The Limits to Capital in Spain Crisis and Revolt in the European South [Paperback]

Spain is at the epicentre of a crisis that threatens the future of the Eurozone. This book explains the deep historical and structural roots of the current crisis in Spain. It analyses the nexus between European circuits of financial capital, urbanisation, and the emergent dynamics of state austerity and popular revolt.Introduction 1. The Limits to Capital 2. The Limits to Import Substitution Industrialisation 3. The Limits to European Integration 4. The Limits to Urbanisation 5. The Limits to the State Conclusion

The authors make good on their promise to show that within its value-theoretic framework 'open Marxism' can address the 'significant structural changes that differentiate the forms taken by capitalism over space and time'. In doing so, they produce a compelling account of the Spanish crisis, tracing it back to specific characteristics and limitations in its post-war development, and following their impact in a deft narrative that situates current class struggles in Spain in interwoven global, regional (EU), national and local context. It represents a considerable advance on rival approaches within comparative and international political economy, and should be compulsory reading for exponents of 'British' and 'American' IPE, or devotees of the 'varieties of capitalism' contrast between liberal and coordinated market economies. Where these approaches simplify the world and obscure the dynamics of change, Charnock, Purcell and Ribera-Fumaz illuminate them by acknowledging its complexity and giving a clear, multi-layered and theoretically informed account of it. Comparative Open Marxist political economy has come of age. - Paul Cammack, City University of Hong Kong

A very interesting and innovative feature of this book is how the authors combine theoretical developments in international political economy, state theory and urban geography so as to present an insightful account of crisis and revolt in Spain. This is a must read for al3&