Nèdeem Elmahjoub's blog

The crisis of development: uneveness, polarization and contestation

When it comes to the micro and macro the analysis in the article is accurate. However, when it comes to ‘the underlying cause’— ‘neoliberalisation’—it is a mainstream argument. The working of capital and global capital, profitability and capital accumulation—whether by the imperialist states or by Qatar and UAE, for instance—is the underling cause(s). The impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the region

Introduction by Joel Beinin Political economy addresses the mutual and historical constitution of states, markets, and classes… In this perspective, causes are simultaneously effects; all events are situated in a relational matrix; all social hierarchies are subject to contestation. The historical development of social formations dominated by capital is inextricably intertwined with genocides, slavery and other forms of unfree labor, racialization, patriarchy, national oppression, and empire. Capital accumulation by individuals, partnerships, and even contemporary corporations can occur through exploiting many different forms of labor as well as cheap nature. The ambit of political economy also includes the legal, political, and cul- tural forms of the regulation of regimes of capital accumulation; relations among local, national, and global forms of capital, class, and culture; the so- cial structure of reproduction; the construction of forms of knowledge and hegemony; technopolitics;...

“ The international financial press has trotted out the usual boilerplate in its attempt to explain this instability, asserting that African countries cannot manage their own affairs and that Western institutions must swoop in to rescue them. Once again, as the refrain goes, it’s a question of the West’s benevolence in contrast to Africa’s violence and corruption.” “ Political crises in Africa are always an opportunity for Western capitalist economies to set the conditions for more free market measures, more free movement of capital, and more privatization.” “Every  new government finds itself with a list of policies that must be implemented in order to receive the benefit of the IMF, the World Bank, and bilateral aid.” “ The scene is the same no matter which government is in power. Even if a regime falls, the neocolonial extractive model doesn’t.” “Because they’re detached from the real needs of their populations, elites in Africa are facilitating this precarity and poverty and in...

This is a very engaging paper. A must read. Capitalist Totality and Geopolitical Fragmentation