Imperialism as a Condition for Capitalism

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The core capitalist countries no longer need to rely on military force and colonialism to increasingly extract profits from workers in the Global South. Of course, as we see daily, violence is still utilized—but it's not the primary way in which imperialism now functions. Imperialism in the 21st century works through market mechanisms—not just through superexploitation, uneven exchange, and other economic instruments of empire that keep the Global North's boot firmly on the rest of the world's neck. So, how does it all work, exactly? Well, we've brought on the perfect guest to walk us through it all.

John Smith is the author of Imperialism in the Twenty-First Century: Globalization, Super-Exploitation, and Capitalism's Final Crisis, published by Monthly Review Press.

In this conversation, John helps us to understand the way that imperialism works in the 21st century. We talk about the history of imperialism and how capitalism co-opted imperialism and made it its own. We trace a commodity through the circuits of capitalism to help us understand how imperialism functions, we talk about super exploitation, revolutionary subjects, the crisis of capitalism, and much more.

Further resources:

• Imperialism in the Twenty-First Century: Globalization, Super-Exploitation, and Capitalism's Final Crisis, by John Smith
• The Dialectics of Dependency: Ruy Mauro Marini

Related episodes:

• Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism w/ Breht O'Shea and Alyson Escalante
• Our onging series on the Alliance of Sahel States
• Our ongoing series on Iran
• Our ongoing series on China
• Our ongoing series on NATO
• Western Marxism w/ Gabriel Rockhill
• The Fight for The Congo w/ Vijay Prashad
• A History of the CIA, Coups, and Assassinations w/ Vijay Prashad

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