Reshaping the World for the 21st Century: Society and Growth

Gordon C. Shaw is professor emeritus in the Faculty of Administrative
Studies at York University.

This book describes the author’s vision of “how economic development
could change for the better in this hemisphere.” Smith develops her
ideas by deploring almost every economic development that has occurred
in the post–World War II era. These include everything from the
enlarging of multi-lane highways around the major North American cities
to most of the capital-intensive development projects in Latin America
and the Third World. Most of the latter projects, the author argues,
benefit business interests at the expense the masses.

Throughout the book, Smith displays a general distrust of the
capitalist system of allocating resources, especially as seen in the
globalization of distribution and production practised by the U.S.-based
multinationals. At the same time, she recognizes both the limitations of
subsistence agriculture and the need for some international trade.

In the final analysis, Smith fails to provide clear alternatives to
the global trends she rejects. Her suggestion that it is time to revisit
the works of Marx offers hints of an alternative system that combines
Marxism and humanitarian principles. This book, which lacks coherence
and at times resembles a first draft, will appeal to a limited audience.