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Imperialism, the highest stage of capitalism
... More striking is the fact that the primitive idea of 'wage markups' as an effective UBI in an economy with the increasing concentration of wealth in progressively fewer hands dates back to Jean Charles Léonard de Sismondi (1773-1842), a Swiss economist and historian, often depicted as a "neglected advocate" for worker property rights. 15 This Musk-Tesla effect, at least symbolically, reflects Lenin's (1916) dystopian prediction and the recent empirical finding of the intensified concentration of productive capital for the past one hundred years. Lenin (1916) gathered census statistics in the early 1900s to reach his self-constituted indictment of the future of capitalism, summarized by his dicta: "the enormous growth of industry and the remarkably rapid concentration of production. . . ...
... 15 This Musk-Tesla effect, at least symbolically, reflects Lenin's (1916) dystopian prediction and the recent empirical finding of the intensified concentration of productive capital for the past one hundred years. Lenin (1916) gathered census statistics in the early 1900s to reach his self-constituted indictment of the future of capitalism, summarized by his dicta: "the enormous growth of industry and the remarkably rapid concentration of production. . . are one of the most characteristic features of capitalism...Concentration of production, however, is much more intense than the concentration of workers, since labor in the large enterprises is much more productive." ...
... increasingly productive. This "Musk-Tesla superstar" effect, where the ownership of capital becomes concentrated in fewer and fewer stockholders, indirectly reflects Lenin's (1916) dystopian prediction and Kwon et al.'s (2022) recent finding of the increasing concentration of productive capital. 55 ...
We propose one route to a more inclusive society. Our context is the prevailing one of high wealth inequality where stockholders alone supply the stochastic discount factor governing the allocation of capital. A large and pervasive pecuniary externality is thus imposed on non-stockholder workers, something we view as antithetical to the notion of an inclusive society. Accordingly, the paper explores the extent to which the externality can be purely privately internalized solely (without wealth redistribution) through a combination of bond trading between workers and stockholders and egalitarian present value wage bargaining in the labor market. In this incomplete financial market setting, endogenous countercyclical Coasian worker property rights arise as a natural consequence of egalitarian bargaining. This shifting distribution of property rights manifests itself in the form of wage payments representable as endogenous low-risk present value wage assets characterized by efficient wage markups, allowing roughly 60% of the pecuniary externality to be internalized in the benchmark case. As wealth inequality grows, increasing firm desire to retain bonds for precautionary purposes leads to massive declines in default free interest rates with worker income insurance increasingly provided by the wage asset whose value becomes progressively disassociated from labor productivity.
... Isu-isu mengenai bahasa, budaya, agama, kerakyatan dan ekonomi sering kali dijadikan isu oleh orang politik bagi tujuan tertentu [32]. ...
... Jika robot bergerak ke garisan penamat yang telah ditetapkan, maka susunan yang diberikan pelajar ialah betul sebaliknya para pelajar perlu mengulangi semula susunan molekul jika robot tidak sampai ke garisan penamat yang telah ditetapkan. [31], [32]. Ini menjelaskan bahawa, teori konstruktivisme adalah bersesuaian dengan konteks kajian ini yang memberi fokus kepada aktiviti permainan robot (pelajar aktif membina pengetahuan) dalam meningkatkan aspek kognitif dan afektif para pelajar. ...
... Namun realitinya, imperialisme kuasa Barat itu berlaku bukan sahaja untuk mencapai matlamat tersebut. Hal ini demikian kerana bangsa Eropah sangat menekankan kepentingan ekonomi menerusi penjajahan dengan menekankan penjajahan itu sebagai 'Imperialism: The highest stage of capitalism' atau 'Imperialism is the monopoly stage of capitalism' [32]. Sebaliknya, penjajahan yang berlaku ke atas tanah jajahan terutamanya di Borneo Utara adalah dipengaruhi oleh pembuatan dasar Eropah dalam menguasai bahan mentah dan sumber kekayaan negara lain bagi memenuhi tuntutan revolusi perindustrian disamping memartabatkan status negara mereka masingmasing. ...
... Marx assumes that the rate of exploitation or the rate of surplus value in the countries of what we now call the Global South, which dependency theorists term the 'periphery', is higher than that which is to be found in the societies of the Global North, at the 'core', which possess a higher organic composition of capital, and in which production is more machine intensive, and that this higher rate of exploitation at the periphery is a significant factor in offsetting the long-term tendency for the rate of profit to fall in the societies of Northern and Western Europe. At the beginning of the 20th century, a number of Marxist theoreticians, not least Lenin in his Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism (Lenin 2011(Lenin [1916), used these ideas of Marx's to explain the phenomenon of imperialism, in its specific form of colonialism. ...
... Marx assumes that the rate of exploitation or the rate of surplus value in the countries of what we now call the Global South, which dependency theorists term the 'periphery', is higher than that which is to be found in the societies of the Global North, at the 'core', which possess a higher organic composition of capital, and in which production is more machine intensive, and that this higher rate of exploitation at the periphery is a significant factor in offsetting the long-term tendency for the rate of profit to fall in the societies of Northern and Western Europe. At the beginning of the 20th century, a number of Marxist theoreticians, not least Lenin in his Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism (Lenin 2011(Lenin [1916), used these ideas of Marx's to explain the phenomenon of imperialism, in its specific form of colonialism. ...
This article explores the theory of exploitation which Marx sets out in Capital. It argues that Marx assumes that there are five modes of extraction of surplus value. These are associated with the following principles: (1) extended duration of the working day; (2) enhanced productivity (due to the introduction of new technology); (3) efficient organization of the process of production; (4) increased intensity of labour and (5) depressed consumption of the labourer. The article argues that Marx’s theory of exploitation is not as systematic as it could have been. For this reason it is ripe for a theoretical reconstruction. The article also discusses the views of recent commentators who have developed the idea of ‘super-exploitation’, which is taken from Marx’s writings. There is a tendency in this literature to associate this notion with the principle of depressed consumption and to argue that it is especially relevant for understanding of what is happening in the societies of the Global South. Those concerned identify this as a third mode of extracting surplus value, in addition to the principle of extended duration (absolute surplus value) and enhanced productivity (relative surplus value). The article argues that this procedure overlooks certain aspects of Marx’s theory of exploitation, especially those having to do with the efficient organization or rational administration of labour within the process of production.
