Class and Class Conflict in the Age of

Globalization

Berch Berberoglu

"Class and Class Conflict in the Age of Globalization stands out as one of a handful of efforts to advance a critical class analysis of the political economy of globalization. In addition to addressing the economic polarization and the political repression that have become part and parcel with global capitalism, Berberoglu explains the problems of nationalism and religious fundamentalism in the context of global class conflicts, offering a comprehensive understanding of the social fault lines we confront in this challenging period of human history."—Martin Orr, Boise State University, Idaho

Social classes and class conflict have defined social relations ever since the division of society into hostile classes based on the exploitation and oppression of one class by another. This has become especially important in modern capitalist society through the globalization process, where class divisions have solidified with enormous inequalities in wealth and income that are the most glaring in the history of humanity.

Class and Class Conflict in the Age of Globalization presents a macro-sociological analysis of class and class conflict through a comparative-historical perspective. Focusing on class as the motive force of social transformation, Berberoglu explores class relations and class conflict in a variety of social settings, stressing the centrality of this phenomenon in defining social relations across societies in the age of globalization. Going beyond the analysis of class and class conflict on a world scale, the book addresses the role of the state, nation/nationalism, and religion, as well as the impact of race and gender on class relations in the early twenty-first century.

Contents

Introduction

1. Conventional Theories of Class, Power, and Inequality

2. The Marxist Theory of Class Conflict and Class Struggle

3. Class and Class Conflict in Advanced Capitalist Societies

4. Class and Class Conflict in the Third World

5. Class, Class Conflict, and the State in the Age of Global Capitalism

6. Class and Nation: Nationalism and Class Conflict on a Global Scale

7. Class and Religion: Class Conflict and Religious Fundamentalism

8. Class, Race, and Gender: Racism, Patriarchy, and Class Conflict

9. Conclusion: Class Conflict, Class Struggle, and

Social Transformation in the Age of Globalization

Bibliography

Index

* * *

Publication date: October 2008, 161 pages

ISBN: 0-7391-2430-7 (paper)
0-7391-2429-3 (cloth)

Published by

Lexington Books

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Lanham, Maryland 20706

Phone: (800) 462-6420 Fax: (800) 338-4550

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