The End of Capitalism
Director’s Note ~ Volume 12 / Spring 2009
In his introduction to “Science and Human Values” Jacob Bronowski tells of standing near the harbor in Nagasaki shortly after the end of World War II, taking in the devastation of the city before him while, from a US Navy ship behind him, he heard the strains of a then-popular song, “Is you is or is you ain’t my baby?” The Metaphorical connection was, of course, obvious: how much was science and its uses (or abuses) to blame for the destruction he saw? Was it time to end his (our) love affair with it? His little book is his answer to the question.
We are at a different time now, and comparing the scope of disasters is not only difficult but also pointless. Nevertheless, the financial crisis quite naturally raises a similar question with respect to capitalism and this issue of the Bologna Center of International Affairs has confronted it with a series of papers on the theme, “The End of Capitalism.” In the spirit of the other “End of…” publications, from the famous first, Frank Fukuyama’s “End of history,” through this very journal’s previous issue, “The End of the Enlightenment?” to this excellent set of contributions, the intention if not to note, to assert, or to deny the end of capitalism. It is to advance the conversation by examining capitalism itself; by looking at its various manifestations, its relations to the political order, its failures, its possible course corrections, perhaps its inevitability.
The Articles in this issue present the work of a mix of graduate students and established scholars; critics as well as defenders of capitalism, whether viewed as goal, institution or natural state; those who have “been there” as well as those trying to decide whether to go there. As is appropriate for a journal of this sort, the articles focus on capitalism in an international context and on its linkages to globalization. And, reinforcing the underlying premise of a SAIS education, the perspective in most of the articles is a multidisciplinary one, both in analytical approach and in the recognition that the success of failure of capitalism, however defined of described, is, perforce, measured by its effects on the political and social order as well as the economic system itself.
The Bologna Center Journal of International Affairs is entirely a student enterprise. The editorial staff selects the theme, issues the call to authors, selects the papers, and edits and assembles the final product. In the process, they engage the Center’s students and faculty in thinking about the topic they focus upon, enriching the educational experience for all of us. And, as will be evident to the reader, they produce a volume that is a useful and significant contribution to the literature. The annual production of the Journal has become a tradition at the Center, and a source of pride to all of us. It is a personal pleasure for me to introduce you to this year’s volume, which I hope and fully expect you will find enlightening and engaging.
Kenneth H. Keller
Director and Professor
April 2009
