Marxism this book argues, is still the most effective way of understanding capitalism. Ellen Meiksins Wood reformulates the Marxist theory of history while exploring the historical particularity of capitalism as a system of social relations. Then, tracing democracy from antiquity to the present, she examines its ambiguous relationship with capitalism.

Introduction; Part I. Historical Materialism and the Specificity of Capitalism: 1. The separation of the 'economic' and 'political' in capitalism; 2. Rethinking base and superstructure; 3. Class as process and relationship; 4. History or technological determinism?; 5. History or teleology? Marx v. Weber; Part II. Democracy against Capitalism: 6. Labour and democracy, ancient and modern; 7. The demos v. 'we, the people': from ancient to modern conceptions of citizenship; 8. Civil society and the politics of identity; 9. Capitalism and human emancipation: race, gender and democracy; Conclusion.

"...a provocative, much needed, and timely intervention. It will invigorate and arm those who wish to argue against the dead end of the politics of difference and reassert the centrality of class theory and politics." Contemporary Sociology"Wood stakes out a strong and clear perspective here. It is an important one and should receive a wide hearing." Michael A. Principe, Canadian Philosophical Reviews"This relevant anthology will be read with interest by any philosopher interested in social theory." Ethics"...a terrific book that deserves to become a classic of our political tendency....Wood provides a brilliant explication and defense of the key theoretical concepts relevant to socialism...." Against the Current"This book deserves to be read by more than social theorists and followers of contemporary marxist debate. Wood engages in a critique of capitalism not despite the apparent triumph of captalism but because of it." John P. Burke, Research in Philosophy and Technology