United States in a World in Crisis: The Geopolitics of Precarious Work and Super-Exploitation

278 Pages·1.762 MB·English

by  Adrián Sotelo Valencia

United States in a World in Crisis
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Studies in
Critical Social Sciences
Series Editor
David Fasenfest
(soas University of London)
volume 160
Critical Global Studies
Series Editor
Ricardo A. Dello Buono
(Manhattan College, New York)
Editorial Board
José Bell Lara (University of Havana, Cuba)
Walden Bello (State University of New York at Binghamton, usa and
University of the Philippines, Philippines)
Samuel Cohn (Texas A & M University, usa)
Ximena de la Barra (South American Dialogue, Chile/Spain)
Víctor M. Figueroa (Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas, Mexico)
Marco A. Gandásegui, Jr. (Universidad de Panamá, Panama)
Ligaya Lindio-McGovern (Indiana University-Kokomo, usa)
Daphne Phillips (University of West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago)
Jon Shefner (University of Tennessee-Knoxville, usa)
Teivo Teivainen (University of Helsinki, Finland and Universidad Nacional Mayor de
San Marcos, Peru)
Henry Veltmeyer (Saint Mary’s University, Nova Scotia, Canada and Universidad
Autónoma de Zacatecas, Mexico)
Peter Waterman (Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, Netherlands) † (1936–2017)
volume 11
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/cgs
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United States in a
World in Crisis
The Geopolitics of Precarious Work and
Super-Exploitation
By
Adrián Sotelo Valencia
leiden | boston
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Cover illustration: Created by María del Carmen Elena Solanes Carraro.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Sotelo Valencia, Adrián, author.
Title: United States in a world in crisis : the geopolitics of precarious
work and super-exploitation / by Adrián Sotelo Valencia.
Other titles: Estados Unidos en un mundo en crisis. English
Description: Leiden ; Boston : Brill, [2020] | Series: Studies in critical
social sciences, 1877-2110 ; volume160 | Includes bibliographical
references and index. | Summary: “This work by the distinguished Mexican
theorist Adrián Sotelo Valencia explores new dimensions of
super-exploitation in a context of the structural crisis of capitalism
and imperialism. Steeped in a new generation of radical dependency
theory and informed by the legacy of his own mentor, the famous
Brazilian Marxist Ruy Mauro Marini, Sotelo rigorously examines
prevailing theoretical debates regarding the expansion of
super-exploitation in advanced capitalism. Building upon a Marinist
framework, he goes beyond Marini to identify new forms of
super-exploitation that shape the growing precarity of work. Sotelo
demonstrates the inextricable link between reliance upon fictitious
capital and the intensification of super-exploitation. Poignant
contrasts are drawn between US capitalism and Mexico that reveal the
nefarious new forms of imperialist dependency”-- Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019042157 (print) | LCCN 2019042158 (ebook) | ISBN
9789004415645 (hardback) | ISBN 9789004415652 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Precarious employment--United States--History--21st
century. | Labor--Social aspects. | Globalization. | United
States--Politics and government--21st century.
Classification: LCC HD5858.U6 S6713 2020 (print) | LCC HD5858.U6 (ebook)
| DDC 331.25/7290973--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019042157
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019042158
Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface.
ISSN 1877-2110
ISBN 978-90-04-41564-5 (hardback)
ISBN 978-90-04-41565-2 (e-book)
Copyright 2020 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi,
Brill Sense, Hotei Publishing, mentis Verlag, Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh and Wilhelm Fink Verlag.
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This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner.
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To Mary,
for walking with me on the same path, as always.
∵
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Contents
Foreword  xi
John Saxe-Fernández
