Exam 2 study materials Flashcards
Formal imperialism is…
Domination by strong states (core) of weak states (periphery): POLITICAL control of periphery in ADDITION to economic exploitation.
Informal imperialism is…
Domination by strong states (core) of weak states in (periphery): ECONOMIC exploitation of periphery by the core WITHOUT political control.
Examples of formal imperialism…
Britain’s past political and economic control over parts of India, Canada, Australia, parts of Africa among others
France’s past political and economic control over Algeria, Tunisia, other parts of Africa, Caribbean islands, and parts of South America.
United States - US annexed Hawaii in 1897, Haiti became a US protectorate 1915, in 1916 the US bought the Virgin Islands from Denmark, and also in 1916 the US established a military government in the Dominican Republic.
Examples of Russian territorial expansion-
16th century: Ivan the Terrible aka Ivan IV- Volga River
Basin and regions north of Moscow
1640: Cossacks reach the Pacific Ocean
1672-1725: acquired the land down to the Baltic Sea and St. Petersburg (which they made into a forward capital)
1760- 1796: Catherine the Great - expanded to the black sea, in 1784 settled Kodiak Island -N.America, and acquired the Caucasus
19th century: Annexed several Chinese provinces and in 1812 established Ft Ross in California
Examples of Ottoman territorial expansion
The maximum extent stretched from Vienna to the Caspian Sea around the western end of the Mediterranean and down into Africa. It encompassed Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and Algeria.
Examples of Chinese territorial expansion
Chinese expanded overland and included territories of non-Chinese people over time including areas like Mongolia, Tibet, and the Uygar/Turkic areas in the east.
The three TYPES (or approaches) of imperialism are…
Economic, military and cultural
Economic imperialism is…
Economic control by the stronger state and economic dependency of the weaker state (e.g. economic dependency of Central America on the U.S.)
Military imperialism is…
The extension of a state’s sovereignty over territory that is either empty or is occupied by peoples of different cultures.
Military and political control (e.g. Russia’s eastward expansion, and the westward expansion of the U.S.)
Cultural imperialism is…
The domination of one culture (core) over another (periphery).
It is where the cultural products of a core country “invades” a periphery country and “conquers” local culture
e.g. French cultural imperialism in its former colonies
What are the classical theories of imperialism?
Hobson-Lenin Paradigm Theory of Collaboration -Robinson and Gallagher (this answer is a work in progress) Imperialism according to Hobson Imperialism according to Hilferding Marxist
Classical theory of imperialism according to Hilferding
Imperialism according to HILFERDING: Is based on INTER-CORE RIVALRY which incorporated dominance over the periphery and stressed the importance of finance.
Quote from lecture:”Hilferding is seen as the founding father of Marxist theory of imperialism because he was the first to use the meaning of imperialism to refer to the inter-core rivalry which incorporated the domination of core over periphery and also argued that the most important feature of imperialism was the rise of finance capital in the new monopoly era when industrial and financial capital fused into one system”
Classical theory of imperialism according to Hobson
HOBSON was a British economist who argued that the driving force of imperialism was SURPLUS CAPITAL generated in the core looking for opportunities in the periphery, he saw the solution as free trade and raising domestic consumption.
The five essential features of imperialism according to Lenin are…
Quote: “He believed that imperialism will lead to war, destroying capitalism and leading to world wide revolution.” He also typified imperialism by five basic features:
>Monopolies
>Rise of finance capital
>Export of capital (foreign trade and investment)
>Formation of international capitalist monopolies
>Territorial divisions
Critique of the Hobson-‐Lenin paradigm.
Quote from lecture: “World systems approach refuses this approach. They think this approach is riddled with problems and errors. They call it the error of developmentalism. Why? Because it advocates the idea that social systems develop in stages, like modernization theory.” By contrast world systems approach argues that economies and social systems develop in cycles.
What is the theory of collaboration?
After WWII there was a non-economic non-Marxist explanation of imperialism offered by Robinson and Gallagher called the theory of collaboration. Their explanation is based on politics and diplomacy rather than the economic basis of Marxism.
It was intended to explain how large colonial territories could be control with a small force. They posited that imperialism was made possible by local elites in colonies who participated and cooperated with the colonizers. They called them COMPRADOR elites.
