Imperialism, Migration and Class in the 21st Century

This chapter situates Britain within contemporary capitalism, to lay the foundation for the analysis of migration, welfare and precarity that follows. The chapter begins by arguing that the economic crisis has arisen from fundamental contradictions within capitalism and has far-reaching consequences for society. This is followed by three main sections: the first uses ‘imperialism’ to describe capitalism’s contemporary form, as a distinctive organisation of the global space of capital and labour; the second considers migration, focusing on the role of borders and racism in structuring human mobility within imperialism; the third discusses class, shaped by borders and racism within imperialist Britain.