COML5901 - Imperialism, Internationalism, Ideology

This course examines historical materialist theories of imperialism, internationalism, and ideology from the 19th century to the present. Topics covered will include: race and capitalism; fascism; the National Question; neocolonialism; cultural imperialism; ideology and culture in anticolonial struggle; bourgeois, anticolonial, and cultural nationalisms; combined and uneven development; ecological imperialism; national revolutionary struggles in the Americas; and gender and the international division of labor. We will also consider how the political economy of imperialism affects intellectual production. Intellectuals whose work we will examine may include: Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, VI Lenin, Rosa Luxemburg, Antonio Gramsci, Samir Amin, Walter Rodney, Barbara and Karen Fields, Domenico Losurdo, Radhika Desai, Bertolt Brecht, Angela Davis, George Jackson, Paolo Freire, Martha Giménez, Che Guevara, and Roberto Fernández Retamar. No prior knowledge of these topics or authors is expected.