The significance of this theory is twofold. First, it turns attention to local factors and how they contributed to the existence of imperialism AND more importantly it illustrates that orthodox Marxist views of imperialism are very euro-centric because they explain all imperialism by the activities of core states only.»_space;>This shows that Hobson-Lenin paradigm is euro-centric.«<
World Systems Approach (WSA) interpretation of imperialism is …
> > WSA argues that the main driving force of imperialism has always been the search for low cost labor.
WSA defines imperialism as a dominance relationship,
WSA interprets imperialism within the long term cyclical nature of the world economy.
WSA argues that imperialism is typical for the world economy and because the modern world economy did not exist before the 16th century imperialism didn’t exist before the 16th century either.
There were other forms of dominance but it wasn’t the same as imperialism.
Since the 16th century imperialism persisted in the world economy. However, because of the different cycles of the world economy, the strategies and types of imperialism varied. Different types of imperialism went with different phases of the world economy. For instance informal imperialism is dominant in the periods of hegemony (so imperialism is linked to cycles of hegemony, and hegemony is linked to Kondratieff cycles, which means imperialism is also linked to Kondratieff cycles).
What is a classical Marxist theory of imperialism?
Hilferding is seen as the founding father of Marxist theory of imperialism because he was the first to use the meaning of imperialism to refer to the inter-core rivalry which incorporated the domination of core over periphery. He also argued that the most important feature of imperialism was the rise of finance capital in the new monopoly era when industrial and financial capital fused into one system. Marxists generally consider imperialism to be one stage in the development of capitalism which will in turn lead to war and a new system.
What are the differences between the World System interpretation of imperialism and classical Marxist theories?
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Explain the World-‐systems
analysis of imperialism.
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What is meant by “geography of formal imperialism”?
Where in the world did imperialism take place and who was doing it?
Which were major colonizing states?
There were five major colonizers: Spain Portugal the Netherlands France - Britain -
Which were minor colonizing states?
This included early colonizers of the Baltic states:
Denmark
Sweden
Brandenburg/Prussia
and also "late comers" in: Belgium Germany Italy Japan United States
Explain the two long waves of colonial expansion and contraction
There were two waves of colony expansion and contraction. And they are related to two geographical distinct phases of imperialism.
The first expansion/contraction wave took place during the second logistic curve and was associated with the creation of colonies in Latin American by Spain and Portugal. It peaked around 1800 and declined after.
The second expansion/contraction wave of imperialism occurred during the second Kondratief cycle and was related to the rise and fall of European empires in Asia and Africa. It peaked after the Berlin conference and the division of Africa around 1900.
NOTE: The first wave took place during the second logistic curve and the second wave peaked during the second Kondratieff cycle.
Economics of formal imperialism did what…?
Integrated the periphery into the world economy and created new production zones in the world economy.
Talk about decolonization
There are three parts to colonization.
- Creation of colonies
- reorganization of territories
- transfer of sovereignty (decolonization).
Creation of colonies and reorganization of territories takes place during B phases of Kondratieff cycles when economies are stagnant.
Transfers of sovereignty (decolonization) takes place in A phases and are based on interstate rivalry, not on Kondratieff cycles.
There were two major transfers of sovereignty (decolonization). The first was related to the defeat of France (napoleon) and confirmation of British hegemony in the early part of the 19th century (the century of British hegemony). Decolonization in Latin America, which coincided with the period of emerging British hegemony, set the conditions for British informal imperialism in Latin America in the mid-1800s.
The second transfer was after the defeat of Germany in WWI and WWII and was associated with the transfer of hegemony to the US. Decolonization took place primarily in India which inspired decolonization movements in Africa and Asia.
Describe the Four periods of colonial activity by imperial states.
There were four periods of colonial activity that corresponded to Kondratief waves.
