ABSTRACT
In Marxist theory, the international dimension of class formation has received rather limited attention. The chapter argues that the international dimensions of imperialist integration and rivalry should be considered as basic features of each national class configuration. The internationalization of capital in the Atlantic area can be explained by analysing the ways capital has found to overcome the contradictions that are inherent in the capitalist process of production, circulation and distribution of profit. The bourgeoisie which sponsored imperialist expansion from its main European centres before World War I were associated either with productive capital in their respective countries, or with overseas operations through the international circuits of commodity and money capital or with both. In the United States, the scarcity of labour power at the turn of the century and the capitalist response to it mark the beginnings of a new type of capitalist development.
