This is a critical examination of Lenin's theory of imperialism from an eco-materialist perspective.

1. Lenin on Imperialism
& an Eco-Materialist Critique
Craig Collins, Ph.D. ©

2. Imperialism
Lenin’s
Analysis

3. Wealth Creation & Social Progress:
Is Capitalist Imperialism Different?
• Marx recognized that
industrial capitalism was
different than past forms
of imperial exploitation.
• Because it was focused on
capital accumulation, it
needed markets & wage
workers, not just plunder.
So it put:
– Production over Plunder
– Capital over Conquest
– Trade (& debt) over Tribute

4. Marx Thought Imperialism had a
Positive Role to Play in History
• He thought imperialist
capitalism in the colonial
world was superior to
indigenous feudalism &
despotism because it:
– Toppled feudal political
systems;
– Rapidly developed the
forces of production;
– Created an industrial
working class;
– Brought colonial society
closer to socialist revolution.

5. Lenin’s Perspective on
Imperialism Disagreed
• There are several variations
of the Marxist view of
imperialism; Lenin’s is the
most commonly accepted.
• Lenin, like Marx, recognized
that capitalist imperialism
has some unique attributes.
• However, by 1916, Lenin
thought imperialism had
lost the progressive side
Marx recognized.

6. The Historical Context
• Lenin developed his analysis of imperialism in the
midst of World War I & on the eve of the Russian
revolution. World capitalism was in deep crisis.
• He had several political goals in mind when he wrote
Imperialism: the Highest Stage of Capitalism.
1) To explain the connection between the war
& imperialism.
2) To show how imperialism uses some of its
superprofits to temper class conflict &
corrupt a pro-imperialist “labor
aristocracy.”
3) To convince workers to resist the war & rise
up against their bourgeois governments
that were using them for cannon fodder.
4) To make the case that imperialism had
reached its decaying, parasitic, moribund
stage & was ripe for revolution.

7. Lenin’s Theory
• Lenin’s theory of imperialism
was based on Marx’s analysis
of capitalism.
• According to Lenin, modern
imperialism marked
capitalism’s monopoly stage
of arrested development.
• Imperialism was capitalism’s
highest & final stage…the
beginning of the end…the eve
of socialist revolution.

8. The Colonial Form Inhibits Growth
It’s true, the rigid
colonial structure
of European
imperialism had
become a barrier
to the movement
of capital around
the world.

9. Capitalism Revived: US Imperialism
• Capitalism did appear to
be on the brink of social
collapse, war & revolution
in 1916.
• But after a global
depression sandwiched
between 2 world wars,
capitalism rebounded
stronger than ever under
American hegemony. Petro-power put America
on top of a revived
capitalist world
The secrets: cheap oil, anti-colonialism,
consumerism & “free trade.”

10. Arrested
Development?
• Lenin was clearly wrong.
Imperialism could still
develop the productive
forces.
• Without industrial
imperialism would we still
live like feudal peasants?
– Stuck in small villages.
– Mostly illiterate & uneducated.
– Short lives, minimal health care.
– No electricity, refrigeration,
planes, cars, telephones, TVs,
computers, etc.
– Unaware of the other cultures,
peoples, places & creatures of
our planet.

11. Imperialism: The Eve of Revolution?
• Some Marxists
recognized Lenin’s error.
• But most, including
Mao, Ché & other 3rd
World revolutionaries
accepted Lenin’s theory:
– They believed imperialism
was the decadent,
monopoly stage of
capitalism that retards
economic development.
– They thought it would soon
be replaced by national
liberation & socialist
revolution with the help of
the Soviet Union.
Lenin MaoChé

12. Lenin & Revolution
• The working class in the
imperialist countries received
some of the benefits of global
exploitation.
• They had become less militant &
more reformist.
• Their union leaders were
corrupted by the super-profits of
imperialism. They had become a
“labor aristocracy”.
– Even many “Marxist” leaders &
groups had become “revisionists”
not revolutionaries.

13. Revolution Moves to the 3rd
World
• The center of revolutionary
struggle had moved to the
colonial world.
• The workers’ fight for
socialism must join with the
broader anti-colonial
movement to fight for national
liberation.Their allies would be the
peasants & the
nationalist bourgeoisie.

