Why China's Capital Exports Can Weaken Imperialism

The rise of China has prompted US geostrategic thinkers over the past decade to talk about the degree to which another “world war” is inevitable, and has also contributed to growing accusations that China is “imperialist.” It will be argued that it is possible to accuse China of “imperialism” under...

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Main Author: Jay Tharappel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Pluto Journals 2021-03-01
Series:World Review of Political Economy
Online Access:https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.13169/worlrevipoliecon.12.1.0027
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author Jay Tharappel
author_facet Jay Tharappel
author_sort Jay Tharappel
collection DOAJ
description The rise of China has prompted US geostrategic thinkers over the past decade to talk about the degree to which another “world war” is inevitable, and has also contributed to growing accusations that China is “imperialist.” It will be argued that it is possible to accuse China of “imperialism” under the definitional outline Vladimir Lenin popularised, but only because, in his model of the world, he considered the export of capital to be a defining feature of imperialism; however, this is flawed because his model had no theoretical space for the mechanisms of national exploitation that prevailed at that time, most importantly the “drain” of wealth from India. This is because Lenin's model was borrowed from that of John A. Hobson, who outright denied the “drain.” At the time, the claim of the “drain” was pioneered by Indian economist Dadabhai Naoroji, who in turn greatly influenced contemporary pioneers about the topic, namely Utsa Patnaik and Prabhat Patnaik, whose framework offers useful insights. After reconstructing the term “imperialism,” it will be argued that Chinese capital exports are actually weakening national exploitation, which is weakening imperialism and raising tensions, not towards “inter-imperialist” conflict, but “hegemon–rival” conflict.
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spelling doaj.art-dcafd026f5c844c58a40fc381ce8b94f2023-05-03T13:39:57ZengPluto JournalsWorld Review of Political Economy2042-891X2042-89282021-03-01121274910.13169/worlrevipoliecon.12.1.0027Why China's Capital Exports Can Weaken ImperialismJay TharappelThe rise of China has prompted US geostrategic thinkers over the past decade to talk about the degree to which another “world war” is inevitable, and has also contributed to growing accusations that China is “imperialist.” It will be argued that it is possible to accuse China of “imperialism” under the definitional outline Vladimir Lenin popularised, but only because, in his model of the world, he considered the export of capital to be a defining feature of imperialism; however, this is flawed because his model had no theoretical space for the mechanisms of national exploitation that prevailed at that time, most importantly the “drain” of wealth from India. This is because Lenin's model was borrowed from that of John A. Hobson, who outright denied the “drain.” At the time, the claim of the “drain” was pioneered by Indian economist Dadabhai Naoroji, who in turn greatly influenced contemporary pioneers about the topic, namely Utsa Patnaik and Prabhat Patnaik, whose framework offers useful insights. After reconstructing the term “imperialism,” it will be argued that Chinese capital exports are actually weakening national exploitation, which is weakening imperialism and raising tensions, not towards “inter-imperialist” conflict, but “hegemon–rival” conflict.https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.13169/worlrevipoliecon.12.1.0027
spellingShingle Jay Tharappel
Why China's Capital Exports Can Weaken Imperialism
World Review of Political Economy
title Why China's Capital Exports Can Weaken Imperialism
title_full Why China's Capital Exports Can Weaken Imperialism
title_fullStr Why China's Capital Exports Can Weaken Imperialism
title_full_unstemmed Why China's Capital Exports Can Weaken Imperialism
title_short Why China's Capital Exports Can Weaken Imperialism
title_sort why china s capital exports can weaken imperialism
url https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.13169/worlrevipoliecon.12.1.0027
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