ABSTRACT
Chapters 2 and 3 focused on the manner in which capitalism repeatedly reinvents itself, moving to new stages of qualitatively different forms of social organization as it overcomes its internal contradictions and adjusts to changing external circumstances. Chapter 4 extended the analysis to an exploration of the principal external conditions shaping the evolution of the capitalist system, with a focus on globalization and technological change. This chapter seeks to provide an alternative theoretical perspective for approaching capitalism-one based on an analysis of the economic surplus-but one that is not at all in conflict with the social structure of accumulation approach.
