Government, money, imperialism and uneven development

Michael Dunford

Chapter 2 in Rethinking Uneven Development, 2026, pp 53-86 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: In this chapter the roles of commercial, financial, real estate and fictitious capital are outlined, along with an account of exorbitant privilege, debt crises and finance-dominated regimes of accumulation. Although uneven development can be derived from the immanent laws of accumulation of capital, these drivers are qualified and mediated by a multiplicity of other structural and contingent mechanisms. Of these causal mechanisms, colonial and imperial relationships, the discursive power of liberal (and other) ideologies, and politics, states and governance play critical roles. Colonialism and imperialism are core drivers of societal interaction and combined development. The chapter compares Western and East Asian international systems; analyses colonialism, imperialism and empire in the work of Smith, Marx, Hobson, Lenin, Hilferding, Luxemburg, Weber, Schumpeter and Harvey; and discusses theories of the international division of labour and concepts of hegemony and international orders. It also provides a critical discussion of Enlightenment liberalism, individualism and liberal and Marxist theories of the state in capitalist societies in the light of the central role of politics and governance and countervailing state power in shaping international, national and regional development paths.

Keywords: Merchant; Financial; Real Estate and Fictitious Capital; Exorbitant Privilege; Debt crises; Colonialism; Imperialism; Liberalism; Capitalist State (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035352968
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