Book Review: International Relations: Imperialism and Global Political Economy
| Published date | 01 January 2012 |
| Date | 01 January 2012 |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1478-9302.2011.00251_5.x |
| Author | Alexander Boniface Makulilo |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
I N T E R N A T I O N A L R E L A T I O N S
other hand, they are active in advocating the creation of
seek a better future for themselves and their families
institutions through which human rights could be fully
– a right that may one day be guaranteed by global
protected.
law.
The second part of the book brilliantly demon-
Mathias Koenig-Archibugi
strates that this kind of global citizenship is not just
(London School of Economics and Political Science)
an abstract concept, but something that is practised
daily by individuals and groups in different regions of
Imperialism and Global Political Economy by
the world. Cabrera interviewed about 200 pro-
Alex Callinicos. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2009.
immigrant and anti-immigration activists and officials
295pp., £16.99, ISBN 978 0 7456 4046 4
in the United States, Mexico and various European
countries, and about 70 unauthorised migrants in the
Imperialism is an important subject both in the North
two continents. What emerges from this empirical
and the South. While the South has always been the
effort is a complex tapestry of personal convictions,
victim of imperialism, the owner of this project, the
aspirations,
experiences,
beliefs
and
relationships
North, has benefited much from it. Notwithstanding
which is fascinating, absorbing and at times deeply
such benefits, imperialism has remained the source
moving. Cabrera shows that scholarly controversies on
of rivalries and crises among the great powers. In
the significance and boundaries of justice, solidarity,
his thoughtful work, Imperialism and Global Political
community and identity have their practical, and far
Economy, Alex Callinicos discusses imperialism in a his-
more dramatic, counterparts in the deserts of Arizona,
torical perspective. Unlike the classical Marxist theo-
the western Mediterranean and other fault lines of
rists, particularly Luxemburg, Lenin and Bukharin, who
global inequality.
focus on...
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