Cancer Stage of Capitalism

The Cancer Stage of Capitalism is a modern classic of critical philosophy and political economy, renowned for its depth and comprehensive research. It provides a step-by-step diagnosis of the continuing economic collapse in the US and Europe and has had an enormous influence on new visions of economic alternatives.John McMurtry argues that our world disorder of unending crises is the predictable result of a cancerous economic system multiplying out of all control and destroying ecological, social and organic life - a process he describes as 'global ecogenocide'. In this updated edition he explains the 'social immune response' required to fight this cancer, prescribing developments akin to the Occupy movement and the 'Pink Tide' democratic social transformation occurring in Latin America. In a global cultural orthodoxy that is increasingly hostile to life, this book shows the necessity and possibility of building a sustainable society based on a universal commitment to nature and humanity.

'McMurtry's vision is a panoramic, encyclopedic, and breathtakingly original one, imbued with both high reason and (com)passion', 'Any entity that defines itself through exponential growth, be it a cancer tumour, the financial system or a runaway nuclear reaction, can only have one outcome: catastrophic failure with the sole chance of survival being the recognition of and response to the disorder. McMurtry provides both the diagnosis and antidote for this current state of our world', 'McMurtry's profound analysis of the consequences of the unrestrained and relentless pursuit of profits should be a source of grave concern for everyone who cares about the survival and reproduction of the species', 'This new edition confirms McMurtry's place as the foremost social philosopher of our time. The revised Cancer Stage of Capitalism lays bare, in even more detail than the original, the structural causes of global life-crises', 'Confronts and resolves the ultimate issue of our time - world survival. The real economy is being consumed by the global corporate cancer system at every level. Survival depends on understanding McMurtry's classic analysis and acting on it'

John McMurtry was Professor of Philosophy at the University of Guelph and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He is the author of the multi-volume Philosophy and World Problems, written for the UNESCO Encyclopaedia of Life Support Systems, Value Wars, and The Cancer Stage of Capitalism.