14. Other Features of Lenin’s Theory
Major features of imperialism:
1) The concentration & merger of
industrial & banking capital to
create financial capital, dominated
by a small financial oligarchy.
2) The export of capital gains
prominence over the export of
commodities.
3) The formation of transnational
corporations that compete to
control global resources, labor &
markets.
4) The division of the world between
the largest capitalist powers
becomes complete, this intensifies
national rivalries & the danger of

15. Imperialism’s 3 Big Contradictions
1) The contradiction between labor &
capital.
– A small financial oligarchy becomes
dominant over society, crushing the middle
class, driving down wages & making
reformism impossible.
2) The contradiction between rival
financial groups & imperialist
powers.
– The scramble to re-divide the planet’s
resources & cheap labor intensifies as all
new frontiers are claimed.
– Emerging imperial powers must challenge
dominant empires.
3) The conflict between the imperialist
powers & the people of their
exploited dependencies.
– The export of capital into the 3rd world
produces an emerging proletariat, a
nationalist bourgeoisie & revolutionary anti-
imperialist movements.

16. The Energy Base Limits of Imperialism:The Energy Base Limits of Imperialism:
The Eco-Materialist PerspectiveThe Eco-Materialist Perspective
While the contradictions cited by Lenin are real,
they have been moderated by capitalism’s
potential to keep growing.
As long as the global economic
“pie” keeps expanding…
• Labor conflicts can be tempered.
• International rivalry over resources,
markets & cheap labor can be
mitigated.
• Disputes between poor nations &
wealthy nations can be mollified.

17. Limits to Imperialism & Empire?
• People have predicted the end
of capitalist imperialism for over
200 years.
– Malthus thought it would collapse
from over-population.
– Marx & Lenin thought it would
end in socialist revolution.
• Yet it emerged from each
economic crisis, revolutionary
challenge & world war bigger &
more powerful than before.
• WHY? What is the secret of
imperialism’s success & the key
to understanding its fatal flaws
& limitations?

18. Without abundant
cheap energy, the
capitalist drive
global exploitation
& political
dominance would
have hit its
ecological limits
long ago.
The Secret of Imperialism’s Success:
Vast Pools of Cheap Energy
Fertile land, fresh water,
forests, livestock, fish….

19. Industrial Imperialism Grew Up on Fossil Fuels
• Coal & oil powered
industrialization raised
imperialism to a whole
new level of exploitation:
– Its mechanized weaponryIts mechanized weaponry
imposed imperial rule.imposed imperial rule.
– Mechanized transportMechanized transport
expanded the scope ofexpanded the scope of
global exploitation.global exploitation.
– Increased output loweredIncreased output lowered
food costs & raised wagesfood costs & raised wages
in the imperial core.in the imperial core.
– Industry turned the Earth’sIndustry turned the Earth’s
resources into enormousresources into enormous
wealth.wealth.
But did it improve life
around the world?

20. Globalization: An Expanding Pie?
• Abundant, cheap
ENERGY has influenced
the longevity & wealth
of global capitalism.
• It has grown “the global
pie”. But capitalism
divides this wealth VERY
unequally:
– The planet gets ravaged.
– The vast majority remain
very poor.
– The middle class has
grown.
– The 1% have become VERY
rich & powerful.

21. Imperialism Overpowered &
Undermined Socialist Revolutions
• Because it still had an
enormous energy base
to regenerate itself after
each serious crisis…
– Depressions, wars &
revolutions have not
buried capitalism.
In fact, former “socialist”
countries have reverted
back to capitalism. Why?
• Because it still had an
enormous energy base
to regenerate itself after
each serious crisis…
– Depressions, wars &
revolutions have not
buried capitalism.
In fact, former “socialist”
countries have reverted
back to capitalism. Why?

22. Imperialism’s “Socialist” Rivals
• Industrial systems can be state
managed & may operate without the
profit motive, commodified labor or
privatized means of production.
• This has been a common strategy of
revolutionary nationalist regimes seeking
to industrialize while protecting their
economies from foreign capitalist
penetration & subordination.
– The Russian & Chinese revolutions were
prime examples of this Leninist model of
“socialist” state-managed industrialization.
• But state-planned industrialism is not
worker-run socialism; & it operates at a
distinct disadvantage compared to
expansionist, globalized capitalist
industrialism. *Other forms: Maoism, Juché, etc.

