Everyone and their dog claims to be anti-imperialist these days. But while
the term is often used interchangeably with colonialism, expansionism, and militarism,
when Marxists talk about imperialism, we’re referring to something else.
Now, that “something else” will generally include colonialism, expansionism and militarism,
but these are only secondary aspects of it. When Marxists talk about imperialism, we’re
talking primarily about an economic mechanism. Now, this economic imperialism may necessitate
war, or it may take place peacefully. It may utilise colonialism and expansionism,
or it may find alternative, more efficient, ways of being carried out.
To delineate this Marxist conception of imperialism from earlier forms of imperialism,
such as that seen with the Roman Empire, we can refer to this modern phenomenon as
capitalist imperialism, or monopoly capitalism. Right, so now that we’ve clarified what it’s not,
let’s talk about what exactly capitalist imperialism is.
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If you’re not in a position to support financially, you can help out a lot by
sharing these videos around on social media. Capitalist Imperialism, or Monopoly Capitalism,
refers to the stage of capitalism that occurs after Industrial Capitalism which
emerged at the beginning of the 20th century and continues to this day.
At this stage: 1) Free competition among capitalists
has led to a concentration of production and capital which has given way to monopolies that
now play a decisive role in economic life. 2) Industrial capital becomes merged with
bank capital, creating what’s known as “finance capital”. Those who wield this finance capital,
controlling both industry and the banks, merge with the bourgeois government and
come to form a “financial oligarchy”. 3) Rather than just commodities being
exported, now capital itself is exported around the world.
This export of capital, as opposed to export of commodities, makes less developed countries
dependent on the imperialist powers. 4) International monopolist capitalist
associations are formed in order to share out the world among themselves
and divvy up the loot globally. 5) And, finally, Territorial
division of the entire world between the great capitalist powers is completed.
Lenin summarises this by stating that, “Imperialism is capitalism at that
stage of development at which the dominance of monopolies and finance capital is established;
in which the export of capital has acquired pronounced importance;
in which the division of the world among the international trusts has begun, in which the
division of all territories of the globe among the biggest capitalist powers has been completed.”
There’s a lot to unpack there, so let’s take a deeper at each of these
aspects of Monopoly Capitalism one-by-one. Monopolies are the cornerstone of capitalist
imperialism. Furthermore, these monopolies are an inevitable outgrowth of capitalism.
As capitalists appropriate the unpaid labour of workers through wage labour to realise
their profits, they reinvest a portion of those profits in more commodities (means
of production and labour-power) and accumulate further capital. As this process repeats itself,
the enterprise grows and freely competes with other enterprises doing the same thing.
In the process of this competition, smaller capitalists with fewer workers are driven
out of the market by larger capitalists with more workers through various means,
including mergers and acquisitions, patents and copyrights, predatory pricing, and so on.
Consequently, capital becomes concentrated into fewer and fewer hands as a large
number of small businesses becomes a small number of large businesses.
This small number of large businesses then form cartels, trusts and syndicates with one another
in order to reduce outside competition and maximise profits between them.
“Cartels come to an agreement on the terms of sale, dates of payment, etc. They divide the
markets among themselves. They fix the quantity of goods to be produced. They fix prices. They divide
the profits among the various enterprises, etc.” So at a certain point in the development of
capitalism, the free market and its open competition becomes its polar opposite:
monopoly, or – more commonly today - oligopoly. A small group of enterprises controls everything
and these monopolies, or oligopolies, come to play a decisive role in the economy.
This is extremely apparent today where we see prominent monopolies in the Tech industry,
Food and Agribusiness, Pharmaceuticals, Retail, Manufacturing, the Media, and so on. In fact,
a close network of just 147 companies controls over 40% of total corporate assets globally.
However, industrial capitalists wouldn’t get far without the banks.
As capitalism develops, the monopoly capital of industry and the banks grow more and more
intertwined, eventually becoming virtually indistinguishable. This merging of monopoly
industrial capital and monopoly banking capital becomes what’s known as “finance capital”. And
the monopolists who wield this finance capital become what’s known as “the financial oligarchy”.
But how does this merging between the capital of industry and the banks occur?
“As banking develops and becomes concentrated in a small number of establishments, the banks grow
from modest middlemen into powerful monopolies having at their command almost the whole of the
money capital of all the capitalists and small businessmen and also the larger part of the means
of production and sources of raw materials in any one country and in a number of countries.”
So, the banks find themselves handling huge amounts of industrial capital, and by managing the
current accounts of these enterprises the banks develop thorough knowledge of the enterprises’
holdings and larger economic positions, making the industrialists dependent on the banks.
But not only do the banks simply hold (or even control) the money capital of the industrialists.
More and more they, too, become directly invested in industry themselves,
sinking enormous sums of their own funds into industry to be employed by industrialists.
More and more, the monopoly industrialists and the monopoly bankers become the very same people.
“A personal link-up, so to speak, is established between the banks and the biggest industrial
and commercial enterprises, the merging of one with another through the acquisition of shares,
through the appointment of bank directors to the Supervisory Boards (or Boards of
Directors) of industrial and commercial enterprises, and vice versa. […] The “personal
link-up” between the banks and industry is supplemented by the “personal link-up”
between both of them and the government.” Wielding monopolised industry in one hand
and monopolised banking in the other, the financial oligarchy comes to dominate
all areas of society at the highest stage of capitalism with their finance capital.
