A collective picture of modern capitalism suggests that economic prospects, political costs, and implications for human development and freedom under this system are grim indeed. However the possibility of an alternative viewpoint, and an alternative system, provide grounds for optimism. The authors in Critical Political Studies challenge the neo-liberal, pro-market ideology that has arisen in the age of the so-called post-communist new world order, wrestling with the implications of globalization, democratization, and the politics of radical social change.