The Hegemony of the Global Exploitation of Humans and Nature

This chapter introduces the concept of the ‘imperial mode of living’ as a contribution to current debates on imperialism. The term points towards the norms of production, distribution, and consumption built into the political, economic, and cultural structures of everyday life for the populations of the Global North. And it works, increasingly, in the countries with ‘emerging economies’ of the Global South, as well. After an introduction of the historical situation into which the chapter intervenes with the term, the meaning of the concept and its analytical use value are outlined. The chapter concludes with a brief remark on the relationship between class (structures) and the imperial mode of living.