Karl Polanyi and the Contemporary Political Crisis: Transforming Market Society in the Era of Climate Change

Has politics reached breaking point? Rather than defending liberalism or turning away from it, how can a society go about building a socialist alternative?

In this text, Peadar Kirby investigates the causes of our current global crisis, drawing on the work of Karl Polanyi. Kirby explores Polanyi's theory that social disruptions have been caused by the attempt to run society according to the rules of the market. The author uses these ideas to tackle weaknesses in Marxism and demonstrate how we can build a strong alternative theory. By linking the ecological and socio-economic crises, Kirby highlights how an alternative socio-economic model is emerging, consistent with the insights of Polanyi, which he terms ecosocialism.

This text provides an urgent intervention into the key debates surrounding politics, social policy and international relations.