... For this purpose the powerful states always tries to control the foreign markets and to attain this objective they use the military means like in the recent case of Libya. According to Lenin, 'imperialism is the monopoly stage of capitalism' (Lenin 1963). Imperialism is a policy, practice, or encouragement of extending the authority and power of a nation, particularly by direct protective acquisitions or by gaining indirect control over the political or economic life of extra areas; generally the extension or imposition of control, authority, or power. ...
... In the words of Kautsky's "Imperialism is a product of highly developed industrial capitalism. It consists in the striving of every industrial capitalist nation to bring under its control or to annex all large areas of agrarian (Kautsky's italics) territory, irrespective of what nations inhabit (Lenin 1963). ...
Interventionism lacks any proper definition. It is a broad term used for non-defensive proactive policy undertaken by any nation-state to manipulate an economy or society. The most common applications of the term are for economic intervention when a state intervenes in its own economy, or for foreign intervention when a state intervenes in the affairs of another nation as part of its foreign policy. Ever since the Westphalian order of 1644, which accepted the concept of the sovereignty of nation-states on their territory, with no role for external agents in domestic structures, sovereignty has never truly been violable, but in early 20th century the social purpose of the use of force began to expand and marked a new idealism in the use of war. It produced mixed opinions of critics and generated a wide discourse on whether it is a ‘mask’ to some surreptitious motives, or is a ‘Just Intent’in real world terms
... The first was the capitalist inequality on a world scale caused by history of colonialism, slavery, and imperialism, but also because of competition in (world-) market and unequal development (Damir Amin); this inequality was accompanied by certain ideologies such as racism, nationalism, chauvinism, and revanchism. Influential in the twentieth century have been Lenin's (2010Lenin's ( [1917) and Rosa Luxemburg's (2003Luxemburg's ( [1913) critique of imperialism and nationalism, which both have been relevant also for discussions of national independence and liberation. Another strain came from "Black Marxism", which is part of a broader tradition of radical critique on (racial-based) inequality (James, 1989;Robinson, 1983). ...
... The first was the capitalist inequality on a world scale caused by history of colonialism, slavery, and imperialism, but also because of competition in (world-) market and unequal development (Damir Amin); this inequality was accompanied by certain ideologies such as racism, nationalism, chauvinism, and revanchism. Influential in the twentieth century have been Lenin's (2010Lenin's ( [1917) and Rosa Luxemburg's (2003Luxemburg's ( [1913) critique of imperialism and nationalism, which both have been relevant also for discussions of national independence and liberation. Another strain came from "Black Marxism", which is part of a broader tradition of radical critique on (racial-based) inequality (James, 1989;Robinson, 1983). ...
Equality in socialist and communist thought refers not only to equal rights and duties or equal respect but strongly also to economic equality. At its core, this is the idea of a “classless society” in which all people recognise each other as socially equals and work as free social individuals together to meet the needs of all. However, equality had an ambivalent status. On the one hand, radical equality was demanded; on the other hand, it was about finding forms beyond the bourgeois-capitalist understanding of equality. Throughout, the critique has revolved around the dialectic of why the same bourgeois-capitalist society that proclaims certain promises of equality and is mediated by certain political, juridical, and economic forms also produces inequality through those same forms. While traditional socialist theories focus on economic equality, arguments have developed within feminist, antiracist and anticolonial theoretical concepts,and ecology and climate justice that dispute this. In addition to this theoretical history of socialist and communist thoughts of (in-)equality, we look in a second step at how it has been expressed in concrete terms in the socialist state world
... If you want to avoid civil war, you must become imperialists. (Lenin 1974) In the light of the foregoing, Africans must be apprehensive when foreign forces, including nongovernmental organizations and civil society organizations, encourage them to stage revolutions in Africa. Revolutions that are supposed to take place elsewhere in the West are often externalized and exported to Africa in the way Cecil John Rhodes described it earlier. ...
... countries. However, they are still exploited and dependent on their masters, and denied the right to speak for themselves (Lenin 1916;Spivak 1988;Acheraïou 2008). Postcolonial theory thus establishes intellectual spaces for subaltern peoples to speak for themselves, in their own voices (Spivak 1988). ...
This chapter examines the main theories on immigrant integration and assimilation, and theories beyond integration and assimilation. Rather than favouring one theory over another a priori, we seek to understand each theory on its own terms in order to illuminate key assumptions and hypotheses. The main finding is that most leading theories on immigrant integration, assimilation and theories beyond integration and assimilation are built on questionable premises and postulates. All but two of the discussed theories are based on postulates of structural conflicts and all but two consider the abolishment of the capitalist production system as needed to achieve integration, assimilation, inclusion and coexistence. In liberal democracies with a capitalist production system such ideological constructs face difficulties to serve as beacons in policy making when addressing challenges related to integration, assimilation, inclusion and coexistence.
... Marxism regarded the relationship between capitalist countries and socialist countries as a hostile tie based on the class struggle theory (Flipo, 2014). For example, Lenin (1939) claimed that imperialism is the highest stage of capitalism and that the proletarian must replace it considering this antagonistic relationship. The USSR and the US formed a situation in the context of the Cold War that contended for hegemony. ...
Sino-Soviet relations were pivotal in the diplomatic history of the PRC after its establishment. On one hand, the CCP received significant economic assistance and political support. However, like any alliance, it revealed conflicts between collective ideology and national interests. These tensions even drew the PRC into Korean wars that might have otherwise been avoided. Concurrently, the PRC developed a self-reliant and peaceful diplomatic policy soon after forming the Sino-Soviet alliance. The mutual relations between the CCP and CPSU closely influenced the emerging PRC's foreign policy. This study aims to research how these ties between the CCP and CPSU impacted the evolution of the PRC's foreign policy from 1945 to 1956. Such research is essential for understanding the formation of the PRC's foreign policy through the lens of inter-party diplomacy, explaining the enduring principle of an independent foreign policy focused on peace. This study employs historical research methods and archive analysis, drawing from declassified historical archives and primary and secondary sources, while critically analysing international relations theories based on historical facts. The findings reveal that the USSR's primary concern was its national interest, while the CPC idealized it as a revolutionary party. As a result, the CCP developed an independent and self-reliant diplomatic approach based on different foundations.