FIRST non-competitive era
»»>Logistic A phase before 1600
»»>only Spain and Portugal were imperial states
»»>dominant arena: Iberian America (South America)
FIRST competitive era
»»>Logistic phase B
»»>8 states involved in imperialist expansion
»»>Dominant arena: Caribbean
……………secondary: NAmerican colonies/African, Indian and East Indies ports
SECOND non-competitive era
»»>mid 19th century
»»>Coincides with rise/consolidation of British Empire
»»>Four active arenas: Indian Ocean Islands and Indo-China (French), India and Australasia (British)
SECOND competitive era
»»>Peak of colonial expansion by core states
»»>Coincides with decline of British Empire
»»>SEVEN states involved in expansion
»»>arenas of colonial activity: Africa, Mediterranean, Pacific Islands, Chinese ports and Arabia
Give examples of classic informal imperialism.
Dutch hegemony - it was based on the Baltic trade: Eastern Europe was peripheralized but politically independent. Dutch merchants dominated the trade but no Dutch political control.
British hegemony - based on imperialism of free trade. Latin American politically independent but trade controlled by Britain.
US hegemony -Political dependence of the periphery replaced by economic dependence after de-colonization.
Who was Friedrich List and what were his views about trade policies
LIst was a German economist in the late 1800s. He argued that countries don’t always benefit from free trade and recognized three stages of development that required different trade policies.
- Least developed countries: free trade to promote the development of agriculture (periphery)
- Protectionism necessary at a certain point in industrialization to promote development of industry (semi-periphery)
- After industry is fully developed free trade is necessary to maintain supremacy (core)
Explain how informal imperialism is a structural relation.
Structural advantage is built into the world economy:
»>most efficient producers are favored by free trade (unequal exchange)
»>world economy relies on this inequality as part of its functioning
»>unequal exchange is needed to maintain core periphery structure
»>high wage core low wage periphery is social imperialism
»>core-periphery structure of the world economy remains constant despite the movements of manufacturing to semi-periphery and periphery
Explain social imperialism.
Social imperialism is when imperial states are able to redistribute parts of the profits of the exploitation of periphery to working class in the core countries via higher wages. The effect is a perpetuation of informal imperialism and is due to the disparity in wages in each location (core/periphery). Core proletarian households derive their income from wage work and can support a family on one income, while semi-proletarian households in the periphery derive only a fraction of their income from wage work and one income is not enough to sustain a family.
Explain informal imperialism under American hegemony.
Informal imperialism is associated with periods of hegemony. During the American hegemony “client” states (dependent states) were left to develop their own economies provided they remain politically and militarily compliant with the US.
This took the form of soft power, multicultural tolerance, and multilateral politics in the Clinton and Obama administrations. Hard power and unilateral politics in the Bush administrations.
For all administrations since the end of the cold war the system called the Washington consensus or structural adjustment programs was used in relation to periphery/semi-periphery relationships. It is a set of principles based on neo-liberal economic thinking imposed on countries as a precondition for lending them more money.
What is meant by “the new imperialism”?
Refers to US imperial power under Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower through to Nixon and includes:
»The subordinate client (dependent) state approach
»Client (dependent) states are left free to develop their own economies provided they remain politically and militarily complaint with US wishes
What are the four kinds of wars?
Global, World, Local, Civil
Describe Global war
> > Involves most of the great powers of the world system.
> > Examples: Napoleonic (1792-1815), WWI and II (1914 -1945)
> > There have been five global wars since 1494.
> > Accounts for 4/5ths of all battle deaths since 1500
Quote: “Five global wars have been recognized since 1494, the period when the global system as we know it today originated, this included:
1. Italian wars of 1494-1517 a series of conflicts that involved most city states in Italy and the majority of other European countries at that time
2. Spanish wars – dutch war of independence 1581-1609
3. Loius the fourteenth included f3 major wars between france and Netherlands , League of oxborge and Spanish secession and two minor conflicts
4. WWI and
5. WWII.
These five wars account for 80% of all battle deaths.”
Describe World war
> > Earth wide conflict with a world wide battlefield and is defined by geography rather than by the character of the states involved.
It is a 20th century phenomenon: WWI and WWII
Describe Local war
> > Confined to a few countries and geographically limited in range: includes independence movements and border wars.
Most of the wars since 1815 have been local.
Examples: Russo-Japanese war of 1904-05, the Six Day War of 1967 between Israel, Egypt, Syria and Jordon.
