Imperialism

The term “imperialism” means at least six different things, depending on the historical context and the disciplinary focus. First we have traditional, premodern historical empires like the Sumerian, Egyptian, Indic, Sinitic, and Roman. These were social, political, and economic entities of which little is left, and we usually study them as holistic structures, using whatever information can be obtained. Then we have the various empires of the Middle Ages, such as the Holy Roman (Germanic) Empire of Europe and the Mughal Empire in India. Since the emergence of “modern capitalism” in the sixteenth century empires have become somewhat more variegated. The modern capitalist empires within Europe (2) can be differentiated from overseas empires (3) without colonization. The overseas capitalist empires either involved widespread (4) white settler colonization, or not. But overseas European imperialism (3) without colonization and (4) with colonization are often discussed without any kind of clear separation. The United States and the former Soviet Union were both imperialist powers with white setter colonization but initially within a large geographic land mass. The lack of clear analytic separation of white settler colonies from other kinds of colonies is partially due to the Marxist critique of European imperialism abroad, especially in Asia and Africa. Latin America presents a more complex picture due to racial mixture. Since World War II most colonies have become independent, but many still retain aspects of neocolonial culture and the kind of cultural imperialism associated with globalization (5). In addition, the term “colonization” is now often used to discuss (6) a more metaphorical kind of “coloniality” and “imperialism” that has more to do with mass media and both elite and popular culture in a postmodern globalized cultural setting. One of the first critics of overseas imperialism was the historian J. A. Hobson. However, contemporary critics of imperialism often do not pay attention to historical context. Often the term “imperialism” is not used even when the historical reality can be considered imperialistic; globalization and rationalization have led to what is popularly called “McDonaldization.”

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