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Exploitation and super-exploitation in the theory of imperialism v
The capitalists’ monopoly impulse, i.e. their desire to capture surplus value at the expense of other capitalists, along with their insatiable lust for super-exploitable labour, combine together to define capitalism’s innate, inexorable imperialist trajectory. Imperialism and super-exploitation are therefore inseparably connected. A theory of 21st century imperialism must explain how super-exploitation modifies the value relation. A theory of imperialism which does not is useless, void, and is, necessarily, imperialism-denial, even if those in denial continue to use ‘imperialism’ as a descriptive term. This paper, presented to the ‘Economics of Imperialism’ panel at the 2019 Historical Materialism conference in London, is the more-or-less final version of a chapter in an anthology on imperialism to be published in Spanish by the Tricontinental Institute.
Beyond the Theory of Imperialism
Theories of a "new imperialism" assume that world capitalism in the 21st century is still made up of "domestic capitals" and that distinct national economies and world political dynamics are driven by US eff orts to off set the decline in hegemony amidst heightened inter-imperialist rivalry. These theories ignore empirical evidence on the transnationalization of capital and the increasingly salient role of transnational state apparatuses in imposing capitalist domination beyond the logic of the inter-state system. I argue here that US interventionism is not a departure from capitalist globalization but a response to its crisis. The class relations of global capitalism are now so deeply internalized within every nation-state that the classical image of imperialism as a relation of external domination is outdated. The end of the extensive enlargement of capitalism is the end of the imperialist era of world capitalism. The implacable logic of global accumulation is now largely internal to the complex of fractious political institutions through which ruling groups attempt to manage those relations. We need a theory of capitalist expansion -of the political processes and the institutions through which such expansion takes place, the class relations and spatial dynamics it involves. 6 W. I. Robinson / Societies Without Borders 2 (2007) 5-26 interna al complejo de instituciones políticas fragmentadas a través de las que los grupos de poder tratan de gestionar esas relaciones. Necesitamos una teoría de la expansión capitalistade los procesos políticos y las instituciones a cuyo través se produce esa expansión, de las nuevas relaciones entre clase y dinámicas espaciales.
A Structural Theory of Imperialism
INTRODUCTION: This theory takes as its point of departure two of the most glaring facts about this world: the tremendous inequality, within and between nations, in almost all aspects of human living conditions, including the power to decide over those living conditions; and the resistance of this inequality to change. The world consists of Center and Periphery nations; and each nation, in turn, has its centers and periphery. Hence, our concern is with the mechanism underlying this discrepancy, particularly between the center in the Center, and the periphery in the Periphery. In other words, how to conceive of, how to explain, and how to counteract inequality as one of the major forms of structural violence.’Any theory of liberation from structural violence presupposes theoretically and practically adequate ideas of the dominance system against which the liberation is directed; and the special type of dominance system to be discussed here is imperialism. P.S. This is not my personal work. Hence, you may duly acknowledge the contributor of this article. This is an important paper for political economy and communication studies.
Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews, 2018
John Smith's Imperialism in the Twenty-First Century connects the theory of imperialism to Marx's value theory and accounts for the most important changes in global capitalism since Lenin's time: namely, global labor arbitrage and outsourcing. His criticism of the standard statistical measure of GDP and wages is innovative and enlightening, and he effectively connects the global crisis of the early twenty-first century to the new international division of labor. The book suffers from an inadequate definition of its central concept, imperialism, and from a tendency to lapse into old-style deterministic Marxism.
TOWARDS A NEW THEORY OF IMPERIALISM.docx
Extant theories of imperialism have been largely drawn from historical effects rather than from historical causes. Such theoretical basing for imperialism simply indicates misunderstanding of the subject, which, indeed, has led to plethora of its theories as it has been, because narratives of effects are characteristically florid and fluid. An approach like that to study of imperialism is, no doubt, simply inadequate as it has created such much confusion than understanding of this vital part of man's history. Therefore, using causality and realism, this paper argues from histories of ancient Rome and the United States of America that imperialism is typically caused, and that effects of empires are not denominator for imperialism, therefore, its description cannot be multiplied. It shows that theory of imperialism is better drawn from its causality. The paper consequently proffers ease system as the singularized functional theory of imperialism.
These notes for an international study group on imperialism discuss the meaning of super-exploitation, its prevalence in the 21st century, and controversies over its usage.
Theories of Imperialism revisited
The aim of this presentation is to revisit the classical Marxist theories of Imperialism, namely the theories of Lenin, Bukharin and Luxembourg, and discuss their relevance for contemporary radical theory and politics. In particular, we will stress that some of the question that were posited then are still pertinent today: such as the relation between class antagonism and international behavior, the question of the centrality of the nation-state or of the world system, the interconnection between economics and politics in the international system. We will stress the importance of Lenin’s theorization of imperialism and the way it revolutionized our thinking of the international system. At the same time, we will also stress the importance of Gramsci’s intervention as exactly the missing “hegemonic” aspect from classical theories of imperialism
Rethinking Imperialism and Exploitation in the Study of Development: A Realist's Perspective
This essay challenges the view held by Leninists that capitalist states are the sole perpetrators of imperialism and exploitation in the international system. This essay argues that imperialistic and exploitative behavior is not caused by a state's embracement of a particular economic practice. Rather, it is the condition of anarchy in the international system that creates this behavior.