... The continued reproduction of capitalist social relations has always required political intervention to mobilize the social forces required for production. Market creation has often justified political violence, whether it is the stifling of labour movements, suppression of cultural values antithetical to exchange value or plain military incursion à la the rich literature on empire and imperialism going back to Lenin (1917Lenin ( /1939; see also Hobson, 1902Hobson, /2011. Market expansion and political violence are intimately bound up in the capitalist machine. ...
Correspondence: imogen.liu@maastrichtuniversity.nl
I begin my reflections on Isabella Weber’s excellent How China Escaped Shock Therapy with a personal anecdote. In the late 1970s through to the mid-1980s, my father worked in the import department of the China National Technical Import and Export Corporation. Established in 1952, it grew to become one of the largest importers of heavy equipment in the later years of Mao’s life when China started opening up to the rest of the world. The country was importing large amounts of heavy machinery to meet the growing demands of industrial expansion after years of economic isolationism. In the year 1979 alone, heavy machinery and electrical imports nearly tripled in volume and contributed to the running trade deficit, and as is noted in How China Escaped Shock Therapy, to a balance of payments crisis (p. 105; National Annual Statistical Bulletin, 1978–1992).
My father worked in a role in a sector that in many ways lies at the epicentre of China’s economic transition. What has resonated about this book both on a personal level and within this current historical juncture of monetary hegemony, rising inflation, and political and environmental instability, is that any form of market transition, far from being a principally macroeconomic issue, requires institutional adjustment that reflects the material and historical base of economic organization.
... Marx, however, was not the only one who tried to explain the functionality of labor exploitation in relation to global capitalism. Both Luxemburg and Lenin addressed issues related to the accumulation of capital and its negative impact in The Accumulation of Capital (Luxemburg 1913) and Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism: A Popular Outline (Lenin 1917), respectively. Luxemburg's "main theoretical work" (Dath 2019, 22) considered some of Marx's views historically obsolete and in a way tried to update the former's thoughts according to her own theoretical reflections about revolutionary processes and developments (Müller 2009, 86, 100). ...
Norwegian egalitarianism is based on a traditional work ethics but is funded by a stock market within a globalized economy, which means that it is financed by and based on the exploitation of labor and the poor of the world's periphery. It is therefore essential to discuss, as this chapter will do, the dichotomy between Norwegian egalitarianism and capitalism that increases global poverty, or, how Norway can stay well-funded enough to offer egalitarianism and the idea of egalitarian work ethics on the national level, without basing it on the lack of egalitarianist standards on a more global scale.
... This class was the most widely excluded from a share in social wealth, but upon whose contribution this wealth depended. Lenin (1975) further advanced this insight by underlining the need to approach capital as a global system, which prompted a reevaluation of the revolutionary potential of the industrial proletariat as a whole under conditions of monopoly capital and its international stratification (Sweezy, 1972). In shifting the focus to the reproduction of the relations of production, Lefebvre (1969: 66-7) draws on this to account for the point of rupture among the students in the Paris uprising of 1968. ...
In our article, ‘Henri Lefebvre's Conception of Nature-Society in the Revolutionary Project of Autogestion’, we sought to open an important dialog on the relation of autogestion to the ecological struggle for metabolic restoration. The four insightful commentaries in this dialog have taken up this argument and moved it forward substantially. Here, we briefly reflect on a central problem raised by these four interventions and Lefebvre's theory of autogestion more generally: The agent of radical social transformation.
... During the 19 th and early 20 th centuries, a time when Western powers erected empires spanning from Australia to West Indies. As the highest stage of capitalism (Lenin, 1999), imperialists left the memory of invasion, robbery, exploitation, manipulation, erosion to victim countries. The panorama of global media and political terrains, suggested by Chinese scholars, continued to be pervaded by those preimperialist or pre-colonist inclinations. ...
This essay examines China’s transformative approach to international communication using the concept of “Tell China's story well” (TCSW). It analyzes how this approach is put into action through the China Global Television Network (CGTN). By studying CGTN’s strategies and narratives, it showcases how China shifts from victimhood to empowerment, reshaping its global image and countering historical Western-centric perspectives.
... Marxist class analysis theory of the state argues that the capitalist state is not neutral but an instrument of class domination (Marx, 1848;Lenin, 1917). Drawing inspiration from this, neo-Marxist scholars such as Frank (1967) and Cosma (2010), through the dependency and world system analysis theories, explain that countries are in the core, semi-periphery, and periphery of a world system, and the development of the core countries is based on the exploitation of those in the periphery. ...
Context
Globally around four billion people experience severe physical water scarcity for at least one month per year. In addition, there are vast water access inequalities, categorised as regional, spatial, income-based, wealth quintile-based, and social-based. A physical water shortage, the poor performance of water management utilities, and a lack of adequate water infrastructure have been blamed for the global water crisis (United Nations, 2018).
Lack of access increases the incidence of four preventable water-related diseases: Water-borne diseases; Water-washed infections; Water-based diseases; and Water-related vector-borne diseases (WHO, 1988). The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) aim to achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water BY 2030 (Satterthwaite, 2016).
Challenges in water supply management are a particular issue in Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) of South-East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Nigeria, the area of study for this thesis, experiences a range of water poverty issues. State Water Agencies (SWAs) oversee public water service delivery in thirty-six states. These SWAs operate public water supply facilities and service delivery to urban areas and, in some cases, small towns and rural areas.
However, a World Bank Group Report from 2017 reported that none of the country's thirty-six SWAs operates sustainably or provides reliable water service to consumers. Concluding that ‘Nigeria lacks an example of a well-performing urban State Water Agency (SWA) by regional or international standards’ (World Bank Group 2017, p.137).
