Marxism and Globalisation

Abstract

This chapter will argue that much of the current discussion of the theme of globalisation suffers from an indeterminate characterisation of the process and that there is a need for a determinate historical and theoretical specification of the global system. Such a specification must be able to account for the particular intensity of modern globalisation as compared with the more general interaction across space that has characterised much of world history. We will see that there are close connections between discussions of globalisation and those of modernity. Specifically we argue that Marx has some claim to the status of the first major theorist of globalisation. Against this background, the chapter argues that, while other approaches have added refinements to Marx’s account and have suggested alternative lines of enquiry, they all rest on an unacknowledged starting-point — Marx’s. For these reasons, the argument concludes that the work of Marx and Marxism provide an indispensable point of departure for the study of globalisation.