List of Figures and Tables  xx
Introduction  1
Part 1
Geopolitics, Imperialism and Neo-Protectionism in the United
States
1 Geopolitics and Super-Exploitation  7
1 Geopolitics and the Extension of the Super-Exploitation of the Labor
Force  7
2 Conclusion  11
2 Donald Trump and Imperialist Praxis  12
1 The Vicissitudes of Neo-imperialism  13
2 Executive Orders and the North American Crisis  29
3 The Wall of Ignominy  30
4 Sanctuary Cities: the Dreamers or the Fallacy of the ‘American
Dream’  31
5 Regional Blocks and the Automotive Industry in Mexico: the Rules of
Origin in NAFTA  34
6 NAFTA, the Tripartite Negotiations and Donald Trump’s
Position  36
7 Conclusion  38
Part 2
Debates on the Extension of Super-Exploitation in Advanced
Capitalism
3 Dependence and Super-Exploitation  43
1 Theory and Method of Exploitation in Marx  43
2 The Marxist Theory of Dependency and Marini’s Ideas  45
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viii Contents
3 Importance and Validity of Dependency Theory  52
4 Formulation Level of the Marxist Theory of Dependency  58
5 Point of Departure for a Reevaluation of Marini’s Thought  61
6 Globalization and the Law of Value  64
7 Dissociation of the Economic Cycle from the Employment
Rate  65
8 Generalization of the Super-Exploitation of Labor in the Capitalist
System  65
9 The New International Division of Labor  67
10 Redefinition of the State within the Framework of the
Democratization Process in Latin America  69
11 Democracy and the Fourth Estate  69
12 The Sub-imperialism Subject  73
13 The Problem of Integration and Overcoming Dependence  75
14 Conclusion  78
4 Approaches and Theoretical Controversies  80
1 Generalization of the Super-Exploitation of Labor in Advanced
Capitalism  80
2 Marini’s Approach  83
3 Criticism of the Concept of Super-Exploitation  87
4 Super-Exploitation of the Labor Force, or Labor?  88
5 Super-Exploitation of the Labor Force: Category or Concept?  88
6 Can the Super-Exploitation of the Labor Force Be Extended to
Advanced Countries?  92
7 Super-Exploitation of the Labor Force or Violation of Labor Force
Value?  94
8 Super-Exploitation: a Political Category?  97
9 A Dependency Theory without Super-Exploitation?  104
10 Unequal Exchange and Super-Exploitation  107
11 Marini’s Renovated Vision  114
12 Conclusion  116
Part 3
Crisis, Super-Exploitation and the Precarization of the World of
Labor in the United States
5 Hypothesis on the Capitalist Crisis and Super-Exploitation of the Labor
Force  121
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Contents ix
1 Dismeasure of Value and Surplus Value  121
2 Hegemony of Relative Surplus Value and Super-Exploitation  126
3 Does the Generalization of Super-Exploitation Blur Dependence
Relations?  135
4 Conclusion  138
6 Fictitious Capital and Super-Exploitation of Labor in Contemporary
Societies  140
1 The Globalization of Imperialism and the Crisis of
Capitalism  140
2 Fictitious Capital, Precarization and Universalization of Super-
Exploitation of the Labor Force  143
3 Winners and Losers in the Fictitious Regime of Neoliberal
Quasi-Stagnation  147
4 What Comes after the Terminal Crisis of Neoliberalism?  149
5 Conclusion  150
7 The North American Capitalist Crisis  151
1 Crisis of the Pattern of Accumulation and of the Mechanisms of
Production of Value and Surplus Value  152
2 Crisis and the Relative Decline of North American
Supremacy  157
3 Conclusion  166
8 United States: Precariousness of Work and Super-Exploitation of the
Labor Force  168
1 Crisis, Tension and Social Fragmentation in Neoliberal
Capitalism  168
2 Work and Social Tension  169
3 Precarious Work and Structural Reforms  171
4 (Temporary) Employment and Job Insecurity  179
5 Unemployment as a Condition of the Super-Exploitation of
Labor  181
6 The Deterioration of Wages  186
7 Salaries versus Productivity in the United States  190
8 Two Stages of US Salary History  191
9 Living and Working Conditions  198
10 The Housing Problem and the Purchasing Power of the Minimum
and Average Salary  200
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11 Purchasing Power of the Salary and Basic Basket of Consumer
Goods  202
12 Violation and Expropriation of Salary  204
13 Conclusion  207
Epilogue  210
Bibliography  213
Index  231