Counter-Globalization and Socialism in the 21st Century

1 Introduction

The enigma of socialism¹

Thomas Muhr

 

If the crisis of capitalism has been good for one thing, then it is for the reawakened interest in socialism and, arguably, communism, as alternative forms of social organization. A growing body of publications (e.g. Altvater, 2009; Anton and Schmitt, 2007; Jünke, 2010; Radice, 2009; Smith, 2009; Veltmeyer, 2011), accompanied by the launch of such journals as The Journal of Democratic Socialism at the University of Sussex in 2011, are reintroducing the discussion in academia and society at large. Paradoxically, however, as the eyes of many international relations and international political economy scholars are on the Middle East and Asia, the challenge to the capitalist status quo in Latin ...