Imperialism of Our Time

Abstract

I use the simple phrase 'imperialism of our time' with the more modest aim of avoiding terms like 'New Imperialism' which have been in vogue at various times, with varying meanings. Imperialism has been with us for a very long time, in great many forms, and constantly re-invents itself, so to speak, as the structure of global capitalism itself changes. What is offered here is a set of provisional notes toward the understanding of a conjuncture, 'our time', which is itself a complex of continuities and discontinuities--and, as is usual with conjunctures, rather novel. I shall first offer a series of proposition and then, in the remaining space for this article, some further elaboration of these points.