Description
This paper investigates the persistence of imperialism in contemporary international trade by analyzing the MERCOSUR-EU trade negotiations through the lens of imperial realism. Building on historical materialist theories and adapting Mark Fisher's concept of capitalist realism, imperial realism is defined as the pervasive belief that existing imperial structures - characterized by economic dependency, exploitation of the periphery by the core, and unequal global power dynamics - are the natural order of international relations which can be overcome through progressive and reciprocal trade liberalization. This ideology overlooks the ways that Northern states continue to hamper Southern development through unequal exchange, forced liberalization, and monopoly intellectual property rights whilst rendering alternative development paths inconceivable for both core and peripheral states. By examining the external pressures faced by MERCOSUR nations (the whip of external necessity) and the internal dynamics of domestic elites willing to cede economic sovereignty (the lash of internal complicity), the paper uses in depth analysis of official documents, leaked negotiating text, and 63 interviews with negotiators, business and civil society representatives across both regions to illustrate how imperial realism operates materially and ideologically in modern North-South trade negotiations. This case study demonstrates the mechanisms through which imperial hierarchies are maintained and normalized. The paper concludes that both material forces and ideological constructs sustain imperialism in the modern global economy, which now takes shape under the façade of sustainable development and the rhetorically novel green political economy. It calls for a critical re-engagement with theories of imperialism to challenge the acceptance of these hierarchies and to envision alternative pathways toward equity and sustainability for peripheral nations and communities.
