Imperialism and super-exploitation: Situating migration and racism within global political economy

Abstract

Based on a study of Marx’ Labour Theory of Value and a close reading of Ruy Mauro Marini’s “The Dialectics of Dependency”, as well as John Smith’s “Imperialism in the Twenty-First Century” I situate migration towards countries of the Global North as a question of the possibility for diversified forms of exploitation. The intention of my paper is to understand the place citizenship and ‘race’ take in the production of value and surplus value within our current mode of production, all the while introducing current forms of (liberal) anti-racism in it’s combined and uneven relationship to capital. Grasping which fractions of capital within imperialist countries do in fact favour specific forms of migration (and thus represent a certain form of anti-racism within society) is crucial for understanding the ways racist formations shift. The hypothesis put forward is that the concept of super-exploitation should be used to understand how the exploitation rate facilitates specific forms of racism and with this, furthers combined and uneven development nationally and internationally. I ask: Is the concept of super-exploitation useful for understanding racism formations within a Global Political Economy permeated by an endless number of structural differentiations of those creating all wealth in society?