Globalization and Neo-liberalism

The last two periods of capitalist crisis, in the 1930s and the 1970s, gave rise to major ideological as well as political and economic shifts. New ideas became important both in framing the crisis and determining what kind of crisis it was, and what solutions were appropriate. The way in which certain events come to be perceived as a crisis is always complex and always a political act, since it authorizes certain courses of action to resolve the crisis and restore stability or create a new order. New ideas, or perhaps the return of some old ones, will also be vitally important in determining how the present crisis is understood and resolved. As discussed in the last chaper, to call any set of events or circumstances a crisis suggests either that there is a critical situation, a political emergency, a moment of danger, or that an impasse of some kind has been reached. In either case, extraordinary actions may be required to overcome it.