This book discusses contemporary issues in global political economy with a focus on the working of global capitalism. The volume covers a wide range of issues from conceptual questions to empirical investigation with the aim to promote a critical understanding of the major challenges posed by contemporary capitalism.

V. Upadhyay is Adjunct Professor and former Head, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Delhi.

Paramjit Singh is Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, Panjab University, Chandigarh.

Introduction 1. Introduction to Historical Materialism: A Theory of Society and History 2. Essential Concepts in Marxian Political Economy 3. Notes on Marx's Critique of Classical Political Economy 4. Capitalist Mode of Production: A Basic Interpretation 5. Contemporary Capitalism 6. Reserve Army of Labour 7. Political Economy of Employment-Unemployment in Capitalism 8. Can Capitalism Survive the High Degree of Automation? A Comparison with Thomas Piketty's Argument 9. The Agrarian Question a Century After 1917: Capitalism in Agriculture and Agricultures in Capitalism 10. 'Big is Not Always Beautiful': Family Farms and Capitalism 11. What is Monopoly Capital? 12. Late Marx, Luxemburg, and the Conception of 'Accumulation of Capital' 13. Financialisation: There's Something Happening Here 14. Reflections on the Classical Theory of Imperialism: Does History Repeat Itself? 15. What is Imperialism? Situating Imperialism in Relation to Capitalism and Colonialism 16. Climate Crisis and the Idea of Degrowth 17. Capitalism, Ecology and Eco-Socialism 18. Energy, Economic Growth, and Ecological Crisis