Prof. Kees VAN DER PIJL
Executive summary: The BRICS block’s challenge to Western hegemony does not lie primarily in overall economic performance. Rather, it is the development of social alternatives for a population protected from extreme exploitation by the competing State. Previous rival states, such as revolutionary France, Germany and Japan after 1870, the USSR and its bloc, have protected their populations — sometimes at the cost of repression — as a central asset in competition with the West. These social alternatives were finally defeated by the English-speaking liberal West during the Napoleonic wars, the two world wars and the arms race with the Soviet bloc. For capital, humanity is perceived as an anonymous mass understood quantitatively. Today, the BRICS block offers its population a social conservatism that is echoed in the West.
KeywordsSocial protection, competing state / rival, war, social alternatives, democracy.
Abstract: The challenge posed by the BRICS bloc to Western hegemony does not primarily lie in aggregate economic performance. Rather, it stems from the development of social alternatives for a population protected by the contender state from extreme exploitation. Previous contender states—such as revolutionary France, post-1870 Germany and Japan, the USSR and its bloc—protected their populations, sometimes combined with repression, as a key asset in competition with the West. These social alternatives were ultimately defeated by the liberal English-speaking West in the wars against Napoleon, the World Wars, and the arms race with the Soviet bloc. For capital, humanity is viewed as an anonymous mass approached quantitatively. Today, the BRICS bloc offers its population a form of social conservatism that resonates in the West.
Key-words: Social protection, contender state, war, social alternatives, democracy.
Leave a comment