Now, the domination of finance capital is not limited to the confines of national boundaries.
In fact, already in the 1848 Communist Manifesto, during the period of Industrial Capitalism,
Marx and Engels had noted that “The need of a constantly expanding market for its products
chases the bourgeoisie over the entire surface of the globe. It must nestle everywhere, settle
everywhere, establish connexions everywhere.” Seeking infinite, maximal growth, impossible
especially within the narrow confines of national boundaries, capital expands internationally into
every corner of the world in order to realise superprofits. This is facilitated by the export
of finance capital, backed by industry and the banks of the imperial core, around the globe.
Importantly, this is not simply the export of commodities.
“Typical of the old capitalism, when free competition held undivided sway, was the export of
goods. Typical of the latest stage of capitalism, when monopolies rule, is the export of capital.”
As opposed to basic international trade, export of capital would instead include extractive
endeavours like giving out loans around the world in order to make money from interest;
setting up companies in countries where labour-power can be purchased more cheaply,
facilitating the superexploitation of labour and corresponding superprofits;
and a whole range of other forms of Outward Foreign Direct Investment
which develop relations of dependence internationally upon the imperialist powers.
A typical example of the export of capital that we can see regularly today would be imperialist
powers buying up mines in underdeveloped countries and then sending the raw materials
and wealth generated from this back to the imperial core. Through these ways and more,
the financial oligarchy continues to loot and plunder the world.
Similarly to how cartels, trusts and syndicates are set up to monopolise
and manage affairs locally, at the stage of imperialism we also see the development of
international monopolist capitalist associations to manage these monopolies at the global level.
Prominent examples of international monopolist capitalist associations today would include the
United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Trade Organisation.
While most countries in the world are part of these associations, imperialist powers like the
United States and the United Kingdom monopolise these institutions through various means.
Generally, by contributing the most financially to these institutions and
having the largest holdings, the imperialist powers hold the largest share of the voting
rights which they can then use to force their preferred policies upon the oppressed nations.
We see this concretely, for example, with the IMF and the World Bank wherein
the United States alone holds over 17% of the voting rights for each.
We can also point to the European Union as an international monopolist capitalist
association, today primarily dominated by the imperialist alliance of Germany and France.
Lastly, the stage of monopoly capitalism is characterised by the completion of the
territorial division of every corner of the world, and potentially redivision beyond this.
When Lenin was writing Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism in 1916,
this referred primarily to territorial division by the process of colonialism.
The world had just witnessed the Scramble for Africa of the late 19th century wherein Western
European powers carved up and dished out almost the entire African continent among themselves,
locking down their spheres of influence. However, the direct political control of
colonialism would often provoke armed rebellion against the imperialists, so over the course of
the 20th century the imperialist powers instead moved towards embracing neo-colonialism.
With neo-colonialism, countries could be nominally independent politically, but economically these
countries would continue to be dominated by and dependent upon the imperialist powers. We see
this situation in numerous former colonies around the world which have now become semi-colonies.
So, when we talk about the territorial division of the world today, we’re primarily
referring to the spheres of influence that are maintained with neo-colonialism - though some
full colonies do still remain. Unlike with direct colonialism,
where a colony would be dominated primarily by one imperialist power, neo-colonialism permits
multiple imperialist powers to exploit particular semi-colonies simultaneously.
A country that was once a British colony may now be a semi-colony of Britain,
the United States and Germany, with each of these imperialist powers working together
in concert to superexploit the semi-colony and parasitically funnel wealth and resources back
to their respective imperialist cores. Today we’ve taken a look at the defining
features of the highest stage of capitalism: capitalist imperialism. First, as a result of
the concentration and centralisation of capital, free competition is eliminated and monopolies now
dominate and play a decisive role in economic life. Second, through the merging of industrial
and banking capital, finance capital is created. The monopolists who wield this finance capital –
the financial oligarchy – come to dominate and play decisive roles in all aspects of society.
Third, this finance capital is exported beyond national boundaries into every corner of the world
in pursuit of superprofits which are then sent back to the imperial core. Fourth, international
monopolist capitalist associations are formed in order to divide up and manage the spheres
of influence of the imperialist powers. And fifth, the entirety of the world is territorially divided
by these imperialist powers, formerly through colonialism, and now through neo-colonialism.
This is the Marxist understanding of capitalist imperialism.
To dive deeper into this subject, make sure to read Lenin’s pamphlet, Imperialism: The Highest
Stage of Capitalism. It’s relatively short and written in very accessible language,
so it should be easy enough. If you’re struggling to understand
the Concentration and Centralisation of Capital that leads to monopolies,
this process is explained in Chapter 25, Section 2, of Karl Marx’s Capital Volume 1.
For more on the 20th century transition from imperialist reliance on colonies to imperialist
reliance on semi-colonies, read Kwame Nkrumah’s Neo-Colonialism: The Last Stage of Imperialism.
For more on how monopoly capitalism functions today globally, particularly regarding how
imperialist countries monopolise international institutions, have a read of “International
Institutional Monopoly Capitalism and Its Manifestations” by Vu Manh Cuong on Monthly
Review Online. Each of these resources and more are linked in the description box below.
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