In the midst of the Great Depression Engels insisted that future Depressions would become deeper. Unlike previous recessions, the current economic crisis is the first time that a worldwide downturn has been wholly coordinated. In light of recent events Critique: Journal of Socialist Theory will be dedicating a special issue to Crises and Depressions. Critique is an independent, peer reviewed, academic journal founded in 1973. We are looking for high quality scholarly articles on or surrounding, but not limited to, the following topics:

· Economic histories of Great Depressions (1873-1896 and 1929-1940s)
· Marxist theoretical analyses of the economic crises that occurred in the 1870s, 1930s, and/or the present crisis
· Is there continuity between Depressions?
· What are the underlying causes of Great Depressions?
· What is the role between class struggle and crises?
· From a Marxist perspective, what is the global impact of Great Depressions?
· What role did the Cold War play in alleviating and preventing crises?
· What importance can be given to the falling rate of profit theory in the post-war period?
· What role did Stalinism and/or social democracy/reformism play in preventing crises and the effect of their disappearance?
· Is the present economic downturn a recession or a depression?
· What were the underlying causes of the current downturn – the falling rate of profit, disproportionality, or underconsumption?
· What is the relationship between dialectics and crisis theory?
· What is the importance of underconsumption and/ or disproportionality to Marxist theory and its relation to the present crisis?
· What is the role of finance capital in contemporary capitalism?
Critique: Journal of Socialist Theory welcomes contributions covering any aspect of Marxist political economy, philosophy and history. Articles should not normally exceed 7-8,000 words in length. Articles must include an abstract of no more than 300 words and a maximum of 6 key words. Articles will not be considered for peer review unless they are complete with an abstract and key words. For further instructions and advice for authors please visit: http://www.informaworld.com/critique For further details about Critique visit: http://www.critiquejournal.net/

The final deadline for articles is December 1, 2009. Please send articles via email to the editor: Hillel H. Ticktin, gkfa02@udcf.gla.ac.uk and to the Critique collective at critique@eng.gla.ac.uk