Introduction
PART I NATIONALISM AND IMPERIALISM
1. Imperialism and nationalism in John A. Hobson’s analysis
2. Nation-state: The modern organisation of capitalist political power
PART II THE CLASSICAL MARXIST THEORIES OF IMPERIALISM AND THE SELF-DETERMINATION OF NATIONS
3. The classical Marxist approaches to imperialism (1909–1925)
4. The ‘natural boundaries of nations’ and imperialism
PART III DEPENDENCY AND THE GLOBAL CAPITALIST SYSTEM: POST-WAR THEORIES OF IMPERIALISM
5. National independence against imperialism: The centre-periphery theories
6. From Max Weber to ‘empire’ and ‘new imperialism’
PART IV MARX’S THEORY OF CAPITALISM
7. Marx’s theory of value and capital vis-à-vis the theories of monopoly capitalism
8. The capitalist state and the international economy
9. Fictitious capital and ‘financialisation’: The financial system as a funding mechanism and a framework for disciplining capital
10. Implications, extensions, and conclusions
Bibliography
Index
Biography
John Milios is Professor Emeritus of Political Economy and the History of Economic Thought at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Greece. He has authored more than three hundred (300) papers in refereed journals, published in at least seven languages. He has also authored or co-authored 25 scholarly books. To his most recent books belong The Origins of Capitalism as a Social System (Routledge 2018) and Nationalism as a Claim to a State (Brill 2023). He is director of the quarterly journal of economic theory Thesseis (published since 1982 in Greek) and serves on the Editorial Boards of four scholarly journals.
John Milios has produced a magisterial survey of Marxist and other radical theories of imperialism. His work challenges economic reductionist models which argue that attempts by states to coerce and dominate other states are mechanistically caused by internal economic contradictions. Instead, Milios proposes a framework which links imperialism to the dynamics of capital expansion, the resulting constitution and reconstitution of the nation-states in an imperialist chain, and the reproduction of nationalist politics and culture. He explores the contradictory features of this complex constellation with clarity and depth. The reader of Nation, Imperialism, and Capitalism will come away with a better understanding of the dynamics of contemporary imperialism and a heightened appreciation of the explanatory power of Marxist theory.
- Professor John Willoughby, American University, Washington, DC.
John Milios discusses the relationship between nation, nationalism, imperialism, and Marx’s critique of political economy in light of the latest developments in global capitalism offering a new theoretical approach to the concepts under investigation. This fascinating study is extremely useful for theorists and activists alike.
- Dr. Michael Heinrich, author of Karl Marx and the Birth of Modern Society
A truly indispensable reference for anyone interested in a Marxist theory of the nation-state and of nationalism. John Milios goes beyond simply deconstructing nationalist myths about the ‘historical continuity of the nation’ and also beyond simply observing the invention of traditions or the role of ‘imagined communities'. Instead, he attempts to ground the emergence of the nation on the new forms of social organization and mass politicization associated with the advance of capitalism, thus grasping the inherently contradictory character of the nation and its ideology.
- Panagiotis Sotiris, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, University of the Aegean
