ABOUT THIS BOOK

The USA is widely seen as the country at the centre of the recent economic crash. But will this be the case the next time the system goes into shock? This book analyses how the political and economic imbalances in China will exacerbate system collapse, and how this could happen much sooner than we imagine, possibly within a decade.

By looking at the big questions of class struggle, global economic imbalances, peak oil, climate change and political power play, Minqi Li argues that by the time of the next crisis, China will be at the epicentre of these contradictions.

China is the last large region, and source of cheap labour, into which capital could expand: the system is at its limits. By combining this argument with issues surrounding the planet’s ecological limits and the internal politics of the Chinese Communist Party, Li commands a narrative of China at a pivotal, and possibly apocalyptic stage.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Minq Li teaches economics at the University of Utah and is the author of The Rise of China and the Demise of the Capitalist World-Economy, also published by Pluto.

REVIEWS

Praise for The Rise of China: “Li has accomplished something different and very important. This is a book which explains much that seems a puzzle and challenges the received opinion of many analysts. It should be read by all concerned persons.”

— Immanuel Wallerstein, Yale University

“This is a must read for anyone seeking to understand the workings of global capitalism. In a clear and concise fashion Minqi Li explains the importance of Chinese economic dynamics to contemporary global capitalist stability and why the growing class and ecological contradictions undermining Chinese capitalism likely means we are heading into a new period of sustained global crisis. The need for system change has never been clearer.”

— Martin Hart-Landsberg, Lewis and Clark College

“At the moment that the whole world is suddenly wondering about the unsustainability of the Chinese economy and beginning to recognise that China is increasingly at the centre of the crisis of our times, Minqi Li has produced a book that argues exactly that. Moreover, he does so with a breadth that goes beyond most economic analyses, encompassing the interconnected economic and ecological crises of our time. China and the Twenty-First-Century Crisis is an important, timely, and bound to be influential work.”

— John Bellamy Foster, University of Oregon

"In this thought-provoking book, Li argues that global capitalism is in danger. The author discusses the class struggle in China, essentially the competition between labor and capital for a larger share of income, and predicts a major economic crisis in China in the coming years. Highly recommended."

— Choice

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. China and the 21st Century Crisis
2. China: Classes and Class Struggle
3. Economic Crisis: Cyclical and Structural
4. The Capitalist World System: The Limit to Spatial Fix
5. The Next Economic Crisis
6. Climate Change, Peak Oil, and the Global Crisis
7. The Unsustainability of Chinese Capitalism
8. The Transition
Bibliography
Index