Apocalypse Capitalism

Economic Visions after Nuclear War
1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-1-5292-4876-0
Verlag: Bristol University Press

Buch, Englisch, 240 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm

Available open access digitally under CC-BY-NC-ND licence.

Is it easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism?

Drawing on extensive archival research in the UK and the US, this book uncovers how Cold War planners planned to keep capitalism alive even after a nuclear apocalypse.

Through scenario planning, US officials anticipated capitalist recovery, while UK strategies prioritised preserving elite power and restoring the class system.

By tracing these contrasting imaginaries, the book reveals how capitalism is projected beyond the apocalypse and explores alternative economic futures that emerge when the unthinkable is taken seriously.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Preston, John

Fachgebiete

• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Finanzkrisen, Wirtschaftskrisen
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziale Gruppen/Soziale Themen Soziale Folgen von Katastrophen
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Wirtschaftssysteme, Wirtschaftsstrukturen
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Wirtschaftspolitik, politische Ökonomie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. The Economics of Apocalypse: Imagining Capitalism After the End of the World

2. Contracting Out the Unthinkable in the Late Cold War

3. United Kingdom Plans for Reconstructing Capitalism After a Nuclear War: Proto-Capitalism, Immiseration and Ruling Class Survival

4. United States Plans for Reconstructing Capitalism After a Nuclear War: Preserving Property Rights and Markets

5. Apocalypse Capitalism in Practice: The Spatio-Temporal Legal Fix

6. Apocalypse Communism: Spatio-Temporal-Revolutionary Fissures

Über Autor(innen)

John Preston is Emeritus Professor of Sociology in the Department of Sociology and Criminology at the University of Essex.