Class, Crisis and the State - by Erik Olin Wright (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

One of the major works of the new American Marxism, Wright's book draws a challenging new class map of the United States and other, comparable, advanced capitalist countries today. It also discusses the various classical theories of economic crisis in the West and their relevance to the current recession, and contrasts the way in which the major political problem of bureaucracy was confronted by two great antagonists--Weber and Lenin. A concluding essay brings together the practical lessons of these theoretical analyses, in an examination of the problems of left governments coming to power in capitalist states.

Review Quotes

"A brilliant analysis of the class structure and crises of US capitalism."
--Choice

"Erik will be remembered as the most important theorist of class in the second half of the twentieth century, and the greatest Marxist sociologist of his time."
--Vivek Chibber, author of Postcolonial Theory and the Specter of Capital

"This book ... is an important contribution to current debates."
--Anthony Giddens, American Journal of Sociology

"On the basis of this book Wright stands high among Western Marxists."
--Ethics

"An important contribution to the debates on class, capitalist crises, bureaucracy and the state."
--Library Journal

About the Author

Erik Olin Wright (1947-2019) was Vilas Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin and former president of the American Sociological Association. He authored many books, including Classes, Interrogating Inequality, Class Counts, Deepening Democracy (with Archon Fung), and Envisioning Real Utopias.