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The 'Art' Of Colonization: Capitalizing Sovereign Power And The Ongoing Nature Of Primitive Accumulation, Timothy Dimuzio

Timothy DiMuzio

In order to dispel Adam Smith’s liberal narrative of original accumulation, Karl Marx offered his own historical account of the rise of capitalism in England. He also pointed to the English colonies, where the conditions for capitalist development were being created by government intervention in his own era.1 Playing on the discussion of the ‘art of colonisation’ in Edward Gibbon Wakefield’s comparative study of England and America, Marx argued that Wakefield’s candid advice on colonial policy and prosperity revealed the shaky foundations upon which Adam Smith’s concept of original accumulation was built. According to Marx, the value of Wakefield’s work …