Theorising Emerging Powers in Africa within the Western-Led System of Accumulation
Justin van der Merwe presents the usefulness of understanding the global political economy as a series of interconnected systems of accumulation. The analysis is centred and builds on the notion of a ‘complex’, which is often said to embody a system or th
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Theorising Emerging Powers in Africa within the Western-Led System of Accumulation Justin van der Merwe
Building upon previous studies at the regional scale (Van der Merwe 2014a, 2016), this chapter explores the usefulness of understanding the global political economy as a series of interconnected systems of accumulation. The analysis is centred and builds on the notion of a ‘complex’, which is often said to embody a system or theory of accumulation. Although this system functions at the sub-national, national, regional and international levels (the mere act of delineating these levels is rather pointless because of their seamless nature), the focus of this analysis will primarily be at the global and continental scales. The varying scales at which such
J. van der Merwe (*) Faculty of Military Science, Centre for Military Studies (CEMIS), Stellenbosch University, Saldanha, South Africa
© The Author(s) 2016 J. van der Merwe et al. (eds.), Emerging Powers in Africa, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-40736-4_2
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a system operates across space are indicative of how such a system typically transcends national borders. The analysis is located within a historical-geographical materialist framework. It draws from Harvey’s (2005) reworking of Marx’s primitive accumulation in his concept of ‘accumulation by dispossession’ and Gramsci’s (1971) notion of hegemony. The analysis is further guided by developments within the geopolitical literature. Although the applicability of Marxian and Gramscian analyses in exploring this system is self-evident, other developments within the geopolitical literature also yield insightful analysis. Amongst these are: the rise of critical geopolitics and its focus on discourse (O´Tuathail and Agnew 1992); insightful developments on space and capital (Harvey 1992; Massey 1991); a reorientation to geoeconomics (Cowen and Smith 2009; Luttwak 1990); and the development of a critical literature on power networks (see next section). Yet, despite these developments, the analytical tools of power networks and discourse are surprisingly underutilised in analyses of emerging powers in Africa. Carmody’s (2012, 2014) employment of ‘geogovernance’ to explain the relationship between emerging powers and Africa, is a good example of the value of using these analytical tools. Paquet (1996: 3) defines geogovernance as ‘the ways in which effective coordination is affected [between private, public and civic actors] in a world where resources, knowledge, and power are distributed through geographical space’. Geogovernance commendably encourages a more penetrative analysis of the web of interactions between actors and how they contribute to a systemic understanding of wealth accumulation and power across space. But the term does, to some extent, also mask these processes’ meaning and shared intent, namely to further capital accumulation across space. Although discourse and power networks are probably the most instructive tools at our disposal in helping us to understand accumulation and power relat
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