2008: A New Chapter for U.S. Imperialism

Abstract

This essay argues that the current economic crisis normalizes a transformation of the U.S. imperialist structure of surplus “accumulation.” Whereas the prior form of imperialism worked to create the conditions for surplus value production within the United States, the new imperialism works to channel globally produced surplus back to it. And whereas the prior form of imperialism was characterized by relatively high labor-power values in the United States, the new imperialism is characterized by a lowering of the value of labor power. The current economic crisis works to normalize this lowering of the value of labor power in the United States. It is this lowering of the value of labor power that sets the conditions for class struggle over the foreseeable future and thus the terms for Marxian theoretical and political work.