Capitalism, "Hybrid Wars" and Confiscated Narratives:The Classico-Postmodernist Imperialism of Our Time

Abstract

From the classical maxim that "empires are forged by war" to the notion of "hybrid wars", "aestheticization of war," exploitation of nation states, corporatization and commodification, imperialist powers with globalizing missions and mission civilisatrice have always resorted to means that the expansion of capital has sought. Though Hardt and Negri contend that "Empire", their terminology for global imperialism/capitalism, is a phantasmal, autonomous network of power where global flows of people, information, and wealth can hardly be monitored or controlled from a single metropolitan center, the reality is that the discourse and politics of neoliberal hegemony, coupled with unique exercise of power, allow the United States and its cohorts (a few powerful countries and multinational corporations) to dominate "Empire." This paper outlines the nature and modus operandi of this recent classicopostmodernist imperialist power project, one that combines tradition with novelty in its logic of rule, and argues that the "unholy trinity" of capital, US led imperialism and manipulated globalization has reached a climactic, volatile stage since the system it has created is undermining humanitarian values and justice. This paper also argues for a new collective mode of counter-hegemonic thinking needed to counter the kind of injustice and inhumanity spawned by late capitalism. Such resistance, the paper proposes, could be attempted through measures such as reawakening of humanitarian standards, "reinvent(ing) civil disobedience", globalizing labour movements and strengthening the structures of nation-states.