Editing Late capitalism (section)

===Post–World War II era===
In Russia, the [[Marxist-Leninist]] doctrine of the "general crisis of capitalism" in the imperialist epoch and the theory of [[state monopoly capitalism]] defined the official government perspective for the postwar era.<ref>Gerd Hardach et al., ''A short history of socialist economic thought''. New York: St Martins Press, 1978, chapter 4.</ref> The historian [[Paolo Spriano]] describes how this caused the dismissal of one of Russia's top economists, after he dared to suggest that there would not be a deep capitalist crisis after the end of World War II:

{{Quote|"[[Eugen Varga]]… argued that capitalism would be able to ward off, or at least to postpone, a general crisis. By May 1947 he was being subject to harsh criticism for this. He was soon relieved of many of his duties, and the [[Institute of World Economy and International Relations|Institute of World Economy and Politics]], of which he had been the director, was closed down. The official line was that the capitalist system was poised on the brink of a catastrophic crisis. Indeed, the virulence and imperialist aggressivity of capitalism were said to result precisely from desperate attempts to avert this crisis by provoking tension, conflict, and war. Propagandistic use of this thesis became common in subsequent years".<ref>[[Paolo Spriano]], ''Stalin and the European Communists''. London: Verso, 1985, p. 281. [[Eugen Varga]] was rehabilitated only after [[Stalin]]'s death.</ref>}}

In the West, there had been similar expectations (across the whole political spectrum) that a severe systemic crisis would very likely occur after the war. When that did not happen, it was a surprise and a relief. However, what exactly could explain this turn of events is open to debate.<ref>Philip Armstrong, [[Andrew Glyn]] and John Harrison, ''Capitalism since World War II: the making and breakup of the great boom''. London: Fontana paperbacks, 1984, Part 1: post-war reconstruction, 1945-1950.</ref> Different theories about the success of the postwar reconstruction effort have been proposed.<ref>For example, Charlie Giattino states that during the US post-war baby boom 1946-1964, the fertility rate averaged nearly 4 children per woman, twice as many as in the 1930s (according to US Census data). An estimated 70 million new people were born in the US between 1946 and 1964. In 1964, this baby boom generation represented almost 40% of the total US population (Charlie Giattino, "The 'baby boom' saw a sharp rise in the fertility rate in the United States". ''Our world in data'', 10 October 2024). [https://ourworldindata.org/data-insights/the-baby-boom-saw-a-sharp-rise-in-the-fertility-rate-in-the-united-states]{{Creative Commons text attribution notice|cc=by4|from this source=yes}}</ref>

The concept of "late capitalism" was used in the 1960s in Germany and Austria, by [[Western Marxism|Western Marxists]] writing in the tradition of the [[Frankfurt School]] and [[Austromarxism]]. In 1965, Fritz Vilmar published ''Rüstung und Abrüstung im Spätkapitalismus'' ["Armament and Disarmament in Late Capitalism"].<ref>Fritz Vilmar, ''Rüstung und Abrüstung im Spätkapitalismus'' (1965, reprint Reinbek bei Hamburg: Rowohlt Verlag, 1973).</ref> Leo Michielsen and [[Andre Gorz]] popularized the term "[[neo-capitalism]]" in France and Belgium, with new analyses of postwar capitalism.<ref>Leo Michielsen, ''Neo-kapitalisme''. Brussel: Jacquemotte Stichting, 1969. André Gorz, ''Stratégie ouvriére et néocapitalisme'', Paris: Le Seuil, 1964.</ref> [[Jacques Derrida]] preferred ''neo-capitalism'' to ''post-'' or ''late-capitalism''.<ref>Catherine Malabou/Jacques Derrida, ''Counterpath'' (2004) p. 114–115</ref> In 1968, [[Rudi Dutschke]], a leading spokesman of the German student revolt, published a pamphlet entitled "The contradictions of late capitalism, the anti-authoritarian students and their relationship to the third world."<ref>Rudi Dutschke, ''Die Widersprüche des Spätkapitalismus, die antiautoritären Studenten und ihr Verhältnis zur Dritten Welt'', in: U. Bergmann, R. Dutschke, W. Lefevre, B. Rabehl, ''Rebellion der Studenten oder Die neue Opposition''. Reinbek bei Hamburg : Rowohlt Verlag, 1968.[https://www.klimareporter.de/images/dokumente/2024/11/dutschke-widersprueche-spaetkapitalismus_-_Kopie.pdf]</ref> [[Theodor Adorno]] preferred "late capitalism" over "industrial society," which was the theme of the 16th Congress of German Sociologists in 1968.<ref>Theodor W. Adorno (ed.) ''Spätkapitalismus oder Industriegesellschaft. Verhandlungen des 16. Deutschen Soziologentages.'' Stuttgart, 1969.</ref> In 1971, [[Leo Kofler]] published a book called ''Technologische Rationalität im Spätkapitalismus'' ("Technological Rationality in Late Capitalism").<ref>[[Leo Kofler]], ''Technologische Rationalität im Spätkapitalismus''. Frankfurt: Makol Verlag, 1971.</ref> [[Claus Offe]] published his essay "Spätkapitalismus – Versuch einer Begriffsbestimmung" ("Late Capitalism—an Attempt at a Conceptual Definition") in 1972.<ref>[[Claus Offe]], ''Strukturprobleme ds kapitalistischen Staates''. Frankfurt: Suhrkamp, 1972, pp. 7–25.</ref> In 1972, [[Alfred Sohn-Rethel]] published ''Die ökonomische Doppelnatur des Spätkapitalismus''.<ref>[[Alfred Sohn-Rethel]], ''Die ökonomische Doppelnatur des Spätkapitalismus''. Luchterhand: Darmstad/Nieuwied, 1972.</ref> In 1973, [[Jürgen Habermas]] published his ''Legitimationsprobleme im Spätkapitalismus'' (Legitimacy problems in late capitalism).<ref>Jürgen Habermas, ''Legitimationsprobleme im Spätkapitalismus'' Frankfurt: Suhrkamp, 1973.</ref> In 1975, [[Ernest Mandel]] published his 1972 PhD thesis ''Late Capitalism'' in English at [[New Left Books]]. [[Herbert Marcuse]] also accepted the term.<ref>[[Herbert Marcuse]], "Protosocialism and Late Capitalism: Toward a Theoretical Synthesis Based on Bahro's Analysis". ''International Journal of Politics'', Vol. 10 No. 2/3, Summer-Fall 1980,  25–48.</ref> In 1979, Volker Ronge published ''Bankpolitik im Spätkapitalismus: politische Selbstverwaltung des Kapitals?'', a study of banking in late capitalism.<ref>Volker Ronge, ''Bankpolitik im Spätkapitalismus: politische Selbstverwaltung des Kapitals?'' Frankfurt am Main : Suhrkamp, 1979.</ref> In 1981, Winfried Wolf and Michel Capron extended Mandel's analysis of the long recession in ''Spätkapitalismus in den achtziger Jahren''.<ref>Winfried Wolf and Michel Capron, ''Spätkapitalismus in den achtziger Jahren. Bilanz der Weltwirtschaftsrezession 1980/81; die Strukturkrise der Autoindustrie und der Stahlbranche''. Frankfurt/Main : ISP, 1981.</ref>