The Transition from Capitalism: Marxist Perspectives, Saeed Rahnema (ed.).

Saeed Rahnema brings together prominent voices on the global left at an opportune moment where the neoliberal ‘common sense’ is shattered, propelling a search beyond its premises. On the left, this predicament has spurred a debate around positive alternatives and reappraisals of past experiences. As can be gleaned from this series of interviews, there are sharp differences of opinion regarding ways to go forward, yet the notion of an open future where there are alternatives is on track to be restored, and rightly so. The assertion of ‘transition’ as a topical theme marks a departure from the inquisitive melancholia that pervades the left, towards substantive discussions of what a postcapitalist society might look like. In this review, following a summary of the book, I shall discuss the ways in which these dialogues reassert the spatio-temporal extensiveness of the struggle beyond capitalism, ‘No doubt the largest and complicated project of human history’, as expressed in the opening remarks (19).