Las raíces intelectuales de El Imperialismo, fase superior del capitalismo (1917)

Abstract

The present article seeks to re-asses the intellectual inspiration behind Vladimir Lenin’s “Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism” (1917). This is important not only because it allows us to determine the originality of Lenin’s ideas on imperialism, but also because it can spark more interest in the work of other intellectuals who wrote on this, which, in some cases, has been neglected. Through a historical and ideational analysis of Lenin’s five characteristics of the imperialism of the early 20th century, the present study reveals some of the thinkers who provided a solid intellectual basis to Lenin’s text. It is concluded that, even though Lenin’s pamphlet has left an important legacy, it is mainly a synthesis of the vast previous work of primarily socialist intellectuals living in the early 20th century.