Imperialism is capitalism’s political drive for the remainders of the noncapitalist world

Evidence

According to Rosa Luxemburg’s brilliant insight into the political structure of imperialism (op. cit., pp. 273 ff., pp. 361 ff.), the “historical process of the accumulation of capital depends in all its aspects upon the existence of noncapitalist social strata,” so that “imperialism is the political expression of the accumulation of capital in its competition for the possession of the remainders of the noncapitalistic world.” This essential dependence of capitalism upon a noncapitalistic world lies at the basis of all other aspects of imperialism, which then may be explained as the results of oversaving and maldistribution (Hobson, op. cit.), as the result of overproduction and the consequent need for new markets (Lenin, Imperialism, the Last Stage of Capitalism, 1917), as the result of an undersupply of raw material (Hayes, op. cit.), or as capital export in order to equalize the national profit rate (Hilferding, op. cit.). — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 2224

Categorization

• DEFINE: Luxemburg’s definition of imperialism as the political expression of capitalist accumulation against noncapitalist strata — a core mechanism for the field.
• XREF: Connects to the expansion-and-exclusion mechanisms behind colonial rule that later Islamophobia readings assume. — connects to: Post-1850 capitalist globalization proceeded through imperial conquest that reterritorialized world space. — David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity: An…, 1674; Marxist categories still explain contemporary multinational and media capitalism — Jean-François Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition: A Report on…, 48; Lenin defined imperialism as the monopoly stage of capitalism, making war endemic to it — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 254 (+3 more)