ABSTRACT
Analysing the evolution of global capitalism and regional characteristics is not a purely academic concern. It has important practical and strategic implications. As Marx famously remarked, while “human beings make their own history . . . they do not make it under circumstances chosen by themselves, but under circumstances directly encountered, given and transmitted from the past” (1979: 103). For political action to be effective – to make history – it must engage with current threats and opportunities. Learning about the world constitutes part of the process of changing it, based on the lessons gained from thinking about it analytically. An activist political economy is implied. We need to improve our understanding of “what is going on out there” in order to inform systematic and progressive responses.
