Capitalism and Its Uncertain Future Book Launch

For decades, Charles Lemert has been the leading voice in social theory. In Capitalism and its Uncertain Future he teams up with one of the most creative emerging social theorists, Kristin Plys, to examine how social theory imagines capitalism. This engaging and innovative book provides new perspectives on well known theorists from Adam Smith, and Frantz Fanon, to Gilles Deleuze, while also introducing readers to lesser known theorists such as Lucia Sanchez Saornil, Mohammad Ali El Hammi, and many more. The book examines theories of capitalism from four perspectives: macro-historical theories of the origins of capitalism; postcolonial theories of capitalism that situate capitalism as seen from the Global South; theories of capitalism from the perspective of labor; and prospective theories of capitalism’s uncertain future. This provocative and ambitious, yet accessible, perspective on theories of capitalism will be of interest to anyone who wants to explore where we’ve been and where we’re headed.

“Plys and Lemert draw upon Marxist, postmodern and postcolonial perspectives to offer new ways of thinking about capitalism and its future.
For anyone interested in decolonizing theories of historical capitalism, this book is essential.” -Julian Go, author of Postcolonial Thought and Social Theory

“I know of no similar theory project in the past, and the realization of it in this new book by Plys and Lemert is very impressive. Suddenly it seems like this book was exactly what we needed. Original, timely, supremely useful.” – Étienne Balibar, Co-author of Race, Nation, Class

The launch event for Capitalism and its Uncertain Future will feature four speakers who will share thier impressions and reactions about the book

Nancy Frasier, the Henry and Louise A. Loeb Professor of Philosophy and Politics at the New School for Social Research

Beverly J. Silver, Professor in the Department of Sociology and Director of the Arrighi Center for Global Studies at The Johns Hopkins University

Kanishka Goonewardena, Professor of Geography and Planning at the University of Toronto

Aziz Fall, teaches political science, anthropology, international relations and international development at McGill University and the University of Quebec in Montreal. He is a member of the Group for Research and Initiative for the Liberation of Africa (GRILA) and involved in the international campaign for justice for Thomas Sankara.