Imperialism and geopolitical disorder*
Outline
Imperialism and global geopolitical disorder (Ana Cristina)
I. Imperialism in the 20th century
a) The foundations of Lenin's theory (J.A. Hobson, Hilferding, Rosa and Bukharin) Are the characteristics according to Lenin still valid today? b) Imperialism in the two Wars c) Cold War imperialism and the struggles for national liberation
II. Neo-liberal globalisation
a) Financial globalisation (Chesnais, Husson), globalisation of the chains of production and accumulation by dispossession (David Harvey) b) Imperialism and global inequality: the theses of Claudio Katz c) Armed globalisation - the "war on terror" and the war on drugs militarise life; the passing dream of a unipolar imperialism.
III. Imperialism and neoliberalism in the 21st century: apogee or radicalisation?
a) A new historical epoch - Daniel Bensaïd, 1995 NAFTA (1993), Maastricht (1992), WTO (1995) b) The rise of China and the transformation of Russia c) New characteristics of the system? The Dardot and Laval thesis d) Anti-imperialist waves: the Latin American "Pink Tide" and the Arab Spring
IV. Imperialism in a new crisis (since 2008) and reconfiguration
a) The nature of the imperialist crisis b) The rise of China, phase II: trade wars, sea lanes, one belt, one road - and Hong Kong c) The role of Putin's Russia d) Crises in the Middle East and fundamentalisms e) Brexit, Trump and the new global far right, Bolsonaro, Duterte, Modi, Duda, Orban - what do they mean? The dispute between two fractions of imperialist capital
V. The current picture: the world of pandemics and climate catastrophes
a) Covid-19, the convergence of crises and changes in the world situation b) The defeat of Trump and the weakening of Modi and Bolsonaro c) The enduring strength of the far right, despite the multiplication of resistance. The weakness of the reformist and anti-capitalist left. d) Imperial strategy under Biden: Back to Obama? - the US, China, 'the Quad' and Europe e) Opening up opportunities for the anti-capitalist left?
Readings
V.I. Lenin, Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism (Extracts), 1916.
Claudio Katz, "Imperialism in the 21st Century" (Excerpts), 2002
David Harvey, The New Imperialism, 2004. Chapter IV, Accumulation by Spoliation (Excerpts)
Dadot and Laval - "Anatomy of the New Neoliberalism", 2019.
Capitalist globalisation, imperialisms, geopolitical chaos and its implications; I, II, IV and IX (document of the IV World Congress 2018)
Pierre Rousset, Chinese ambitions - An imperialism in formation, excerpt: part I only, June 2014 (English translation)
IC 2021: Report on International Situation, Introduction, IV, V and VI, 2021
Supplementary reading:
Callinicos, Alex, "Brexit: a world-historical turn", International Socialism 151, 27 June 2016.
Dardot, Pierre and Laval, Christian, La nouvelle raison du monde - essay on neoliberal society, Gedisa, Barcelona, 2013. La nouvelle raison du monde, edition La Découvert, Paris, 2009-2010. The new way of the world - on neoliberalism, Verso Books, 2017 Introduction and Conclusions.
Rousset, Pierre: "What are the implications of Donald Trump's election?" 2017.
Wood, Ellen Meiksins, Empire of Capital, Verso Books, 2003.