Empire, written by Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, is an ambitious attempt to describe the economic and political world of today. Written in a Marxist vein, it is hardly orthodox in its attempts to reconcile the nature and trajectory of globalization with Marxist theories. The primary focus of the book is the title itself, Empire. Empire is the name given to the system Hardt and Negri believe regulates global flows of information, capital, and people. In true Marxist fashion, however, the secondary focus is how such a dominating system can be overthrown by what Hardt and Negri deem the ‘multitude’.
Hardt and Negri begin their work arguing that even with the rapid unraveling of nation-state-based systems of power, globalism cannot possibly be understood as such a simplicity as deregulating markets. Instead, regulations put in place today are woven together to form a supranational order, Empire. Unlike previous powers before it, Empire is not a system, but rather a diffuse network of all-encompassing power, "the sovereign power that governs the world" (Hardt and Negri xi). The very fibers that create Empire, the flow of people, information and wealth, are too uncontrollable to be managed from specific control centers. It is only fitting that the power over a diffuse network is diffused as well. Its origins develop from a familiar story, consisting of an older, statist world of ruling class and proletariat breaking down, and replaced by a less dichotomous and more intricate pattern of inequality is emerging. It is concretely seen developing in response to the great rebellions of the 1960s and 1970s. These rebellions spanned the topics from traditional labor movements to new feminist, ethnic, ecological, and sexual movements. They spanned the globe as Third World countries began to demand higher commodity prices and a global redistribution of power and income. This movement peaked with an oil embargo and the U.S. defeat in Vietnam. Furthermore, the...