Author: Bhabani Shankar Nayak
Print length 200 pages
Language English
Publisher Anthem Press
Publication date 8 April 2025
Dimensions 13.97 x 2.03 x 21.59 cm
ISBN:9781839994883
Kindle Edition £17.15
Hardcover £80.00
Paperback £19.99
Everyday Encounters with State and Capitalism
Bhabani is a well-known champion of the ordinary people, and his writing critically examines how capitalism and state power shape everyday life. This book delves into how ruling and non-ruling elites influence politics, the economy, religion, and culture—structuring our social realities to sustain their dominance while marginalizing the majority.
Capitalism and the state establish the boundaries of our lives, dictating how we work, live, and interact. Crises are often manufactured to divert public attention from exploring alternative, egalitarian systems prioritizing mass welfare over profit. These structures suppress broader conversations about social and economic justice by ensuring that resources, policies, and institutions remain focused on wealth accumulation for the few.
The author exposes the contradictions embedded within capitalism, revealing how its mechanisms often counter the lived experiences of working people. He unpacks how power operates through institutions, policies, and cultural narratives that shape individuals, families, and communities—conditioning them to accept exploitation and inequality as inevitable.
This book critically critiques how elites manipulate knowledge, social structures, and democratic processes to consolidate control. It examines how capitalism territorializes and deterritorializes lives and livelihoods, disrupting economic, social, and cultural relationships. Yet, within this landscape of power and inequality, the book also highlights the resilience of ordinary people, drawing from their everyday struggles to present alternative pathways toward a more just and equitable society.
Through thought-provoking analysis, Everyday Encounters with State and Capitalism challenges readers to reconsider dominant narratives and envision a world where economic and political systems serve the many, not just the privileged few. It is an urgent call to recognize the forces that shape our daily lives and to imagine new possibilities for collective well-being and social transformation.