This short paper serves as an assessment of similarities and dissimilarities in definitions of the term “Capitalism” by Walter Rodney and Vladimir Ilyich Lenin perspectives. To begin with, Lenin (1917) in his book “Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism,” connects the term capitalism to imperialism. He maintains that capitalism is the evolved and advanced level of imperialism, as demonstrated by the title of the book. Lenin describes this evolution of capitalism into imperialism within two important phases; “old capitalism” which is the capitalism of free competition that was practiced until the 1860s and 1870s, and the “new capitalism” which came with colonialism and the partitioning of the world’s territory. He describes the new capitalism as a system “bearing obvious features of something transient, a mixture of free competition and monopoly” (Lenin, 1917).

Lenin goes on to argue that the development of capitalism leads to monopolization, where production becomes concentrated in the hands of a few enterprises. Capitalist nations or monopolies export capital to less developed regions, and then exploit these regions for their resources and labor. This export creates economic dependencies that perpetuate cycles of underdevelopment, oppression, where a few wealthy nations exploit the vast majority of the global population. Lenin also approaches the term capitalism from a point of view that; capitalist practices lead to inequalities, which eventually foster conflicts among imperialist powers as they compete for resources and markets (Lenin, 1917).

According to Rodney (1972), in his book “How Europe Underdeveloped Africa,” he approaches capitalism from the historical context of Europe’s colonization of Africa, arguing that the European capitalist practices during colonization, underdeveloped the African continent. To explain the term capitalism, Rodney starts by highlighting other stages of development that characterized the world prior to the concept of capitalism. The first stage was communalism (common goods and equal distribution of resources), the second was slavery, the third was feudalism (using agriculture as the main means of production) and then came capitalism, a system where the workers do not own the means of production. Rodney describes capitalism as a system “characterized by the concentration in a few hands of ownership of the means of producing wealth and by unequal distribution of the products of human labor” (Rodney, 1972).

In Rodney’s perspective, through the exploitative nature of capitalism, European powers profited from African resources and labor; in other words, African economies were structured to serve European interests. Like Lenin, Rodney also maintains that capitalism establishes dependency, particularly between colonizers and colonized nations.

Both Rodney and Lenin critique the inherent exploitative nature of capitalism. Their definitions of the term capitalism are quite related as they hold a common perspective that describes capitalism as the extraction of surplus value; exploitation and dominance which result in inequality and oppression of the colonizer over the colonized or developed nations over developing ones. Also, this is to say that, the workers do not own the means of production under capitalism. They both agree that capitalism has further evolved into imperialism which is a system of dominance and monopolization. To illustrate this, Rodney writes how through capitalism, European powers exploited African during colonialism, stating that “When European capitalism took the form of imperialism and started to subjugate Africa politically, the normal political conflicts of the pre-capitalist African situation were transformed into weakness which allowed the Europeans to set up their colonial domination” (Rodney, 1972). Similarly, Lenin discusses the exploitation of the proletariat by the bourgeoisie within capitalist societies (Lenin, 1917).

Despite some similarities in the definition of the concept, the two authors slightly present differences in their exploration of the term “capitalism. Lenin’s work focuses on the concept of imperialism as an extension of capitalism, where advanced capitalist nations inevitably seek to dominate less developed regions. He holds this argument in a different historical context (in the midst of the first world war; 1916). While Rodney’s analysis is not very different from Lenin’s, he emphasizes the specific historical experiences of Africa. Rodney (1972), states that “The tendency of capitalism in Europe from the very beginning was one of competition, elimination, and monopoly.” It is important to highlight that Rodeny’s definition of capitalism in the 1970s, might have been influenced by other important historical events which happened after the first world war such as; the great depression (1929), the second world war (1939-1945), the establishment of the UN (1945), decolonization starting from the 1945 as well as the cold war which started in the 1947. Literally, these are important events in the context of “capitalism” in the world’s history, and all occurred after Lenin’s work on capitalism. 

Therefore, these historical context differences might somehow, have influenced the way both authors define the term capitalism, and make their recommendation distinct. In order to dismantle the effects of capitalism, Rodney advocates to consider economic models or practices that prioritize local needs. In other words, putting aside capitalist practices and foreign investment that are similar to those practiced in the past and which underdeveloped Africa. He calls us not to make the same mistakes that were made in the past which made colonialism possible, stating that “to know the present we must look into the past and to know the future we must look into the past and the present” (Rodney, 1972). On the other hand, Lenin envisions that there needs to be a proletarian revolution that will overthrow the capitalist system on a global scale. This argument, especially the choice of the concept “proletarian revolution”, might have been influenced by his Marxist convictions which make a clear distinction of classes between the bourgeoisie (capitalists) and proletariat (workers).

While both Lenin and Rodney present similarities and differences in their definition and exploration of the term capitalism, it is crucial to understand that both arguments are important and would be relevant, each in its distinct approach and context. The definition of capitalism in Rodney’s perspective would better fit within the context of European capitalism in Africa, while Lenin brings in a broader perspective, and still focuses on European proletariat. When talking about capitalism on the global scale, Rodney’s definition, though useful, might be a bit limited. This implies that on a global level, Lenin’s definition of the concept would bring more clarity of the term “capitalism”. Thus, the choice of which definition to use in particular circumstances from both authors, might differ based on one’s area of interest; geographical location as well as specific historical context.