Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism w/ Breht O'Shea and Alyson Escalante
Dec 31, 2024
auto_awesome
Breht O'Shea and Alyson Escalante, known for their insightful work on revolutionary theory, dive deep into the intricate ties between capitalism and imperialism. They explain how capitalism has evolved into monopoly capitalism and the implications of Lenin's theories for modern society. The duo highlights the role of the state in perpetuating financial oligarchy and the urgent calls for radical change. Notably, they connect the struggle for resources with social unrest, encouraging international solidarity among the working class against systemic exploitation.
Capitalism inherently evolves into imperialism, linking them as stages of a single, ongoing economic process defined by monopoly power.
The consolidation of market power into monopolies necessitates territorial expansion, where new markets and resources drive imperialist competition.
The emergence of finance capital signifies a transformation in capitalism, leading to the dominance of powerful entities that shape both the economy and politics.
Lenin's insights remain relevant today, highlighting ongoing imperialist practices that challenge working-class solidarity and global equity.
Deep dives
Capitalism as Imperialism
Capitalism inherently evolves into imperialism as a necessary stage in its development. The Marxist perspective emphasizes that imperialism is not merely an ancillary action of capitalist states but rather a fundamental characteristic of capitalism at a certain level of maturity. Lenin points out that this process arises as firms consolidate market power, leading to monopolistic control which drives the need for expansion into new territories. This expansion is motivated by the desire to secure new markets, raw materials, and labor, thereby reinforcing the idea that capitalism and imperialism are part of the same overarching process.
Monopoly and Concentration of Capital
The connection between monopoly capitalism and imperialism is crucial in understanding the economic landscape described by Lenin. Capitalism begins with competition among small enterprises, but over time, this competition leads to the inevitable concentration of production and capital into monopolies. These monopolies dominate the market, driving out smaller competitors and controlling prices and output. As capital becomes concentrated, it transforms the economic environment, necessitating interventions that align with imperial desires to expand and secure further resources, perpetuating a vicious cycle of exploitation.
Role of Finance Capital
The merger of industrial and banking capital results in what Lenin refers to as finance capital, significantly reshaping the capitalist landscape. Financial institutions begin to dominate not only the economy but also influence the political sphere, as they invest in and exert control over various enterprises. This integration results in fewer, more powerful entities controlling significant segments of the economy, effectively creating a financial oligarchy. The dominance of finance capital comes to underpin imperialist actions, as banks push for investments that facilitate international expansion and exploitation.
Imperialist Expansion and Global Markets
Lenin outlines the necessity for capital to expand beyond national borders as a means to avert economic stagnation and crises stemming from overproduction. As domestic markets become saturated, capitalists seek to penetrate overseas markets, allowing them to exploit raw materials and cheap labor from less developed countries. This push for expansion results in increased imperialist competition, where nation-states vie for resources and market dominance. The result is a global division where capitalist powers carve up regions, establishing spheres of influence that serve their imperial interests, ultimately affecting local populations.
Labor Aristocracy and Class Division
Lenin introduces the concept of the labor aristocracy, referring to the segment of the working class that benefits from the superprofits gained through imperialist exploitation. This surplus allocation allows a minority of workers to achieve higher wages and a better quality of life, fostering a loyalty to the imperialist state and diverting attention from the struggles of the global proletariat. However, this creates divisions within the working class, as those benefiting from imperialist practices may oppose more radical anti-imperialist movements. Understanding this dynamic is crucial for fostering solidarity among workers across borders, as they confront the underlying realities of capitalism.
Imperialism's Superstructural Functions
Imperialist actions serve a dual purpose within the capitalist framework, providing both economic benefits to the ruling class and functioning as a tool for social control. The state operates in concert with monopolistic powers to suppress dissent and maintain the social contract that awards privileges to the labor aristocracy. This mechanism helps stave off civil conflict within capitalist countries, as it redirects potential class struggle towards nationalism and patriotism. Thus, the social contract of imperialism not only enriches a few but simultaneously pacifies the broader working class to prevent collective unrest.
Contemporary Reflections on Imperialism
Examining the relevance of Lenin’s analysis today reveals that many of his insights about imperialism are pertinent in a multipolar world. As new powers emerge and the U.S. empire faces challenges, the dynamics of competition between nations reflect Lenin's observations on capitalism and imperialism. Today, the increasing divide between the global North and South serves as both a reminder of the darer consequences of imperialism and a call for international solidarity. The lessons drawn from Lenin’s work thus serve as a guide for contemporary social movements, offering a framework to understand and resist the persistent forces of imperialism.
Future Implications of Imperialist Dynamics
The decline of U.S. imperialism suggests that existing strategies of oppression and economic subjugation are facing imminent challenges, leading to a critical juncture for the working class. With rising dissatisfaction among populations within the imperium, potential cracks in the labor aristocracy may emerge, further challenging the imperialist status quo. As contradicted by the present-day circumstances, an increased awareness of international class solidarity could reshape the labor movement and reposition it against imperialist interests. The inevitability of struggle against an imperial system, shifting geopolitical landscapes, and shifting class relations necessitate a reevaluation of strategies for global transformation.
Capitalism, imperialism, monopoly—far from being separate concepts that just happen to take shape parallel to one another or to overlap from time to time, these terms all really refer to the exact same overall process. We call it capitalism because it’s not always practical to call it “monopoly capitalism in its imperialist stage” or something like that, but really, capitalism is, as we’ll see, inevitably monopolistic and imperialist.
The process of capitalism’s historical evolution from its so-called, and somewhat fabricated stage of free-enterprise to monopoly capitalism, and then further into what we refer to as imperialism, was outlined both theoretically and empirically by Vladamir Lenin well over a century ago in his classic text, Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism. The connection between monopoly and imperialism might not seem quite straightforward to you at first, and an understanding of imperialism itself as a process grounded in political economy may seem somewhat counterintuitive—especially if you’re used to thinking of imperialism and empire in the more popular sense of the words. But that’s why we’ve brought on two guests to walk us through this crucial text and help us make sense of it all.
Alyson Escalante and Breht O’Shea are the hosts of Red Menace, a podcast that explains and analyzes revolutionary theory and then applies its lessons to our contemporary conditions, and they’re both return guests of the show. In fact, they’ve been on a number of times to talk about other texts by Lenin but also to explore a wide variety of topics from trans liberation to revolutionary Buddhism. Breht is also the host of the terrific podcasts Revolutionary Left Radio and Shoeless in South Dakota.
In this episode, we unpack Lenin’s Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism. This episode is an excellent introduction to the text but it also takes deep dives and gets granular at times, picking apart the nuances and various interpretations of the text. We explore the historical context in which Lenin wrote this book and then trace capitalism’s history from its early stages into its monopoly form. We explore how finance capital emerged and became similarly concentrated, how this merging of concentrated finance and industrial capital began to spread out from capitalist countries into the periphery and began to carve up the world, and how this process led to what we now understand to be capitalism’s final and highest stage: imperialism. And, of course, we apply the text to a variety of current events and explore how we can apply Lenin’s ideas in ways that help us grow and strengthen our socialist movements globally.
Cover art: From WellRed Books' edition of Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism Intermission music: "Fallin' Rain" by Link Ray
Upstream is a labor of love—we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support
If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship
