In his seminal Theory of War, the Greek Marxist philosopher Panajotis Kondylis compares the works of Clausewitz, Marx & Engels, and Lenin on war and politics. Kondylis reminds us that Lenin’s alignment with Clausewitz is limited. While both agree that war is an extension of politics by other means, Lenin’s thought is superior because he does not share Clausewitz’ bourgeois view that politics can keep the tendency towards war in check. Instead, Lenin argues that conflict and struggle are omnipresent in capitalist politics and, hence, capitalism inevitably involves periods of warfare.
Drawing on many years of ethnographic and archival research on the role of freeports and special economic zones (SEZs) in the advancement of super exploitative capitalism, this paper identifies two world-historical patterns. First, I show how from the 18th century onward, freeports in particular (but also SEZs after 1945) have been established as tools of trade war between competing imperialist powers and often in preparation of warfare. Second, I give examples how SEZs have been established in post-warfare settings as strategic settlements for population control, counterinsurgency and enhanced super exploitation. Examples for both roles and patterns cover the origins and development phases of contemporary urban agglomerations such as Kingston and Port Louis as colonial freeports and cities and regions like Saigon, Kabul, Crimea, and urban locations with similar histories of (failed) SEZ projects in postwar settings.
Patrick Neveling works in social anthropology, global history, and critical political economy. He is Senior Lecturer in Social Sciences at Bournemouth University, editor of Focaal Blog, and acting Chair of the Commission on Global Transformations and Marxian Anthropology in the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences. Patrick’s publications and research focus on the historical anthropology of capitalism since 1800, Marxian anthropology, a critical political economy of special economic zones, and related topics.