Publisher's Synopsis
This book is the first part of a trilogy in the genres of the Social sciences, management, leadership, education, and inspirational studies, where the author addresses issues in the political economy of capitalism. Set in a historical and developmental context, the work reviews Ashton's "the industrial revolution" as the catalyst for development of capitalism. This is followed by reviews of Hobbes, on life in the "state of nature", and Adam Smith's treatise on capitalism as the watershed in man's rush for the "Wealth of Nations". Focusing on popular democracy, consent and consensus, as core values, reviews of Locke and Rosseau cover the social order that assured stability for early capitalism to develop in UK. Included, too, are "freedom, liberty and equality" and the social contracts, into which possessive individuals freely enter, as themes, which also give mature capitalism, its verve and momentum. This is in line with Macpherson's review of capitalist development as a product of possessive individualism. Explored, finally, are reviews of themes that give order and opportunity for business and politics to flourish. These include the paradox of consciousness in social existence [Karl Manheim], social solidarity, [Emile Durkheim], bureaucracy and law, (Max Weber), stability in social systems (Parsons), the political system and its authoritative allocation of values (David Easton), and, how functionalism of aligned cultures and structures, facilitates social development (Almond and Powel). The common thread underlining these perspectives is the rise, in Europe, of liberal capitalist development, which became the hallmark, to be benchmarked by the rest of the world. This provides the correlative consciousness, in terms of ideologies, theoretical frameworks, and praxis of capitalist Modernization as the first world's development paradigm. It elucidates modern social existence, its features and dynamics - painting a broad picture of the forces that condition capitalism, worldwide. Yet, how this picture is explained or rationalized, and its immense implications for the world order, may not have been universally acclaimed. Critiques of Capitalist Modernization as the First World's Development Paradigm by, namely, Marxism, Imperialism and Dependency paradigms, provide, vividly, the flip side, of the picture, which is the central subject of Book 2.
