Towards a Critique of Marxist Political Economy: Views from the Imperialist Centre

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World Review of Political Economy

Volume 9, Issue 3

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Towards a Critique of Marxist Political Economy: Views from the Imperialist Centre

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Author(s): Ingo Schmidt

Publication date (Print): 1 October 2018

Journal: World Review of Political Economy

Publisher: Pluto Journals

Keywords: Marxist political economy, neo-Marxism, Marxist orthodoxies, imperialism, class

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Abstract

This article suggests that a critique of Marxist political economy is the key to understanding the development of 20th-century socialisms and the state of global capitalism today. Although such a project requires engagement with Marxist political economy in all parts of the world, this article focuses on Marxist political economy in the imperialist centres. More specifically, it focuses on the theories of imperialism by Hilferding, Luxemburg and Lenin in the years leading up to World War I and the Russian revolution, and the neo-Marxisms and new readings of Marx's Capital during the long post-World War II boom. Critical readings of these different theoretical approaches will allow a re-reading of Marx's Capital focusing on capitalist development from Marx's days to the present.

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Author and article information

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Journal ID (doi): 10.2307/j50005553

Journal ID (jcode): worlrevipoliecon

Title: World Review of Political Economy

Publisher: Pluto Journals

ISSN: 2042-891X

ISSN: 2042-8928

Publication date (Print): 1 October 2018

Volume: 9

Issue: 3 ( doiID: 10.13169/worlrevipoliecon.9.issue-3 )

Pages: 364-386

Article

Publisher ID: worlrevipoliecon.9.3.0364

DOI: 10.13169/worlrevipoliecon.9.3.0364

SO-VID: edabe4ef-bf18-4bc0-89a5-c759b068f9d9

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ScienceOpen disciplines: Political economics

Keywords: Marxist orthodoxies,imperialism,class,Marxist political economy,neo-Marxism

References

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Baran, P. A. 1957. The Political Economy of Growth. New York: Monthly Review Press.
Baran, P. A., and P. M. Sweezy. 1966. Monopoly Capital—An Essay on the American Social Order. New York: Monthly Review Press.
Baran, P. A., and P. M. Sweezy. 2012. “Some Theoretical Implications.” Monthly Review 44 (3): 24–59.
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Chesnais, F. 2017. Finance Capital Today: Corporations and Banks in the Lasting Global Slump. Leiden: Brill Publishers.
Federici, S. 2012. Revolution at Point Zero—Housework, Reproduction, and Feminist Struggle. Oakland: PM Press.
Federici, S. 2017. “Capital and Gender.” In Reading “Capital” Today: Marx after 150 Years, edited by I. Schmidt and C. Fanelli, 79–96. London: Pluto Press.
Foster, J. B., and R. W. McChesney. 2012. The Endless Crisis: How Monopoly-Finance-Capital Produces Stagnation and Upheaval from the USA to China. New York: Monthly Review Press.
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Comments

Comment on this article

[1] Althusser, L. (1965) 2009. Reading Capital. London and New York: Verso.

[2] Amin, S. 1977. Imperialism and Unequal Development. New York: Monthly Review Press.

[3] Baran, P. A. 1957. The Political Economy of Growth. New York: Monthly Review Press.

[4] Baran, P. A., and P. M. Sweezy. 1966. Monopoly Capital—An Essay on the American Social Order. New York: Monthly Review Press.

[5] Baran, P. A., and P. M. Sweezy. 2012. “Some Theoretical Implications.” Monthly Review 44 (3): 24–59.

[6] Bernstein, E. 1899. “Evolutionary Socialism.” Accessed December 8, 2017. https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/bernstein/works/1899/evsoc/index.htm.

[7] Chesnais, F. 2017. Finance Capital Today: Corporations and Banks in the Lasting Global Slump. Leiden: Brill Publishers.

[8] Federici, S. 2012. Revolution at Point Zero—Housework, Reproduction, and Feminist Struggle. Oakland: PM Press.

[9] Federici, S. 2017. “Capital and Gender.” In Reading “Capital” Today: Marx after 150 Years, edited by I. Schmidt and C. Fanelli, 79–96. London: Pluto Press.

[10] Foster, J. B., and R. W. McChesney. 2012. The Endless Crisis: How Monopoly-Finance-Capital Produces Stagnation and Upheaval from the USA to China. New York: Monthly Review Press.

[11] Grossmann, H. (1929) 1992. The Law of Accumulation and the Breakdown of the Capitalist System. London: Pluto Press.

[12] Heinrich, M. 2012. An Introduction to the Three Volumes of Karl Marx's Capital. New York: Monthly Review Press.

[13] Hilferding, R. 1904. “Böhm-Bawerk's Criticism of Marx.” Accessed December 1, 2017. https://www.marxists.org/archive/hilferding/1904/criticism/index.htm.

[14] Hilferding, R. (1910) 2006. Finance Capital: A Study in the Latest Phase of Capitalism. London: Routledge.

[15] Hobsbawm, E. 1989. The Age of Empire, 1875–1914. London: Abacus Books.