Water reforms for improving public water utilities' operational efficiencies have become a global focus. Around thirty water reform programmes, financed by external development agencies and multilateral financing institutions, were implemented in Nigeria between 1979 and 2022.
However, evaluation studies on twenty-six of these programmes revealed they produced 'limited' (Olesen et al., 2010) and 'unsatisfactory' results (Rex and Sahle, 2007; World Bank, 2018; World Bank, 2021). A World Bank report stated that starting from the late 1970s, the World Bank had funded urban water projects in Nigeria with more than ‘US$ 700 million with unsatisfactory results’ (World Bank, 2018, p56).
An example of such a programme is the 2nd National Urban Water Reform Programme (2NUWSRP) in Lagos Water Corporation (LWC), which ran between 2005 and 2017 and was financed with a $170.3m loan from the World Bank and French Development Agency. The 2NUWSRP, like many water reform programmes in Nigeria, was not implemented as designed, leading to continuous poor water service delivery by the LWC.
This thesis investigated why the 2NUWSRP in LWC was not implemented as originally designed through two studies: 1) A systematic literature review on global barriers and facilitators to implementing urban water reform programmes; and 2) A single case study on the 2NUWSRP itself. These studies were used to answer the overall research question 'Why was the 2nd National Urban Water Sector Reform Programme (2NUWSRP) in Lagos Water Corporation (LWC) not implemented as originally designed?'
Study 1: Systematic Literature Review of water reform barriers and facilitators
A systematic review of existing literature was undertaken using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) , as a reporting tool to answer its research question: What were the reported barriers and facilitators to implementing urban water reform programmes globally? The review protocol was submitted to PROSPERO on May 5, 2021, with ID Number 253277. The Sample, Phenomenon of Interest, Design, Evaluation, and Research (SPIDER) tool (Cooke, Smith, & Booth, 2012) defined the study characteristics.
The systematic search produced 894 relevant results from three databases: Web of Science, International Bibliography of Social Sciences (IBSS), and Scopus. After a practical, methodological, and thematic screening, barriers and facilitators to water reform implementation were identified in 36 articles. The Critical Appraisal CASP Skills Programme (CASP, 2018) checklist was used to assess the risk of bias in these articles. The data were analysed using NVivo computer software.
Five facilitators of successful implementation of urban water sector reform programmes were identified from these 36 studies. These are: 1) Strong political will and good leadership, 2) Charismatic and skilled technical leadership, 3) Strong regulatory mechanism, 4) Strong accountability mechanisms, and 5) Water affordability.
Six barriers to the successful implementation of urban water sector reform programmes were also identified: 1) Poor stakeholders’ engagement, 2) Weak regulatory mechanism, 3) Poor accountability and transparency, 4) High water tariffs, 5) Defective reform design, and 6) Governance and Institutional constraints
In addition, the review found methodological shortcomings within the identified studies, revealing a limited focus on evaluating the implementation of water reform programmes, with no study examining the perceptions of implementation from the stakeholders involved and no study occurring within the Nigerian context. The literature review findings, therefore, established the need for further investigation of the implementation challenges of water reform programmes in Nigeria.
Study 2: The 2NUWSRP Case study
An evaluative case study design was selected with two qualitative data collection methods (document analysis and interviews) used to conduct two studies that provided secondary and primary data for the case study.
The Document Analysis qualitative study
The document analysis study investigated documented barriers that hindered the successful implementation of the 2NUWSRP in LWC. Its research question was: What documented barriers hindered the successful implementation of the World Bank/French Development Agency-financed urban water reform programme in Lagos Water Corporation (2005-2017)?
Using the purposeful sampling technique, a type of non-probability sampling (Huberman and Matthew, 2002), One hundred and sixty (160) documents were retrieved, out of which one hundred and forty-one (141) documents were analysed through Braun and Clarke's (2006)’s six phases of thematic analysis and synthesis approach.
Data retrieved from the 141 documents were coded based on their properties using the NVivo computer software. NVivo’s axial selective coding system generated 41 open codes categorised into four themes: 1) Project management challenges, 2) Stakeholder engagement challenges, 3) Corrupt practices, and 4) Miscellaneous.
The Interview qualitative study
A second qualitative study was conducted using the interview method to gather primary data for the case study. The Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ) developed by Tong et al. (2007) was used as a reporting guide to present the interview study.
Its research question was: What were the perceptions of key players on barriers to the successful implementation of the World Bank/French Development Agency financed urban water reform programme in Lagos Water Corporation (2005-2017)?
The expert sampling technique (Huberman and Matthew, 2002), a non-probability purposeful sampling, was used to recruit participants from stakeholder groups identified through the document analysis described above. Thirty participants were interviewed.
Data were coded using NVivo computer software and analysed with Braun and Clarke's (2006) six-phase thematic analysis and synthesis approach. Forty-four open codes were generated and categorized into four themes through an axial selective coding system (Strauss and Corbin, 1990): 1) Political interference, 2) Corrupt practices and procurement lapses, 3) Project management challenges, and 4) Stakeholders’ management challenges.
Results from the document review and interviews were triangulated to present overall findings from the case study
Triangulated results from the 2NUWSRP case study
The findings of the interview study confirmed earlier findings of the document analysis study with three similar barriers in both studies: 1) Corrupt practices, 2) Project management challenges, and 3) Stakeholders’ management challenges (Nos 1-3 in Table 1).
The fourth barrier, Political interference (No 4 in Table 1), was the one additional barrier identified in the interview study.
Table 1: Synthesis and Triangulation of barriers identified through qualitative studies
S/N Document analysis barriers Interviews barriers
1 Corrupt practices Corrupt practices and procurement lapses
2 Project management challenges of the Project Implementation Unit Project management challenges
3 Stakeholder engagement challenges Stakeholders’ management challenges
4 Political interference
The four barriers identified are mutually inclusive, symbiotic, interdependent, and reinforcing. Political interference bred corrupt practices, leading to project management challenges and poor stakeholder management.
