The Politicization and Militarization of Migration: The Eco-Socio-Historical Origins of Capitalist Terminal Crisis

Abstract

Abstract The politicization and militarization of migration, currently instituted to prevent the growing movement of people from the periphery, are symptomatic of the unprecedented terminal crisis of historical capitalism. Oblivious to the fact of entering the realm of its dissolution for some time, the capitalist system follows a familiar playbook and calls for, among other things, increased control and militarization of migration. This time however, the reliable and time-tested cyclical reconstitution of the system is inoperable. The crisis is terminal because it finds itself in a deadly predicament of increased economic and environmental costs of appropriation that have chocked capitalization, which in turn exacerbates polarization, corruption, environmental degradation, uneven North/South power relations, and increased displacement of people.