Karl Marx and the Postcolonial Age

This book seeks to explicitly engage Marxist and post-colonial theory to place Marxism in the context of the post-colonial age. Those who study Marx, particularly in the West, often lack an understanding of post-colonial realities; conversely, however, those who fashion post-colonial theory often have an inadequate understanding of Marx. Many think that Marx is not relevant to critique postcolonial realities and the legacy of Marx seldom reaches the post-colonial countries directly. This work will read Marx in the contemporary post-colonial condition and elaborate the current dynamics of post-colonial capitalism. It does this by analysing contemporary post-colonial history and politics in the framework of inter-relations between the three categories of class, people, and postcolonial transformation. Examining the structure of power in postcolonial countries and revisiting the revolutionary theory of dual power in that context, it appreciates and explains the transformative potentialities of Marx in relation to post-colonial condition.

Autorentext

Ranabir Samaddar is Distinguished Chair of the Calcutta Research Group, IN, and belongs to the school of critical thinking. He has pioneered peace studies programmes in South Asia. He has worked extensively on issues of justice and rights in the context of conflicts in South Asia.

Inhalt

1. Introduction: Postcolonial Condition as a Strategic Concept for Critiquing this World.- 2. The Post-colonial Predicament.- 3. Post-Colonial Dynamics of Accumulation.- 4. Living Labour I: Transit Labour, Living Labour and the Labour of Life.- 5. Living Labour II: Logistics, Migration, and Labour in the Postcolony.- 6. Theories of Postcolonial Economy.- 7. The Problematic of Dual Power.- 8. The Problematic of People.- 9. The Fragmented Subject and a Theory of Leadership.- 10. Rebuilding the Theory of Crisis as a Postcolonial Task.