These findings also agree with the existing knowledge identified from the systematic literature review that political interference, project management challenges, and stakeholders' management challenges are barriers to successfully implementing water reform programmes worldwide, including in Nigeria.
A new key finding was that corrupt practices, not identified in previous literature, were an important barrier to implementing water reform programmes in the case study.
Discussion
This study highlights that the failure of reform programmes to improve the poor operational performance of water utilities in Nigeria is a major issue in its urban water crisis. If Nigeria and other developing countries are to end such crises, reform programmes will need to succeed in turning around the water utilities to the path of sustainable water service supply. However, this study has shown that Nigeria's ongoing and future water sector reform programmes may not be implemented as designed until corrupt practices are minimised.
The research study ensured triangulation through the multi-methods approach to gathering secondary and primary data sources. Theory triangulation was ensured by using multiple theories as an analytical framework. Construct validity was ensured by interviewing actors from various sources: government, private, civil society, consumers, contractors, consultants, and financiers.
The study's limitations are that it was based on interpretivist paradigms (Table 2) using non-experimental methods, and like all qualitative studies, they were based on human perceptions and deductions rather than positivist paradigms, which are considered objectively verifiable.
Table 2: Research design
Ontology Critical realism and constructivism (Collier, 1994; Bryman, 2003).
Epistemology Interpretivism (Bryman, 2003).
Research Type Formative evaluation (Cook et al. 1979).
Methodology Qualitative
Approach Case study (Stake,1995; Yin, 2003)
Case study type Single, critical, descriptive, and explanatory (Yin 2009)
Unit of analysis/case being studied Water reform implementation in Lagos Water Corporation (2005-2017).
Methods/Data sources Document Analysis and Semi-structured Interviews
Sampling technique
• Document analysis: Purposeful sampling technique/non-probability sampling (Huberman and Matthew, 2002)
• Interviews: Expert sampling technique (Huberman and Matthew, 2002), a type of non-probability purposeful sampling
Reporting protocols
• Systematic Literature Review: Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA, 2020).
• Document analysis: Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research (SRQR (Brien et al. 2014).
• Interviews: Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ) (Tong et al. 2007).
Data synthesis Nvivo computer software
Analytical tool Thematic Analysis (Braun and Clarke, 2006).
Theoretical framework Policy Triangle theory: Walt and Gilson (1994); Systems Management theory: (Seuil et al., 2009); Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) theory: (Rogers, 2003); Dependency theory: (Frank, 1967; Amin, 1977; Baran, 1957; and Vincent, 2008)
The role of corruption in hindering the implementation of water reforms needs to be further investigated. This study did not review financial documents and records such as cheques, invoices, receipts, financial memos, payment vouchers, and audited reports because the study objectives did not include investigating corruption. More in-depth research could focus on this barrier to understand how corruption hinders reform implementation and how this could be minimised.
Conclusion
This study highlights that the failure of reform programmes to improve water utilities' poor operational performance is a major barrier to solving Nigeria's urban water crisis. However, there has been a lack of literature explaining the reasons for this challenge.
Using the 2NUWSRP implemented in Lagos Water Corporation as a case study, this study shows that corrupt practices are a major factor for the failure to implement the water reform programme as designed. Olivieri et al. (2022) argue that sound water governance plays a key role in urban water management performance, yet the development of good water governance remains an important societal challenge (Liping et al., 2022).
Similarly, Van et el. (2019) said that in several rapidly urbanising regions, improved water management and governance capacity in cities are required to achieve SDG6. Nevertheless, good water governance remains the main bottleneck (Van et el., 2019). If Nigeria and other developing countries are to end the water crisis, reform programmes should succeed in turning around the water utilities to the path of sustainable water service supply.
This study has shown that ongoing and future water sector reform programmes in Nigeria may not be implemented as designed in Nigeria until corrupt practices are minimised.
It is therefore hoped that financing bodies, borrowing authorities, implementing agencies, and stakeholders will critically review and implement the recommendations in this study to improve the achievement of the expected result of water sector reform programmes in Nigeria and, by implication, access to safe drinking water for Nigerians.
... 5 However, its methodology, which emphasises the historical reproductions of capital and the division of the globe as perceived through the ongoing class struggle, renders it indispensable for comprehending the contemporary international conjuncture. Throughout the 20th century, thinkers used this approach-this methodology-in their research, including Lenin's imperialism (Lenin, 1999;Lenin, 1959), the dependencyists (Cardoso & Faletto, 1985;Santos, 2000) and Wallerstein's world-system theory (Wallerstein, 1991;Wallerstein, 2004). According to this viewpoint, the world would be divided into two large groups with the purpose of perpetuating capitalism's historical architecture. ...
Throughout the history of International Relations, borders have been marginalised both practically and, to a greater extent, theoretically. On the one hand, conceptualizations of borders are typically subordinate to other ideas within the field, such as sovereignty, territory, security, conflict, and peace. On the other hand, it is frequently regarded as a source of conflict or simply as a geographical boundary. Thus, it is not surprising that this situation of marginalisation (conventional view of boundaries) produced a hegemonic perspective on borders until the conclusion of the Cold War. Nonetheless, the rearrangement of the international system and the expansion of regional integration resulted in a more dynamic, complex, and multidimensional outline. This work seeks to answer the following research question: in what ways would a perspective contribute to the field of border studies? It is proposed that such a theoretical framework would reassign border studies from an underlying to a fundamental premise, elevating them to a more significant level. This reinterpretation has direct and indirect effects on border politics in practice.
... Other works contend that the distinction between imperialism and globalization as a function of the current mode of production and for the most part, maintains classical understandings of imperialism (e.g., in Lenin 1916Lenin , 1996Castro & Guevara 1992;Waters 1998;Galeano 1973) and adds contemporary conceptualizations of imperialism (Amin 2015;Harvey 2003, Foster 2015Patnaik & Patnaik 2015;Ghosh 2015;Magdoff 2015;Campbell 2015;Smith, J. 2015Smith, J. , 2016. Some scholars use the concepts interchangeably. ...
