Marxist Theories of Imperialism: A Critical Survey

The last 200 years have seen a massive increase in the size of the world economy and equally massive inequalities of wealth and power between different parts of the world. They have also witnessed the rise to dominance of the capitalist mode of production. Marxists, from Marx himself though to present day thinkers, have argued that these changes are profoundly interconnected. This book offers an account of the arguments for these interconnections, which are usually couched in terms of theories of imperialism. Covering figures as diverse as Hobson, Luxemburg and Bukharin as well as Marx himself, it analyzes how Marxists have accounted for the role of imperialism in the spread of world capitalism. Marx has expected the spread of capitalism to lead to full capitalist development everywhere (unless anticipated by socialist revolution), while Lenin and his contemporaries concentrated on the role of monopoly and inter-imperialist rivalry. More recently, the focus of theory has shifted to the explanation of underdevelopment, which has prompted a renaissance of Marxist thought. This account of Marxist theories of imperialism is now appearing in a revised and expanded edition.