Globalization or Empire: New Tendencies in Contemporary Capitalism?1

Despite the fact that contemporary social paradigms emphasize the importance of particularity and specific topics in order to describe reality, it is remarkable how two knowledgeable researchers have joined their experiences and studies in the effort to develop new directions for understanding the global order. In times when the moment and the here and the now are important, they use an historical perspective that seeks to understand the evolution of the world, in an attempt to analyse in detail the passage from the modern to the post-modern period, from Imperialism to Empire, as a strong effort to understand movements in society and changes in space. Under this context, Hardt and Negri intend to develop new trends for understanding contemporary capitalism in what is considered an unbounded and open space. Those who adopt a critical perspective might be excited and stimulated to encounter this alternative investigation that explains contemporary capitalism to us. Nevertheless there are different problematic features of the book that it is necessary to recognize. Their attempt to go beyond Marx in the explanation of capitalism is far too ambitious, resulting sometimes in general and superficial explanations and at othe