The ‘veins remain open’ in much of Latin America’s extractive economies, despite the recent Pink-Tide surge and pandemic economic slowdown of the last 3 years. This paper is a continuation of my previous work on extractive imperialism and the (neo)anti-extractivism responses in Ecuador and Venezuela mega-mining conflict zones. I found that ‘post’ neoliberal regimes of Ecuador and Venezuela were quite different in their state responses to (neo)anti-extractivist mobilization. In fact, Latin American countries experiencing the U.S violent, illegal sanctions and coup attempts were expected to be the most criminalizing of dissent in its mega-extractive hotspots. However, the opposite was true after conducting a comparison case study for Ecuador and Venezuela. Given the recent Pink-Tide 2.0, the ‘new’ resource discoveries, and the ‘post’-pandemic economic recovery strategies, I will be including Colombia and Mexico to my case studies. How are newly leftist governments (part of the Pink-Tide 2.0) contending with extractive activities around mega-mining areas, in particular, the conflict mining zones, and how are they resolving the anti-extractivism social movements demands? Venezuela, combatting US-imposed sanctions, demonstrates a resurgence and economic recovery as it remains in a post-neoliberal moment, but many more major Latin American economies have since ‘turned’ leftist and are experiencing a backlash similar to that of Venezuela. For most Latin American Leftist regimes part of the pink-tide surge means increased U.S. imposed ‘pressures’ (sanctions) that may impact how a resource rich country can respond to not only it’s economic development but also, it’s social movements. Multi-forces, tapping into the natural resource/mineral veins, of (re)colonization and dispossession/exploitation with old and new faces and strategies on the geopolitical landscape of the Andean countries, leading to greater inward conflict and accelerated anti-extractive resistance has been legitimized through both internal and external forces. For example, in July 2021, Ecuador’s ‘new’ pro-mining government announced that Solaris Resources, an international mining corporation, ‘discovers’ a super pit in the Warintza area in the CMB estimating to bring more copper and gold than that of the El Mirador project area. Expanding my case study approach will contribute to ongoing research around the implications of ‘new’ natural resource discoveries.
A partir da discussão sobre a ascensão da direita na Europa, este trabalho teve como objetivo identificar e compreender a variação das temáticas priorizadas pelos candidatos à Presidência do Brasil nas eleições presidenciais de 2018, que se apresentaram como representantes das direitas. Para tanto, empregamos a metodologia de Análise de Conteúdo desenvolvida pelo MARPOR. Compreendendo o campo da direita como ideologicamente diverso, a caracterizamos em quatro dimensões: “Direita Liberal”, “Direita Conservadora”, “Direita Militar” e “Direita Antiestablishment”. Os resultados indicaram que tanto os partidos mais próximos quanto os mais distantes da centro-direita priorizaram as temáticas associadas à Direita Liberal em relação às demais dimensões, com exceção do MDB. Ademais, mostraram que o PSL, partido mais afastado da centro-direita, foi justamente o partido que mais defendeu temáticas alinhadas à Direita Liberal. Apesar disso, os resultados também revelaram que posicionamentos antiestablishment foram os segundos mais mobilizados pela maioria dos partidos analisados. Desse modo, a nova direita brasileira caracteriza-se ao mesmo tempo como liberal e antiestablishment e, com exceção da defesa da lei e da ordem, não compartilha das mesmas características da nova direita europeia.
Artigu ne’e aprezenta análize kona-ba testu no kontestu sira hosi poezia rezisténsia Timor-Leste nian, liuliu poezia hirak-ne’ebé publika iha Jornal do Povo Maubere entre fulan-Setembru to’o fulan-Dezembru tinan-1975. Objetivu-sira hosi análiza ne’e mak atu esplisita ninia temátiku dominante-sira no deskreve kontestu istóriku-sira ne’ebé kondisiona ninia forma espresaun-sira. Análize ne’e enkuadra ba iha perspetiva Historicism ne’ebé pratikamente atuur no análiza testu iha ninia kontestu istóriku no diskute ninia relasaun ho akontesementu reál-sira. Maske nune’e, entre perspetiva-sira Historicism nian, análiza ne’e refere liu ba aprosimasaun Old Historicism nian ne’ebé hatuur testu nu’udar prinsipál no kontestu istóriku hanesan ninia senáriu (setting). Análize ne’e identi!ka katak temátiku dominante-sira mak resurjénsia no mudansa, krítika morál no polítika hasoru UDT, enkorajamentu, no vizaun sobre luta. Enkuantu ninia kontestu istóriku sira-ne’ebé kondisiona mak revolução dos cravos, operasaun intelijénsia Indonézia nian no golpe UDT, ofensiva militár Indonézia nian no funu aberta, no mós ideolojia polítika FRETILIN nian iha momentu ne’ebá.
This paper explores the Marxist concept of primitive accumulation and its relationship to capitalist development. Primitive accumulation occurs as a historical process before the complete emergence of capitalism as the dominant mode of production. Primitive accumulation is distinguished from other forms of exploitation employed by capitalist societies to spread capitalism into non-capitalist regions. An exploration of different interpretations of primitive accumulation within Marxist theory highlights the transition from primary accumulation to capitalist accumulation in specific contexts. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the multifaceted nature of primitive accumulation and its significance in the development of capitalism. It argues that many uses of primitive accumulation in the present context are erroneous.
Begum Rokeya's Sultana's dream is considered worldwide as a feminist utopian story. However, Sultana's Dream does not talk about women's empowerment and women's issues only. The story talks about a complete social transformation. It visualizes an ideal country and social system free of hunger, theft, and untimely death. This is a country where people live in harmony with nature. A country whose economic and political affairs are based, not on profit mongering, but on ethical standards. A country which is uncompromising to the imperialists and revolutionary in ideals. Most importantly, this is a country where women take active roles in scientific research, economical activities, country planning and political decisions. Marxism is a philosophy which calls for the transformation of the worn-out society and women's active participation in all the state's affairs. The paper aims to show that many Marxist thoughts have been implemented in Begum Rokeya's imaginary country, 'Ladyland,' showcasing a complete social transformation based on perceived Marxist ideals that emphasize equality, justice, and the well-being of all members of society. The article presents an analysis of the Marxist elements in the text through a close reading and comparison to Marxist theory. The article also explores the historical and social context of the author and the text to gain a deeper understanding of the Marxist elements present in the work. Through this analysis, the article presents Begum Rokeya as a Marxist feminist.
