ABSTRACT
Philosophers should not only observe the world but also change it. Marx provided some instruments and insights about how that should be done.
With main focus on capitalism, Marxist theory is materialistic, deterministic and dialectical. It assumes that history is a consequential change of formations, driven by class interests. Classes are primary agents, with states boundaries being conventional. What really matters is the logic of capitalist expansion.
This logic shapes conflict within and among states. Capitalism promotes colonialism and exploitation. Crises of overproduction, which are characteristic features of capitalist economies, drive states toward expansion through imperialism. World War I, in Lenin’s assessment, was the manifestation of inevitability of a large-scale war among imperialist powers.
But even after colonialism was officially over and dozens of states got independence in the 20th century, the world did not get free from exploitation and structural violence. Rich are getting richer, while poor find it extremely difficult to escape poverty. Why is that the case?
Neo-Marxist theories provide some answers. Dependency theory and world-systems analysis present the world as the global system of inequality, in which political and security concerns are resulting from flows of capital from the periphery to the core.
