United States in a World in Crisis

Adrián Sotelo Valencia is a professor and researcher at the Center for Latin American Studies of the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in Mexico City. He is the author of numerous works on labor, capitalist crisis, and development, including Sub-Imperalism Revisited: Dependency Theory in the Thought of Ruy Mauro Marini (Brill, 2017) and The Future of Work: Super-exploitation and Social Precariousness in the 21st Century (Brill, 2015).

• ForewordList of Figures and TablesJohn Saxe-FernándezIntroductionPart 1: Geopolitics, Imperialism and Neo-Protectionism in the United States1 Geopolitics and Super-Exploitation1 Geopolitics and the Extension of the Super-Exploitation of the Labor Force 2 Conclusion2 Donald Trump and Imperialist Praxis1 The Vicissitudes of Neo-imperialism2 Executive Orders and the North American Crisis3 The Wall of Ignominy4 Sanctuary Cities: the Dreamers or the Fallacy of the ‘American Dream’5 Regional Blocks and the Automotive Industry in Mexico: the Rules of Origin in NAFTA6 NAFTA, the Tripartite Negotiations and Donald Trump’s Position7 ConclusionPart 2: Debates on the Extension of Super-Exploitation in Advanced Capitalism3 Dependence and Super-Exploitation1 Theory and Method of Exploitation in Marx2 The Marxist Theory of Dependency and Marini’s Ideas3 Importance and Validity of Dependency Theory4 Formulation Level of the Marxist Theory of Dependency5 Point of Departure for a Reevaluation of Marini’s Thought6 Globalization and the Law of Value7 Dissociation of the Economic Cycle from the Employment Rate8 Generalization of the Super-Exploitation of Labor in the Capitalist System9 The New International Division of Labor10 Redefinition of the State within the Framework of the Democratization Process in Latin America11 Democracy and the Fourth Estate12 The Sub-imperialism Subject13 The Problem of Integration and Overcoming Dependence14 Conclusion4 Approaches and Theoretical Controversies1 Generalization of the Super-Exploitation of Labor in Advanced Capitalism2 Marini’s Approach3 Criticism of the Concept of Super-Exploitation4 Super-Exploitation of the Labor Force, or Labor?5 Super-Exploitation of the Labor Force: Category or Concept?6 Can the Super-Exploitation of the Labor Force Be Extended to Advanced Countries?7 Super-Exploitation of the Labor Force or Violation of Labor Force Value?8 Super-Exploitation: a Political Category?9 A Dependency Theory without Super-Exploitation?10 Unequal Exchange and Super-Exploitation11 Marini’s Renovated Vision12 ConclusionPart 3: Crisis, Super-Exploitation and the Precarization of the World of Labor in the United States5 Hypothesis on the Capitalist Crisis and Super-Exploitation of the Labor Force1 Dismeasure of Value and Surplus Value2 Hegemony of Relative Surplus Value and Super-exploitation3 Does the Generalization of Super-exploitation Blur Dependence Relations?4 Conclusion 6 Fictitious Capital and Super-Exploitation of Labor in Contemporary Societies1 The Globalization of Imperialism and the Crisis of Capitalism2 Fictitious Capital, Precarization and Universalization of Super-Exploitation of the Labor Force3 Winners and Losers in the Fictitious Regime of Neoliberal Quasi-Stagnation4 What Comes after the Terminal Crisis of Neoliberalism?5 Conclusion7 The North American Capitalist Crisis1 Crisis of the Pattern of Accumulation and of the Mechanisms of Production of Value and Surplus Value2 Crisis and the Relative Decline of North American Supremacy3 Conclusion 8 United States: Precariousness of Work and Super-Exploitation of the Labor Force 1 Crisis, Tension and Social Fragmentation in Neoliberal Capitalism2 Work and Social Tension3 Precarious Work and Structural Reforms4 (Temporary) Employment and Job Insecurity5 Unemployment as a Condition of the Super-Exploitation of Labor6 The Deterioration of Wages7 Salaries versus Productivity in the United States8 Two Stages of US Salary History9 Living and Working Conditions10 The Housing Problem and the Purchasing Power of the Minimum and Average Salary11 Purchasing Power of the Salary and Basic Basket of Consumer Goods12 Violation and Expropriation of Salary13 ConclusionEpilogueBibliographyIndex