Abstract:
In the current economic crisis, left and progressive political economics has enjoyed renewed attention and credibility, both inside and outside of academia. In this paper, Merlin Chowkwanyun surveys recent contributions to this literature by Robert Brenner, David Harvey, and Robert Pollin, summarizing key arguments and identifying  research questions and heuristics for further inquiry. The author considers how these contributions might help to forge more fruitful dialogue between analyses of social movements and economic structures, too often studied apart. The paper stresses the importance of retaining the robust critical power of the left critique while avoiding the fatalism, sectarianism, and “automatic” theories of social change that have bedeviled the left’s recent past.