Tearing asunder the pretty fancies of capitalism: Reflections on Marx and empire

This chapter argues for a recognition of the nuanced complexity of Marx’s account of empire. In particular, I argue, that account came to be characterised by: (i) a recognition of the historical centrality of anticolonial resistance; (ii) a provincialisation of his own assessment of capitalism’s development in Western Europe; (iii) an understanding of imperialism as a historically regressive force. In seeking to understand the history of European imperialism as a constitutive feature of the modern world we need recourse to a theory of capitalism. In that respect, as generations of writers from the colonised world have demonstrated, Marx’s analysis remains powerfully salient.