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      A Self-Enriching Pact: Imperialism and the Global South

      research-article
      Journal of Global Faultlines
      Pluto Journals
      Imperialism, labor superexploitation, neocolonialism, Harvey, Capital
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            Abstract

            This article summarizes the main points under debate between David Harvey and John Smith concerning international value transfers and labor superexploitation. It evaluates that superexploitation is more than a descriptive term, rather a central concept for understanding contemporary imperialism. The article assesses claims concerning the rise of China in Africa, and argues that neocolonialism is a general condition that has been modified but not superseded by the rise of the BRICS. The article argues that Harvey’s misreading of global imperialism is connected to his mistinterpretation of Marx’s Capital, and concludes that international solidarity against neocolonialism is required.

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            Author and article information

            Contributors
            Journal
            10.2307/j50018794
            jglobfaul
            Journal of Global Faultlines
            Pluto Journals
            2054-2089
            2397-7825
            1 December 2018
            : 5
            : 1-2 ( doiID: 10.13169/jglobfaul.5.issue-1-2 )
            : 49-57
            Affiliations
            Andy Higginbottom is an Associate Professor at Kingston University, London. He is involved in solidarity groups supporting social movements in Colombia, South Africa, and Tamil Eelam.
            Article
            jglobfaul.5.1-2.0049
            10.13169/jglobfaul.5.1-2.0049
            82103cfb-05ad-4fd6-b088-80b23441e143
            This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

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            History
            Custom metadata
            eng

            Social & Behavioral Sciences
            Imperialism,Harvey, Capital ,labor superexploitation,neocolonialism

            Notes

            1. See John Smith, Imperialism in the 21st Century (Monthly Review Press, New York, 2015), chaps 6 and 9; and John Smith, “The GDP Illusion: Value Added versus Value Capture,” Monthly Review, July 2012. https://monthlyreview.org/2012/07/01/the-gdp-illusion/.

            2. Andy Higginbottom, “Structure and Essence in Capital and the Stages of Capitalism,” Journal of Australian Political Economy, no. 70 (2012): 251–270.

            3. Personal communication, 15 June 2018.

            4. Torkil Lauesen and Zac Cope give a good explanation in “Imperialism and the Transformation of Values into Prices,” Monthly Review, 67, no. 3 (July-August 2015): 54–67. https://monthlyreview.org/2015/07/01/imperialism-and-the-transformation-of-values-into-prices/

            5. Harvey summarizes Marx's position as “Machines are a source of relative surplus value but not of value.” David Harvey, A Companion to Marx's “Capital” (Verso, London/New York, 2010, 169). This is just nonsensical, arrived at by snipping sentences out of context. The underlying point is that capital uses machines as a “source” of relative surplus value only because by doing so labor is rendered more productive and the individual labor time taken to produce a given commodity is less than the socially necessary labor time. Workers’ labor creates value and relative surplus value, using machines to do so.

            6. “Visualizing Capital” with Professor David Harvey from Minute 22 onward. http://davidharvey.org/2017/02/video-visualizing-capital-professor-david-harvey-oxford-january-2017/

            7. Utsa Patnaik and Prabhat Patnaik, A Theory of Imperialism (Columbia University Press, New York, 2016).

            8. For a recent reminder see Shashi Tharoor, Inglorious Empire: What the British Did to India (Hurst and Co., London, 2017), chap. 1.

            9. Radha D'Souza, Industrialism, Law, Science and Imperialism, 2015, Minute 22:14 and David Harvey Speech at Network for an Alternative Quest Conference II, Hamburg, 3–5 April 2015, Minute 18:45. http://networkaq.net/2015/2015/speeches/index.html

            10. A term coined by Dali Mpofu. See Dali Mpofu, Mpati Qofa, and Reghana Tulk, Heads of Agreement on Behalf of Injured And Arrested Persons (Centurion, SA: Farlam Commission, 2014). http://www.serisa.org/images/Injured_Arrested_Heads.pdf. For a review of the literature, see Andy Higginbottom, The Marikana Massacre in South Africa: the Results of Toxic Collusion, 2018. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323607571_The_Marikana_Massacre_in_South_Africa_the_Results_of_Toxic_Collusion.

            11. “Here are 10 demands from the #FeesMustFall protesters,” 5 October 2016. https://businesstech.co.za/news/government/139149/here-are-10-demands-from-the-feesmustfall-protesters/

            12. Amadiba Crisis Committee https://www.facebook.com/amadibacrisiscommittee/

            13. Abahlali baseMjondolo http://www.abahlali.org

            14. Housing Assembly https://housingassembly.wordpress.com/

            15. Stephen Gill, “Are Colombia's Social Leaders Facing Another Extermination?” Colombia Reports, 22 February 2018. https://colombiareports.com/more-than-200-social-leaders-assassinated-during-colombia-peace-process-report/

            16. See Seb Ordóñez and Patrick Kane, “Colombian Strike: ‘To Live with Dignity, Our People Don't Give Up'.” 31 May 2017; “The ‘Military Response’ of the Government to Buenaventura: 300 Wounded, 10 with Firearms.” 5 June 2017. https://www.opendemocracy.net/democraciaabierta/seb-ord-ez-patrick-kane/colombian-strike-to-live-with-dignity-our-people-don-t-giv

            17. See Bremen Human Rights Association and Permanent Peoples Tribunal on Sri Lanka. http://www.ptsrilanka.org/

            18. Vedanta Resources, “A Great Diversified Story – Mining Indaba presentation.” 7 February 2017, 19. http://www.vedantaresources.com/media/208929/feb2017_indaba_presentation.pdf

            19. NDTV, “'No Warning': Witnesses Describe How Police Shot Anti-Sterlite Protesters,” 29 May 2018. https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/no-warning-witnesses-describe-how-police-shot-anti-sterlite-protesters-intuticorin-1859554

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