----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert Biel" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Ralph Johansen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 7:03 AM Subject: Re: what's new?
> > Dear Ralph, > > Thanks a lot for your note, I'm really glad you > appreciated the book. Actually, I would have liked to be invited to > CAPITALISM, IMPERIALISM AND CRISIS IN THE SOUTH ... I suppose that there > are a lot of sectors where my book was not taken note of at all, so its > impact has been quite uneven. I'm very interested to hear that it has been > debated in some of the discussion groups you follow; although I try to > follow some of the groups there is a lot I don't know about. If it's not > too much trouble, I'd always appreciate it if you could forward anything > interesting to me. Now let me explain about the current situation. I have > written a new 15th chapter for a second edition, which I began early last > year, and took me about a year. This is partly about the new phase in > international politics; I have been trying to work out the significance of > this, particulary the question of why there is a phase which seems so > *overtly* repressive and therefore seems to sacrifice the more concealed > forms of repression. This part of the analysis draws partly upon an > article I wrote in the Review of African Political Economy, no. 95, 2003, > which gave me an opportunity to research some data about US foreign policy, > and some of the stuff I discovered was rather unexpected. On the other > hand, the new chapter is not just an updating, because I found it necessary > to develop some new theoretical perspectives, and to some extent it > therefore takes the book into new territory. A significant catalyst to > this was one discussion on the Web, initiated by Mark Jones, the convenor > of the A-list. I met Mark at the beginning of last year, and he convinced > me that my perspective on the environmental dimension needed strengthening > and that it was necessary to carry forward the unfinished work of Malcolm > Caldwell in this respect. I started working on this, and in March organised > a seminar in UCL to discuss the preliminary form of my ideas. You can read > a brief account of that presentation on: > http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dpu/publications/DPU%20News/45_focuson.pdf > I was hoping Mark would attend the seminar, and in fact discussed the date > with him on the phone a few days before, and it was only afterwards that I > was shocked to learn of his sudden death. I therefore felt that it was a > duty to carry forward this task, and I hope that the present form of the > chapter has achieved this. Briefly, I have incorporated systems theory as > a much more explicit point of reference for the argument, and I am at > present working on an article which develops this part of the argument even > further, which I hope to publish in a web-based free-access journal. So > what is happening with the second edition? At present, what I know for sure > is that it will be published soon in Arabic, the translation is already > complete: that should be interesting. I've just signed a contract for a > Spanish translation to be published in Mexico, which is also great. The > problem is that there's no firm idea about publishing it in English, > although the first edition has been out of print for a year. But I'm soon > planning to meet a publisher from India who's interested, and I think > that's quite hopeful. OK, that's about it. Do stay in touch, and drop > round for a chat if you're in London. > > Warmest regards, > > Robert > > > At 11:50 22/09/2004 -1000, you wrote: > >Just finishing your book The New Imperialism - Crisis and Contradictions > >in North-South Relations, and I have gained a great deal from it. > > > >I would like to know if anything can be obtained online which updates or > >extends what you have written there. I find nothing beyond that date > >(2000) on your website. I also had read that you planned another edition > >of the book. If so, how is it coming? > > > >Also disappointed that your name doesn't appear among the discussants at > >the HM/SR event CAPITALISM, IMPERIALISM AND CRISIS IN THE SOUTH coming up > >at Birkbeck College in October. Obviously, you have much to offer and an > >appreciative readership among many on the discussion groups I follow online. > > > >Cheers, > > > >Ralph Johansen > > > > Robert Biel > > NEW TELEPHONE NUMBERS - SEE BELOW > > Development Planning Unit > University College London > 9 Endsleigh Gardens > London WC1H 0ED > > ******************************** > Direct line: +44 (0)20 7679 5807 > ******************************** > > e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > DPU Numbers: > Tel. +44 (0)20 7679 1111 > Fax. +44 (0)20 7679 1112 > > website www.ucl.ac.uk/dpu >
