Bill Warren (British Communist)

For other people named William Warren or Bill Warren, see William Warren.

Bill Warren (1935–1978) was a British Communist, originally a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain and later a contributor to New Left Review. In his last years he was a member of the British and Irish Communist Organisation. [1][2]

He is best remembered as the author of Imperialism: Pioneer of Capitalism. This unconventional Marxist analysis was published posthumously in 1980 and is still being debated. [3] He rejected the argument of Lenin's Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism, that capitalist development outside of Europe had ceased to be possible. He considered that he was restoring the original view of Marx and Engels, particularly in regard to the results of Britain's rule in India: namely that imperialism plays a progressive role in fostering the spread of capitalism worldwide, which is a prerequisite for socialism. [4][5]

Some commentators have likened Warren's ideas on capitalism to other thinkers,such as the Revolutionary Communist Party and Nigel Harris.[6]

Notes

  1. ^ The Popular and the Political: Essays on Socialism in the 1980s By Mike Prior. Routledge, 1981
  2. ^ One commentator described Warren as the B&ICO's "most important thinker",see Women divided: Gender, Religion, and Politics in Northern Ireland by Rosemary Sales. Routledge, 1997.
  3. ^ Imperialism, Pioneer of Capitalism by Bill Warren.Edited by John Sender. Verso, 1980.
  4. ^ Marxist Perspectives on Imperialism: a Theoretical Analysis by Chronis Polychroniou. Praeger, 1991.
  5. ^ For criticism of Warren's views, see Politics and dependency in the Third World by Ronaldo Munck, Ulster Polytechnic, 1984.
  6. ^ Babylon and Beyond: The Economics of Anti-Capitalist,Anti-Globalist and Radical Green Movements by Derek Wall. Pluto Press, 2005.

External links