Towards a theory of change

Abstract

With the present article the author rounds off the series he began with "A critique of peripheral capitalism" (published in Review No. 1), and continued with "Socio-economic structure and crisis of peripheral capitalism" (No. 6) and "The neoclassical theories of economic liberalism" (No. 7). While in all the preceding articles his main concern was to offer a critical interpretation of the functioning of peripheral capitalism and to show the inability of neoclassical theory to comprehend it in depth, in this one he seeks to trace the lines along which that system should be changed. After recalling the basi features of his critique of how capitalism works in the periphery (chapter I), he sketches the criteria by which the process of change should be guided and which, in toto, constitute a synthesis of central values of socialism and liberalism (chapter II). He then goes on to pose certain inevitable questions as to the political conditions of change, through which he reaffirms the value of democracy as the ideal foundation for a harmonious society (chapter III). The next chapters (IV and V) are devoted to completing the presentation of his ideas via the analysis of problems of change linked to technique, demand, the structure of production, the specific features of peripheral capitalism, etc. In the final chapters he slightly shifts his angle of approach in order to deal, on the one hand, with the role of centre-periphery relations in change (chapter VI); and on the other hand, with the present crisis in the centres and its repercussions on the periphery (chapter VII); ending with a few reflections on ethics, rationality and foresight (chapter VIII). His central ideas will give rise to controversy, not only because of their provenance, but also because they pivot upon the vexed questions of appropriation and social use of the surplus. But the writer is convinced that the present crisis will not be overcome with superficial measures; if it is to be surmounted and a developed, democratic and equitable society is to be built up, the process of change will have to strike at the very roots of the system.