User:Ifly6/draftImperialism

This is a draft rewrite for the article Imperialism, which is currently rated as a start-class article. Ifly6 (talk) 23:25, 7 November 2014 (UTC)

= Outline =

-- LEAD --

What is Imperialism?

 * (1) General term, (2) Etymology, (3) Semantics of Imperialism


 * 1) Imperialism is the control of a polity or political unit by another or the control of a polity by another by indirect/economic means.
 * 2) 'Imperialism' arose in French as rhetoric against the policies of Napoleon I in criticism of his expansionist policies in Europe and Africa. It became popular in English as a term to talk about Benjamin Disraeli's political policies in the 1860s.
 * 3) Imperialism is not an accurate term. In 1950, WK Hancock said "Imperialism is a pseudo-concept which sets out to make everything clear and ends by making everything muddled; it is a word the illiterates of social science, the callow and shallow".

Methods of Imperialism?

 * (1) Empire, (2) Protectorates, (3) Indirect Approach, (4) Neocolonialism


 * 1) Direct administration and control over another polity by a centralised metropole
 * 2) Subordinate states yield power to greater powers in matters of foreign and defence policy
 * 3) Spheres of Influence, where colonies are directed and their paths controlled by powers
 * 4) Neocolonialism, where areas are so dependant on the central power that they effectively have no choice but to go with central directives

Theories of Imperialism?

 * (1) Metrocentric, (2) Pericentric, (3) Systemic


 * 1 Metrocentric approaches focus on the internal characteristics of an imperial state. They are about the push factors.
 * Hobson said that imperial expansion was necessary to deal with surplus capital in the metropole.
 * Theme present in Lenin's analysis of Imperialism, saying that military-industrial complexes led to states pursuing imperialism to extract wealth and resources.


 * 2 Pericentric approaches focus on the conditions in the periphery. These are the pull factors.
 * In The Imperialism of Free Trade, John Gallagher and Ronald Robinson argued that imperialism occurred either indirectly in states where a central structure already existed (e.g. China). When the lands were either hostile or lacking preexisting institutions, it was only then that countries set up permanent colonies.


 * 3 Systemic theories focus on the relations between imperial powers and the use of colonies as resource centres to maintain the balance of power. An example is the Scramble for Africa, where European powers colonised Africa because if country [x] did not colonise [place], country [y] would, upsetting the balance of power.


 * All of these theories are not mutually exclusive. Hobson, Gallagher, and Robinson all supplemented their arguments with systemic theory, saying that the system which was there led to the accentuation of the push and pull factors.
 * From institutional economics, we find another theory of imperialism, that imperialism only occurs when three conditions are met: (1) large benefits from the pooling of resources, (2) highly specific assets at risk, and (3) costs of governance do not rise sharply with greater hierarchy.
 * From this, Jeffrey Freiden argued that the reason imperialism happened in the age of plantation agriculture was to cement property rights. For a country's citizens to be safe and assured that their investments would not be taken by a foreign power, they wanted their country to create an institutional structure to cement their rights to their property.
 * In the modern day, Freiden notes that because properties are now shifting towards intellectual properties, like brands, designs, and marketing — imperialism is suddenly unnecessary, since IP cannot be seized by a government.

History of Imperialism?

 * (1) Antiquity, (2) Arabia and China, (3) European Colonialism, (4) End of Empire


 * 1) Examples include Roman rule, where foreign nations were subjugated to the power of Rome. Examples include Herod in Judaea, Mithridates in Pontus, and Vercingetorix  in Gaul. Effectively, colonisation was done by the settlement of lands and its use in farming.
 * 2) European Imperialism, according to Hobson, was different from previous forms of imperialism because of the widespread influence of financial capital and the inter-competition between all the empires.
 * 1) European Imperialism, according to Hobson, was different from previous forms of imperialism because of the widespread influence of financial capital and the inter-competition between all the empires.

Legacy of Imperialism?

 * (1) Institutions [strength of the state], (2) Infrastructure

Criticism of Imperialism?

 * (1)

= Notes =