Ultra - imperialism is a hypothetically conceivable phase of capitalism following imperialism . This idea is based on the fact that imperialism, with its desire for war, can be overcome within the capitalist formation itself . The related concepts of “super-imperialism”, “hyper-imperialism” and “post-imperialism” are often used as synonyms. At the time of its inception, the closest synonym for ultra-imperialism was the content of the concept of “collective imperialism”.
The main typical features of ultra-imperialism are considered along with the rejection of violence between the developed capitalist powers and their successful cooperation in international organizations , also increasing freedom of trade , gathering forces and the merging of capital while increasing concentration of capital . In this, ultra-imperialism, as a capitalist formation , is significantly different from imperialism , which is characterized by trends in protectionism , the desire to protect the zones of national economies from export , while increasing export to the outside. Both phases are monopolistic in nature.
Content
The origin of the concept
The thesis of ultra-imperialism is considered to have been developed by Karl Kautsky , a Czech-German Marxist, historian, publicist and ideologist of the social democratic movement of the times of the German Empire . Indeed, Kautsky designated this concept and first used it in 1914 . But, nevertheless, he outlined to them a concept that he had spoken about many times since 1912 . He postulated that this is the stage at which state competition will be supplanted by the interaction of cartels . According to Kautsky, ultra-imperialism thus manifests itself in state cartels, that is, the political structure of cartels.
This basic idea of appeasing imperialism was not developed personally by Kautsky at all. Already in 1902, the British social liberal John Hobson, in a similar context, wrote about Interimperialism , which is just characterized by the union of cartels of the largest powers.
Karl Liebknecht, even before Kautsky, in 1907, in his pamphlet Militarism and Anti-Militarism, expressed the opinion that there could come “a unification of all possible colonial possessions under colonial states into a trust, so to speak ... the exclusion of colonial competition between states, as it happens in private competition between capitalist enterprises in cartels and trusts. ”
Criticism of the Concept by Kautsky's Contemporaries
In his work “ Imperialism, as the Highest Stage of Capitalism ”, Lenin in 1916 refuted Kautsky. Lenin used the then-known theories of profit making by cartels of enterprises and referred to the instability and crisis tendency characteristic of cartels, as well as the impossibility of long-term regulation or suppression of competition by cartels. He proved that if state cartels function like regular enterprise cartels, a power struggle will also be necessary and inevitable. Accordingly, the construction of cartels by imperialist forces will be something like a respite between wars and other conflicts between them.
Lenin's opposition to the pacifist views of the Social Democratic forces of the Second International went down in the history of Marxism as a discussion of Lenin and Kautsky.
Further development of the thesis of ultra-imperialism
After World War II, relations between the leading capitalist powers really began to resemble Kautsky’s vision of ultra-imperialism: they became more friendly, prone to political cooperation and more economically liberal. In the form of international organizations such as NATO , the European Union , the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development , cartel-like alliances between Western countries have arisen. These changes cause constant discussion among modern Marxists about the possible change in the nature of capitalism, but the thesis of ultra-imperialism remains controversial. Most Marxists are in no hurry to abandon the Leninist theory of imperialism. Nevertheless, this concept is actively used in the English-speaking countries by Martin Thomas , in the German-speaking political scientist Garmut Elsenhals . But to some worthy mention of the serious development of the theory, the matter did not reach.
The theory of state cartels is really used in the study of state relations, but, firstly, it uses only the foundations of the theory of ultra-imperialism, and secondly, it is not Marxist itself.
In Russian-language literature, scenarios similar to Kautsky’s ultra-imperialism were described by Alexander Zinoviev , for example, in the dystopian novel The Global Humane [1]
Notes
Literature
- "Ultra-imperialism" theory - an article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia . Afanasyev V.S.
- Karl Kautsky Ultra-imperialism
- Lenin. Imperialism, as the highest stage of capitalism