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Name: The Entropy of Capitalism

Author: Robert Biel
Year: 2011
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Genres/categories:
Politics

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ISBNs:
9781608462421
1608462420

The project of applying general systems theory to social sciences is crucial in today's crisis when social and ecological systems clash. This book concretely demonstrates the necessity of a Marxist approach to this challenge, notably in asserting agency (struggle) as against determinism. It similarly shows how Marxism
can be reinvigorated from a systems perspective.

Drawing on his experience in both international systems and low-input agriculture, Biel explores the interaction of social and physical systems, using the conceptual tools of thermodynamics and information. He reveals the early twenty-first century as a period when capitalism starts parasitizing on the chaos it itself creates, notably in the link between the two sides of imperialism: militarism (the 'war on terror') and speculative finance capital.