject is of great importance and too few have dared to write about it.

Times Literary Supplement