Theories of Imperialism

3 credits · Graduate

This graduate seminar will explore theoretical and empirical debates within and beyond the Marxist tradition about imperialism and its relationship to capitalism, the state, and class relations, and its relevance as an analytical category in the contemporary global order. Our focus will be on the intellectual history of imperialism as a name for the political economy of uneven and combined development, with attention to its unfolding relation to social difference, violence, and domination. Topics for reading include the historical relationship between colonial and capitalist modes of production, the transition from formal to informal empire, relations between commercial, agrarian and industrial capital in global history, race and sexuality.