Imperialism as policy emerged from nineteenth-century European capital stagnation

Evidence

WHAT IMPERIALISTS actually wanted was expansion of political power without the foundation of a body politic. Imperialist expansion had been touched off by a curious kind of economic crisis, the overproduction of capital and the emergence of “superfluous” money, the result of oversaving, which could no longer find productive investment within the national borders. For the first time, investment of power did not pave the way for investment of money, but export of power followed meekly in the train of exported money, since uncontrollable investments in distant countries threatened to transform large strata of society into gamblers, to change the whole capitalist economy from a system of production into a system of financial speculation, and to replace the profits of production with profits in commissions. — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 366 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Post-1850 capitalist globalization proceeded through imperial conquest that reterritorialized world space. — David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity: An…, 1674; Early geopoliticians rationalized imperial expansion through national destiny ideologies — David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity: An…, 1741; Nineteenth-century European imperialism often worked through debt rather than direct rule (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Imperialism arose from oversaved capital seeking foreign investment, not territorial motives #corroborates (0.95) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 366