State creation is a political and diplomatic act that encapsulates the essence of political organization in the international system under the so-called Westphalian model. Political communities are defined as such through the creation of territorial states; these are territorial administrative units in which the political community exercises supreme authority—in other words, it is sovereign. The validity of this act is underscored by two conditions: first, the extent to which the political community can exercise effective control over the territory it claims sovereignty and second, whether the entity is recognized as such by other sovereign states in world politics. In combination, these conditions are necessary and sufficient for the creation of a sovereign state, which becomes a member of the international society. Not meeting one of these conditions can still lead to state creation, for example, if there is effective control of territory manifested by state structures but no international recognition of this entity, then the entity is called a de facto state. Alternatively, when an entity is internationally recognized but cannot exercise effective control over the entire territory it claims under its jurisdiction, then it can be described as a fragile state. The international practice of state creation has been associated with the idea of collective self-determination. In the current international system, territorial borders are more likely to change as a result of internal revolution, violent or not, than as a result of conquest. Recognition in contemporary international politics indicates that the act of state creation is legitimate and manifests the collective right of self-determination of the entity’s population. This chapter will investigate the evolution of self-determination as a collective norm and how it informed the international practice of state creation. In doing so, the chapter discusses the subject of self-determination as well as its association with emancipatory politics.
This chapter begins by discussing the era of New Imperialism that ran from the late nineteenth century into the early twentieth century as a second wave of colonial expansion took place. It goes on to further discuss a second era of New Imperialism from the late twentieth century on in which imperialism took on different forms that did not necessarily require the formal conquest and annexation of territory. Examples include neo-imperialism, economic imperialism, cultural imperialism, liberal imperialism, humanitarian imperialism, democratic imperialism, Western imperialism and American imperialism. The chapter concludes with a discussion of moral imperialism suggesting that all forms of imperialism have a moral dimension.
This chapter examines the relationship between digital platforms and the democratic state. On the one hand, it seeks to analyse the symbiotic relationship between digital monopolies and the capitalist state and, on the other, it explores the potential of digital platforms for actual self-governance in a different kind of society. Contrary to techno-pessimist or neo-Luddist conceptions, we argue that the emancipatory potential of the processes of digitalization and automation can only be actualized in the context of a radical restructuring of the relationship between economy, politics, technology, and work. At the same time, contrary to techno-optimist views, we argue that this process cannot be initiated—let alone concluded—within the strict confines of the capitalist state. This chapter concludes by tentatively exploring the potential of digital platforms for solving problems that earlier attempts at building socialism were faced with—in particular the contradiction between central planning and collective decision-making.
The sociology of sport has developed within and been intricately involved in the critique of neoliberalism. While important, there are certain limitations to this scholarship that are related to the nature of Western liberalism and academia. This paper attempts to argue a role for Marxist–Leninist thought in the sociology of sport. Historically excluded from academia after World War II, this bias is part of what Gabriel Rockhill has described as the “Global Theory Industry,” that decries socialism while remaining favorable to Western liberal capitalism. The anti-communism of the theory industry means that much of the work on neoliberalism and Marxism in the sociology of sport has ignored the experiences and efforts of socialist countries, as well as theorists from the Global South. This article broadly critiques existing neoliberal and Marxist studies of sport while arguing that a Marxist–Leninist approach may give those in the field a better account of sport and its relationship to domestic and global politics.
How do ideologies contribute to the guidance of political practice today? To answer this question, first, it is necessary to identify the main ideological fields that shape current forms of governments and the consequences of their adoption. In this chapter, we briefly review the ideas and theories that moved the contemporary political arena (Conservatism, Liberalism, Communism, Fascism, Social Democracy, Eurocommunism and Authoritarian Populism) and argue for the need of a democratic convergence. With this approach, we do not intend to defend a particular ideology, or to propose a new one, but to evaluate which components of the existing currents are more adequate to the practice of democracy. The term “democracy”, in this context, refers to a type of political-economic system (formed by the people, conducted by the people and serving the people) that has been assumed, at least partially, in the discourse of contemporary political currents – even when, in practice, they act against the democratic principles of governance.
The 1930s–1940s underwent profound structural economic and political turmoil following the collapse of the nineteenth century liberal market economies. The intellectual debates of the time were dominated by the question of whether Marx’s theory of the tendency of rate of profit to fall was true, or what consequence could be imagined in the survival of capitalist societies. Placed in the middle of such debates was also the reorganization of national productions into war economies. By means of reconstructive analysis, the paper provides a critical overview of the debates that took place within the circle of the Frankfurt School during those years. It also advances an interpretive thesis suggesting that remedies to capitalist crises of the time turned state powers into privatized, illiberal coercive entities. Coercion and privatization reinforced each other. This general tendency is well illustrated by the famous Pollock-Neumann debate. These intellectuals expressed views not only intended to shed light on the historical period of time, but also to formulate long-term considerations on the authoritarian trends embedded in our contemporary democracies. Through historical reconstruction, the paper’s aim is to identify a long-term structural thread of transformation starting from the transformation of the German economy in 1930s and touching upon post Second World War problems of states’ restructuring along privatization/coercion divides.
