By James Doughney In a recent article in Monthly Review (Volume 76, Number 6, November 2024), “The New Denial of Imperialism on the Left”1, John Bellamy Foster argued:
> > A common economistic error advanced primarily by Western Marxist theorists > has been to suggest, without any real backing, that Lenin saw imperialism > as a product of the export of capital, or that it had its cause in > economic crisis theory [sic] of some sort, either underconsumption or the > tendency of the rate of profit to fall. In contrast, Lenin himself, in > fact, argued that imperialism was the monopoly stage of capitalism and was > thus as basic to the system as the search for profits. It thus needed no > special economic explanation. (Bellamy Foster 2024, endnote 12) > The article as a whole, whatever other virtues it might or might not have, exhibits this odd perspective. In particular, Bellamy Foster’s claim concerning the export of capital is plainly wrong, as the following excerpts from Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism (Lenin 1916) demonstrate. The export of capital was, to Lenin’s mind, an exceptionally important part of what was, in every respect, a special economic explanation: ‘the connection and relationships between the principal economic features of imperialism’, as he put it (1916, p. 641). The excerpts are long — forgivably, I hope — but I think it best to let Lenin speak for himself. In addition, the excerpts double — usefully, again I hope — as a selective précis of Imperialism. After the section “Lenin in his own words”, I shall try to distill his conception of the principal economic features of imperialism and briefly refer to the questions of underconsumption and the tendency of the rate of profit to fall. I should add that this contribution is not a defence of Lenin’s conception. Rather, it is an appeal for accuracy in describing it. As Lenin said in Imperialism, facts are stubborn things. Textual facts are especially stubborn because they remain in print. Continue reading at https://links.org.au/place-capital-exports-lenins-conception-imperialism-response-john-bellamy-foster -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#34400): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/34400 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/110435583/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/13617172/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
