The Ideology of Late Imperialism | Monthly Review

source : Monthly Review | The Ideology of Late Imperialism

Notes

• The question of [[imperialism]] for Marxists began in the 20th century by trying to understand
  1. international capitalist competition and war
  2. hierarchy within world capitalism and relationship between imperialist countries and colonies
• Recent data indicates that hierarchy still exists in the capitalist world
• The author critiques Robert Brenner for dismissing imperialism as a problem
• The author highlights that [[Engels]] was already pointing out that England was beginning to form a kind of [[labor aristocracy]]
• Marx was already beginning to observe the [[problem of working classes in advanced capitalist countries abandoning socialism]]
• [[Eduard Bernstein]] believed that [[imperialism]] was novel, and that there was a possibility for progressive, socialist colonies
• The [[Second International]] was hotly divided on the question of imperialism and colonialism
• It’s worth noting that the author defines imperialism as “the transfer of surplus from the periphery to the capitalist center”
• The author argues that [[China]] is a semi-peripheral country in the capitalist world order
  • See also: [[is china imperialist?]]
• The author argues that if China is to become imperialist it would mean a dramatic increase in value transfer from the periphery