[16] Hobsbawm, E. 1995. The Age of Extremes. London: Abacus Books.

[17] Hobson, J. A. (1902) 2011. Imperialism—A Study. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[18] Hoff, J. 2017. Marx Worldwide: On the Development of the International Discourse on Marx since 1965. Chicago: Haymarket Books.

[19] Lapavitsas, C. 2013. Profiting without Production: How Finance Exploits Us All. London: Verso.

[20] Lenin, V. I. (1899) 2004. The Development of Capitalism in Russia. Honolulu: University of the Pacific Press.

[21] Lenin, V. I. (1916) 2010. Imperialism—The Highest Stage of Capitalism. London: Penguin.

[22] Luxemburg, R. (1898) 2013. “The Industrial Development of Poland.” In The Complete Works of Rosa Luxemburg, vol. 1, edited by P. Hudis, 1–78. London: Verso.

[23] Luxemburg, R. 1900. “Reform or Revolution.” Accessed December 8, 2017. https://www.marxists.org/archive/luxemburg/1900/reform-revolution/index.htm.

[24] Luxemburg, R. 1906. “The Mass Strike, the Political Party and the Trade Unions.” Accessed December 8, 2017. https://www.marxists.org/archive/luxemburg/1906/mass-strike/index.htm.

[25] Luxemburg, R. 1909. “The National Question.” Accessed December 8, 2017. https://www.marxists.org/archive/luxemburg/1909/national-question/index.htm.

[26] Luxemburg, R. (1913) 2016. “The Accumulation of Capital.” In The Complete Works of Rosa Luxemburg, vol. 2, edited by P. Hudis and P. Le Blanc, 7–342. London: Verso.

[27] Magdoff, H., and P. M. Sweezy. 1987. Stagnation and the Financial Explosion. New York: Monthly Review Press.

[28] Mandel, E. (1962) 1968. Marxist Economic Theory. New York: Monthly Review Press.

[29] Mandel, E. (1972) 1985. Late Capitalism. London: Verso.

[30] Marcuse, H. 1964. One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the Ideology of Advanced Industrial Society. Boston: Beacon Press.

[31] Marx, K. (1858) 1993. Grundrisse. London: Penguin.

[32] Marx, K. (1867) 1976. Capital. Vol. 1. London: Penguin.

[33] Marx, K. (1885) 1978. Capital. Vol. 2. London: Penguin.

[34] Marx, K. (1894) 1981. Capital. Vol. 3. London: Penguin.

[35] Mattick, P. 1934. “The Permanent Crisis—Henryk Grossmann's Interpretation of Marx's Theory of Capitalist Accumulation.” Accessed December 14, 2017. https://www.marxists.org/archive/mattick-paul/1934/permanent-crisis.htm.

[36] Mattick, P. 1966. “Baran and Sweezy's Monopoly Capital.” Accessed December 14, 2017. https://www.marxists.org/archive/mattick-paul/1966/monopoly-capital.htm.

[37] Mattick, P. 1969. Marx and Keynes—The Limits of the Mixed Economy. Boston: Porter Sargent.

[38] Mattick, P. 1972. “Ernest Mandel's Late Capitalism.” Accessed December 14, 2017. https://www.marxists.org/archive/mattick-paul/1972/mandel.htm.

[39] Mattick, P. 1974. Kritik Der Neomarxisten [Critique of the Neo-Marxists]. Frankfurt: Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag.

[40] Mattick, P. 1978. Anti-Bolshevik Communism. London: Merlin Press.

[41] O'Connor, J. 1987. The Meaning of Crisis. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

[42] Schmidt, I. 2011. “There Were Alternatives: Lessons from Efforts to Advance beyond Keynesian and Neoliberal Economic Policies in the 1970s.” Working USA 14 (4): 473–498.

[43] Schmidt, I. 2014. “Capital Accumulation and Class Struggle from the ‘Long 19th Century’ to the Present—A Luxemburgian Interpretation.” International Critical Thought 4 (4): 457–473.

[44] Schmidt, I. 2015. “Counteracting Factors: The Unmaking and Remaking of Working Classes in Europe.” Perspectives on Global Development and Technology 14 (1–2): 129–145.

[45] Silver, B. J. 2003. Forces of Labor: Workers' Movements and Globalization since 1870. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[46] Smith, J. 2016. Imperialism in the 21st Century—Globalization, Super-exploitation, and Capitalism's Final Crisis. New York: Monthly Review Press.

[47] Sweezy, P. M. (1942) 1970. The Theory of Capitalist Development. New York: Monthly Review Press.

[48] Tosel, A. 2005. “The Development of Marxism: From the End of Marxism–Leninism to a Thousand Marxisms.” In Critical Companion to Contemporary Marxism, edited by J. Bidet and S. Kouvelakis, 39–78. Chicago: Haymarket Books.

[49] Varga, E. 1924. “The Decline of Capitalism.” Accessed December 12, 2017. https://www.marxists.org/archive/varga/1924/x01/x01.htm.

[50] Wright, S. 2017. Storming Heaven—Class Composition and Struggle in Italian Autonomist Marxism. London: Pluto Press.