Imperialism, Labour, and the Global Order: Rethinking Development from the South
2025-08-20 , Anti-imperialist Tent 1

This session challenges dominant narratives of “underdevelopment” by tracing the historical and structural relations through which the Global North continues to accumulate wealth at the expense of the Global South. Drawing on thinkers like Walter Rodney, Immanuel Wallerstein, Samir Amin, and Giovanni Arrighi, we will explore the dialectics of pauperization, imperialist rent, and the ethnicization of labour under historical capitalism. The workshop will foreground how so-called "poor countries" are in fact developing the wealthier ones - not the other way around - and how imperialism remains central to capitalism’s global reproduction.

We will also reflect on the significance of Palestine as a site of resistance and internationalist learning, and make the case that Marxism must be expanded through Black Marxism and decolonial thought. Finally, we will open a collective discussion on strategies of delinking, deglobalization, and what a decolonial anti-imperialist horizon might demand from us today.


Please describe your contribution shortly (1-2 sentences):

This session challenges dominant narratives of “underdevelopment” by tracing the historical and structural relations through which the Global North continues to accumulate wealth at the expense of the Global South. Drawing on thinkers like Walter Rodney, Immanuel Wallerstein, Samir Amin, and Giovanni Arrighi, we will explore the dialectics of pauperization, imperialist rent, and the ethnicization of labour under historical capitalism. The workshop will foreground how so-called "poor countries" are in fact developing the wealthier ones - not the other way around - and how imperialism remains central to capitalism’s global reproduction.

We will also reflect on the significance of Palestine as a site of resistance and internationalist learning, and make the case that Marxism must be expanded through Black Marxism and decolonial thought. Finally, we will open a collective discussion on strategies of delinking, deglobalization, and what a decolonial anti-imperialist horizon might demand from us today.

How many people can take part in your contribution?:

unlimited

Will your contribution deal with movement history?:

A part of the contribution will be about movement history.

What is your preferred language to hold the contribution in?:

English

What is the linguistical level of your contribution? Is it in easy read/plain English?:

C1: Specialist language skills

Is prior knowledge required for the content?:

No

Who is your contribution (especially) aimed at?:

No specific aim

Debt for Climate is a global grassroots movement of movements, initiated by the Global South from an anti-colonial perspective. We are building power from the bottom up by uniting workers, Indigenous and local communities, feminists, and faith-based, environmental, social, and climate justice movements in both the Global North and South. Our goal is to cancel the illegitimate financial debt of the Global South to stop exploitation and extractivism, enabling self-determined, just transitions.

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