Rosa Luxemburg’s The Accumulation of Capital, postcolonial theory, and the problem of present day imperialisms
New Formations - ISSN 0950-2378
Volume 2018 Number 94
Rosa Luxemburg’s The Accumulation of Capital, postcolonial theory, and the problem of present day imperialisms
Kanishka Chowdhury pages -
DOI: 10.3898/NEWF:94.09.2018
Abstract
Rosa Luxemburg’s classic work The Accumulation of Capital reveals, with a great degree of clarity, the function of imperialism in determining the global movement and accumulation of capital. Her attention to the constitutive role of international credit, tariffs and militarism, not just as manifestations of imperialism but as methods integral to the project of capital accumulation, continues to have a significant bearing on our own time, offering us valuable insights for disrupting current theories of globalisation and the postcolonial. The reason for highlighting the inadequacies of these particular theories is because over the last three decades, they have become the predominant analytical lens through which asymmetrical global relations have been viewed. While acknowledging the gaps in Luxemburg’s analysis of imperialist practices, I will, nevertheless, consider how her fiery critique of imperial activities of her time hold tremendous possibilities for investigating the vexed dialectic between capitalist and non-capitalist organisations as reflected in existing global arrangements, even as I specify ways to trouble those categories. Indeed, what may Luxemburg’s categorisation of a non-capitalist space look like in the current conjuncture, where it is almost impossible to escape the centrality of capitalist relations? Moreover, if postcolonial theory in its many formations remains the predominant mode of analysing global asymmetries, how might its uncovering of these asymmetries be strengthened by an attention to Luxemburg’s work?
SORRY - you are not registered as being permitted online access to the full text of this article
You have the following options:
- If you are viewing this via an institution or academic library you can ask that your institution takes out a Subscription to this journal.
- If you already have a Personal Subscription please login below
Forgotten your username / password? Click here to locate
- Purchase an annual Personal Subscription
PRINT + DIGITAL personal subscription (£45 / year)
DIGITAL personal subscription (£30 / year)
A Personal Subscription provides immediate access not only to the single article you are seeking, but also to all past and future articles in this journal up to the expiry of your annual (calendar year) subscription. - Purchase immediate access to this single article (UK£7.00) - Buy article Coming Soon
To cite this article
Kanishka Chowdhury (2018) Rosa Luxemburg’s The Accumulation of Capital, postcolonial theory, and the problem of present day imperialisms, New Formations, 2018(94), -. https://doi.org/10.3898/NEWF:94.09.2018