# The Ideology of Late Imperialism | Monthly Review

source
: [Monthly Review | The Ideology of Late Imperialism](https://monthlyreview.org/2021/03/01/the-ideology-of-late-imperialism/)


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## 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&rsquo;s worth noting that the author defines imperialism as &ldquo;the transfer of surplus from the periphery to the capitalist center&rdquo;
-   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