Colonialism and Nationalism in India Notes In English Medium

Question 1. Evaluate Lenin's theory of imperialism. Discuss its relevance in modern times.

Answer -

Introduction

Lenin argued that imperialist expansion allowed capitalism to postpone its inevitable crisis and metamorphose into socialism. It also created new, serious problems for the world. Lenin viewed World War I as an imperialist war, caused by tensions that arose from the simultaneous expansion of several European empires.
The theory of imperialism refers to a range of theoretical approaches to understanding the expansion of capitalism into new areas, the unequal development of different countries, and economic systems that may lead to the dominance of some countries over others.

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Imperialism: Imperialism is formal or informal economic and political domination of one country over the other. imperialism as an idea behind the practice.

Lenin's theory of imperialism

The essence of Lenin's theory of imperialism as a particular stage of capitalism was precisely that it was distinguished by the growing domination of exchange and exchange relations (and of the bank capital money earned through exchange) over production and relations of production.

Features of Lenin's Theory

1. The concentration & merger of industrial & banking capital to create financial capital, dominated by a small financial oligarchy.

2. The export of capital gains prominence over the export of commodities.

3. The formation of transnational corporations that compete to control global resources, labor & markets.

4. The division of the world between the largest capitalist powers becomes complete, this intensifies national rivalries & the danger of

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Lenin's theory relevance in modern times
Lenin's theory of imperialism revolves primarily around the systematic exploitation of the poor economies by monopoly capital based principally in the rich economies. Within Lenin's framework, inter-imperialist wars are secondary to exploitation of the poor economies, as these wars are ultimately about redrawing the terms and conditions of that exploitation.
For Lenin, the key to understanding imperialism is monopoly. He argued: "If it were necessary to give the briefest possible definition of imperialism, we should have to say that imperialism is the monopoly stage of capitalism. Such a definition would include what is most important".

Lenin outlined five principal features characterising imperialism at the beginning of the twentieth century. Monopoly is at the core of all five. They were:

(1) the transition from free competition to monopoly production;

(2) the formation on this basis of monopolist trusts, cartels and banks and their merger into a new, higher form of monopoly - "finance capital";

(3) the exceptional importance of export of capital as opposed to export of commodities

(4) beginning of division of the world between international monopolist businesses;

(5) completion of division of the world between the great powers. However, since Lenin wrote, some forms of monopoly have changed.

Monopoly
Lenin had a nuanced understanding of monopoly. He never argued that specific forms of monopoly (that is, specific technical stages) represented the highest "stage" that monopoly could take. Bukharin mistakenly elevated direct state intervention in forms common to his era as the highest and inevitable outcome of capitalist monopoly. Bukharin's "state capitalist trusts" have mostly been supplanted in the modern era by private multinational corporations (MNCs). These are state-supported private capitalist monopolies and oligopolies.

Lenin's theory has proven to be a highly flexible instrument for understanding imperialism today. Using it does not mean memorising the lines of his book, but studying the book and the specific forms of contemporary monopoly. This is necessary to uncover the modern ways in which value is sucked from the poor countries by imperialist capital.

Conclusion
For Lenin, the key to understanding imperialism is monopoly. He argued: "If it were necessary to give the briefest possible definition of imperialism we should have to say that imperialism is the monopoly stage of capitalism.

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