ABSTRACT
How have theorists explained the almost non-stop crises since the 1970s? Has the global hegemony of the United States, established during World War II, persisted or declined? Many argue that a major break with past occurred in the 1970s and that a newer, more harsh form of capitalism, neoliberalism, appeared in the Anglo-American countries. Liberal and neoliberal analysts attribute the changes variously to the adoption of neoliberal thought; the globalization of capitalism; the dissolution of socialism; the emergence of postmodernity; and rapid technological innovations in robotics and information-sharing devices, such as computers, cell phones, and the internet. Marxian commentators depict the changes in terms of capital accumulation on an increasingly global scale—a new imperialism that they do not see as so epochal or transformative. They vigorously debate whether U.S. hegemony has persisted or declined; why issues of national identity and ideology continue unabated in the context shaped by state formation, modernity, populism, fundamentalism, and fascism; and the relationship between the ongoing environmental crisis and global capitalism.