23. Petro-Powered Industrialism Favors Globalized,
Profit-Driven Production Relations
Unlike globalized capitalism,
state-controlled, nationally
bound industrial economies
can’t take full advantage of
cheap abundant energy to
exploit labor & resources on a
global scale.
Capitalism takes full advantage of
cheap fossil fuels to promote:
• Globalized chains of production to
move capital wherever resources &
labor are cheapest.
• Rapid, flexible automation to cut labor
costs & maximize profits.
• A globalized market to consume
industrial output & maintain profits.
Capitalism is highly adapted to
cheap, abundant energy.

24. Fossil Fuels & Global Domination
• Carboniferous energy fuels
worldwide chains of
extraction, production,
consumption & coercion.
– Factories, mines, cities, farms,
aqueducts, railways, electricity
grids, pipelines, freeways,
harbors, airports,
communication networks,
prisons, governments & military
bases cannot operate without
them.
• This global system is
dominated by financial
institutions, MNCs & powerful
core states that control access,
flow & use of energy.
No petroleum, no power.

25. Petro Junkies? Energy Wars?
• What happens when the systems energy base
begins to run dry?
• What if the pie stops growing & begins
shrinking instead?
– Will the world economy contract into contending
spheres of influence, each desperate to control
declining deposits of fossil fuels?
• Will addiction to oil-powered growth lead to
war & economic collapse?

26. Industrialism & Peak Oil
The Mother of All Bubbles?!
——World Production—World Production—
Agricultural EraAgricultural Era Industrial EraIndustrial Era

27. Why Do Empires Decline & Fall?
• Scholars like Tainter, Diamond,
Greer & Homer-Dixon who
have studied the growth &
collapse of empires provide
some important clues.
• Energy/resource depletion,
ecological crises & over-
complexity seem to be central
to their explanations.
The study of past empires can
provide useful insights into
modern imperialism’s
strengths & fatal
contradictions.

28. Without Energy, Complexity Crumbles
• Some scholars believe
that empires are subject
to crisis, decay, external
threats & internal
collapse when their
energy base can no
longer sustain them.
• Unless an empire gains
access to new sources of
energy, its size &
complexity will decrease
until it can be sustained
by the remaining energy
available to it.

29. Complexity & Empire
Is there a point of diminishing returns where an empire’s
increasing complexity becomes self-defeating?
Does the growing level of complexity needed to
manage & defend an empire eventually become
unsustainable?

30. Systemic Failures, Unsustainable “Solutions”
Mounting systemic failures
induce even more complex
“solutions”:
– Food shortages, declining yields:
• Genetic engineering?
– Fresh water shortage:
• Desalination?
– Marine fisheries collapse:
• Ocean farming?
– Deforestation:
• Tree plantations?
– Bee colony collapse:
• Artificial pollination?
– Climate change (sea level rise;
coral bleaching, frequent tropical
storms, etc.):
• Sea walls, massive migrations?

31. Energy & Empire
• Ancient imperial empires
withdrew energy from
land & the people who
worked it.
• Industrial imperialism
has added a rich new
source of power to its
energy base--fossil fuels.
• What happens when an
empire’s energy base can
no longer sustain it?
– Energy Return on Energy
Invested (EROEI)

32. Running on Empty--The Symptoms
• Capital Scarcity
– Energy sector claims bigger share of
available capital.
• Demands greater subsidies & military
protections.
• Energy Famine-Economic Crisis
– We now consume 6 barrels of oil for
each one we discover…but demand
still soars!
– Rising energy prices
– Inflation-stagnation-recession
• Diminishing Returns
– Rising extraction costs & declining
returns (EROEI*--net energy)
• Before 1950: 100 to 1
• Today 6 to 1 (worldwide)
• In the US, .8 to 1
*Energy Return On Energy Invested

33. Net Energy--EROEI

34. Alternative Sources of Energy?

35. Can Capitalism Survive Without Fossil Fuels?
Every cubic mile of oil depleted (the amount used in a year) would have to be
replaced by these alternatives every year to keep the global economy growing.

36. What Are Imperialism’s
Real Limits?
Energy base depletion:
• There are no known substitutes
for fossil fuels that will permit
exponential growth.
• If substitutes were discovered,
they would surely accelerate…
Ecocide: Trashing the Planet
• Ecosystem destruction &
biodiversity collapse
• Environmental toxicity
• Resource depletion
• Over-population/consumption

37. Class Struggle on a Shrinking Planet
How do you think
subordinate
nations &
classes of people
will respond?
How will ruling
elites & great
powers respond to
declining empire &
reduced capacity
for growth &
global
domination?