Translation - The Manifesto and Globalization by Claudio Katz

The Communist Manifesto anticipated the present process of globalization, and the subsequent theory of imperialism provides a more direct theoretical foundation for understanding it than the theories associated with Keynesianism, which approach economic problems in purely national terms. This article1 emphasizes the relationship between the incipient globalization of the productive process and the laws of capitalist development, questioning the apologetic neoliberal view of globalization. It links the transformation of the division of the labor process, newforms of investment, mergers, and technological changes to an increase in the internationalization of production and underscores how this process contributes to increasing exploitation, unemployment, and poverty. It points to the difficulty of analyzing globalization from a purely commercial or financial perspective. In addition, it examines the problems associated not only with a dogmatic denial of the newphenomenon but also with characterizing it exclusively in political terms. It concludes by emphasizing the continuing relevance of the Manifesto for the construction of a socialist project based on the politics ofworking-class internationalism.