Description
The 21st century is producing global tremors at a rapid historical pace not seen since the beginning of the 20th century. This presents certain dangers and difficulties, but also many opportunities in the social sciences. As popularly held beliefs and ahistorical theories come crashing down in the face of recent explosive events -- such as the global financial crisis that erupted in 2008 -- the demand for historically rooted and theoretically informed objective analyses of social phenomena inevitably grows. Basing itself on such a scientific framework, utilizing the theory of historical materialism and employing Marxian political economy, the present thesis will explore Goldman Sachs' financial involvement in the Greek sovereign debt crisis that ultimately exposed the instability of the European Union and its prized euro area. By exploring Goldman Sachs' activities and the role of finance in the Greek crisis, this thesis seeks to accomplish three goals. First, analyze the relationship between the historical development and growth of the productive forces under capitalist relations, and the rise of finance capital as an attempt to overcome the inherent contradictions that develop within capitalist relations. Second, analyze the relationship between the development of the European Union and the euro area, and the growth of the financial industry and globalized production. Lastly, analyze the material and theoretical connection between financial parasitism, exemplified by Goldman Sachs' activities in Greece, and the broader historical development of the capitalist mode of production. In doing so, I argue that systemic crises, such as the Greek sovereign debt crisis, are bound to happen in the future because, contrary to the 'common sense' consensus, capitalism is plagued by inherent contradictions that manifest themselves in increasingly dangerous forms, preventing the global integration of the world on peaceful and rational terms
