Forced migration and US Imperialism: The dialectic of migration and development

Abstract

James Petras has been and continues to be a prolific writer whose monumental work over the years is linked to a biting criticism of contemporary capitalism and US imperialism. His writings, always polemical in the best sense of the word, cover a broad range of issues linked to the class struggle and the popular movement. Although his specific contributions to the study of migration have been few and sporadic, they provide a vital contribution to a critical Marxist analysis of labor migration in the current conjuncture of capitalist development and US imperialism. In many ways, his work has been a major inspiration to my own reflections and work in the area, especially as it relates to the notion of ‘forced migration’ and to what my colleague, Humberto Márquez Covarrubias, and I have termed the dialectics of migration and development.