Matthew Johnson

A Marxian Consequentialist Defence of US ‘Imperialism’

Opposition to globalisation and the ‘ethnocentric’ ‘Western imperialism’ of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq has become the prime focus of praxis for many contemporary Marxists. In this paper I apply an unfashionable, technological determinist interpretation of Marx to reject this anti-capitalist praxis, and justify not only globalisation, but also imperialism, positing the recent wars as ‘World-Historical’ actions. Tracing the Marxian conception of progress and teleology as mastery of nature, I argue that, if we view geographical disparity of development as a consequence of natural assistance or resistance, we can avoid claims of ‘ethnocentrism’ and justify the expansion of capitalism as a unique, invaluable aid to human progress.