Wakefield, Mill, Marx, settler colonialism: Philippe Gillig, ‘The Validity of Marx’s Critique of J. S. Mill’s Views on Systematic Colonization’, The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, 2025 | settler colonial studies blog

Wakefield, Mill, Marx, settler colonialism: Philippe Gillig, ‘The Validity of Marx’s Critique of J. S. Mill’s Views on Systematic Colonization’, The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, 2025

05Dec25

Abstract: In the final chapter of Capital I, Marx interprets the economists’ support for “systematic colonization” as an implicit admission that capitalism cannot be regarded as natural, because it needs violent state intervention. The system of colonisation devised by E. G. Wakefield consisted, indeed, in preventing new settlers arriving in the colonies from freely acquiring virgin lands, which forced them to become dependent on some capitalist. On this issue, one of Marx’s main targets is J. S. Mill. Although historians generally accept Marx’s critique, we defend the opposite view: Mill did not advocate the establishment of capitalism when supporting Wakefield.

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