In this, the second of four historical reviews on human thermoregulation during exercise, we examine the research techniques developed by our forebears. We emphasise calorimetry and thermometry, and measurements of vasomotor and sudomotor function. Since its first human use (1899), direct calorimetry has provided the foundation for modern respirometric methods for quantifying metabolic rate, and remains the most precise index of whole-body heat exchange and storage. Its alternative, biophysical modelling, relies upon many, often dubious assumptions. Thermometry, used for >300 y to assess deep-body temperatures, provides only an instantaneous snapshot of the thermal status of tissues in contact with any thermometer. Seemingly unbeknownst to some, thermal time delays at some surrogate sites preclude valid measurements during non-steady state conditions. To assess cutaneous blood flow, immersion plethysmography was introduced (1875), followed by strain-gauge plethysmography (1949) and then laser-Doppler velocimetry (1964). Those techniques allow only local flow measurements, which may not reflect whole-body blood flows. Sudomotor function has been estimated from body-mass losses since the 1600s, but using mass losses to assess evaporation rates requires precise measures of non-evaporated sweat, which are rarely obtained. Hygrometric methods provide data for local sweat rates, but not local evaporation rates, and most local sweat rates cannot be extrapolated to reflect whole-body sweating. The objective of these methodological overviews and critiques is to provide a deeper understanding of how modern measurement techniques were developed, their underlying assumptions, and the strengths and weaknesses of the measurements used for humans exercising and working in thermally challenging conditions.
This review is the final contribution to a four-part, historical series on human exercise physiology in thermally stressful conditions. The series opened with reminders of the principles governing heat exchange and an overview of our contemporary understanding of thermoregulation (Part 1). We then reviewed the development of physiological measurements (Part 2) used to reveal the autonomic processes at work during heat and cold stresses. Next, we re-examined thermal-stress tolerance and intolerance, and critiqued the indices of thermal stress and strain (Part 3). Herein, we describe the evolutionary steps that endowed humans with a unique potential to tolerate endurance activity in the heat, and we examine how those attributes can be enhanced during thermal adaptation. The first of our ancestors to qualify as an athlete was Homo erectus, who were hairless, sweating specialists with eccrine sweat glands covering almost their entire body surface. Homo sapiens were skilful behavioural thermoregulators, which preserved their resource-wasteful, autonomic thermoeffectors (shivering and sweating) for more stressful encounters. Following emigration, they regularly experienced heat and cold stress, to which they acclimatised and developed less powerful (habituated) effector responses when those stresses were re-encountered. We critique hypotheses that linked thermoregulatory differences to ancestry. By exploring short-term heat and cold acclimation, we reveal sweat hypersecretion and powerful shivering to be protective, transitional stages en route to more complete thermal adaptation (habituation). To conclude this historical series, we examine some of the concepts and hypotheses of thermoregulation during exercise that did not withstand the tests of time.
Research examines multiple approaches to the term “second economy”, which appeared in the scientific economic community in the 70s of the XX century, and received a diametrically opposite interpretation already in the XXI century. The relevance of the topic is due to the scale of activities and the importance that the activities of American TNCs abroad, have acquired through an extensive and developed system of affiliated enterprises and foreign direct investment. The need to clarify the term “second economy” comes from the presence of many approaches to this concept, diametrically opposed to each other: in fact, there are two approaches, the first of which is based on the fact that the “second economy” or “economy number 2” is an informal, shadow, “gray” economy, the indicators of which are evaluative, and characterize illegal methods of enrichment or gaining access to benefits; the second approach is based on the fact that the “second economy” means a developed and extensive network of international production created through American direct investment - a complex of American enterprises abroad. The retrospective of the formation and development of TNCs and the filial system in the world economy, theoretical and practical approaches to the activities and especially the foreign economic expansion of monopolies during the XX century are considered in detail. The main attention in the work is paid to the peculiarities of the foreign activities of American TNCs and indicators reflecting their presence outside the national economy, so large that they form the “second economy” of the United States: the number of parent and affiliated enterprises, the geography of their presence and specialization, dynamics and other features of American enterprises are analyzed, investments abroad, as well as the impact of economic policy (tax and protectionism policy) on the volume of investment exports abroad.
Chinese President Xi thinks he has found a substitute for democracy in digital dictatorship. He believes that digital surveillance and enforcement can replace free civic society organizations that build civic virtue, trust, and cooperation in democratic societies but also constrain the state and protect democracy. Mr. Xi is in the early stages of a monumental experiment (of which the Chinese social credit system is an example) to build cyber citizenship and sophisticated central direction of entrepreneurship. His aim is to make China the leader of modern technology. But the facts point to a steady downward trend in productivity growth, unfavourable demographic developments, and an unfavourable comparison to South Korea and Taiwan at similar stages of development.
An attempt was made in this paper to reflect on the transformation of war from 18th-century military engagements on the battlefield to the use of modern technology where wars are fought in decentralized ways from land, air, and sea with devastating impact on peace. The study becomes necessary to unveil how the relics of war with its multiplier effects impact world peace. War is a violent conflict declared by two or more states over resources, occupation of territory, among others, with debilitating consequences on both human and material resources. In the study, three theoretical orientations were used for analysis. These include devil's theory, realists, and the military-industrial complex. Historical analysis was employed as the incidents of wars were past events. The paper uses a qualitative method of data gathering. The findings of the paper revealed that peace is elusive where war is fought. Since people are vulnerable to hunger, diseases, decay infrastructure, among others, it was recommended that disarmament is the option among others if the world would enjoy peace.
Despite the recent proliferation of scholarship on anarchism, very little attention has been paid to the historical and theoretical relationship between anarchism and philosophy. Seeking to fill this void, Brill’s Companion to Anarchism and Philosophy draws upon the combined expertise of several top scholars to provide a broad thematic overview of the various ways anarchism and philosophy have intersected. Each of its 18 chapters adopts a self-consciously inventive approach to its subject matter, examining anarchism’s relation to other philosophical theories and systems within the Western intellectual tradition as well as specific philosophical topics, subdisciplines and methodological tendencies.
Barry Buzan proposes a new approach to making International Relations a truly global discipline that transcends both Eurocentrism and comparative civilisations. He narrates the story of humankind as a whole across three eras, using its material conditions and social structures to show how global society has evolved. Deploying the English School's idea of primary institutions and setting their story across three domains - interpolity, transnational and interhuman - this book conveys a living historical sense of the human story whilst avoiding the overabstraction of many social science grand theories. Buzan sharpens the familiar story of three main eras in human history with the novel idea that these eras are separated by turbulent periods of transition. This device enables a radical retelling of how modernity emerged from the late 18th century. He shows how the concept of 'global society' can build bridges connecting International Relations, Global Historical Sociology and Global/World History.
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