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- Publisher
- SAGE
- Copyright
- Copyright © by SAGE Publications
- ISSN
- 1474-4740
- eISSN
- 1477-0881
- DOI
- 10.1177/147447400401100406
- Publisher site
- See Article on Publisher Site
Abstract
reviews in brief imperialism’ (characterized by a logic of territorial control) is being used to further ‘economic imperialism’ (characterized by a molecular logic intrinsic to capitalism). For Harvey ‘capitalism imperialism’ is a specific kind of capitalist imperialism wherein state power is strongly conditioned by economic imperatives yet relatively autonomous from them too. In this light he sees America’s foray into Iraq, and its Middle Eastern policy more generally, as a sort of ‘military fix’ for its precarious economic situation. Here, Harvey sees the control of Middle Eastern oil as a prime means whereby the US can exert a degree of economic power (especially over Far Eastern rivals) no longer warranted by the strength of its own economy. Clearly, Harvey’s analysis of the US’s geopolitical manoeuvrings amounts to econ- omic determinism ‘in the last instance’. But for those unpersuaded by this seeming economism, it’s worth recalling that Harvey does not see the economy as a sphere sep- arate from all others but as what Marx called ‘the general light’ tinging all aspects of contemporary life: as something always already inside politics, culture etc. not external to them. In this regard, Harvey’s book situates the US’s current unilateralism within a wider,
Journal
Cultural Geographies – SAGE
Published: Oct 1, 2004