Violence, Capitalism, and Imperialism in the Criminological Perspective

Abstract

The aim of this article is to explain the role of violence in the historical genesis and extended reproduction of capitalist social formations. The direct reason for the analysis in question is the war in Ukraine, the new stage in an already long-lasting "state of emergency," which is also connected with the threat of nuclear catastrophe. The central part deals with the role of violence in the maintenance and global expansion of the capitalist mode of production and class exploitation. The key thesis is that various levels of imperialistic violence, having created a polarization between centres and peripheries in the world system, is, from the very beginning, the inseparable companion of capitalist development. The final part highlights the paradoxical contradiction between the dominant postmodern culture condemning resolutely all kinds of violence in interpersonal interactions, and the still prevailing tolerance of instigating politics of the governments of the EU and NATO members, leading to the escalation of the war in Ukraine, swelling up of the arming costs, and negative repercussions of the economic sanctions against the Russian Federation (in)directly affecting many common Europeans.