HIS 8275-030 CRN: 13705 Prof.
Jeffrey Johnson
European Imperialism in the 19th-20th
Centuries SAC 440, tel. 610-519-7404
Summer Session III (June-July) 2004 Hrs. Th. 3:00-5:00 p.m.
Thursdays, 6-8:50 p.m. & by appt.
website: http://www11.homepage.villanova.edu/jeffrey.johnson/
email: Jeffrey.Johnson@villanova.edu
AIM:
This graduate reading course is intended to examine the phenomenon of
European imperialism within the context of the 19th-20th century world, chiefly
from the 1830s to the Second World War.
We will discuss various interpretations of the phenomenon, featuring
linkages to politics, economics, social relations (including class, gender, and
ethnic issues), culture, science and technology. We will also test these interpretations by
examining case studies of imperialism in various geographical areas (the
Mediterranean and Middle East, Asia, Africa, etc.). We will consider the perspectives of both the
imperialists and those subjected to imperialism.
BOOKS:
The following required paperbacks are available at the Villanova
University Shop.
Kipling, Rudyard. The Man
Who Would Be King & Other Stories.
Dover Publications.
Hobson, John
A. Imperialism. University of
Michigan Press.
Lenin, Vladimir I. Imperialism,
the Highest Stage of Capitalism.
International Publishers.
Conklin, Alice L., & Fletcher, Ian, eds. European Imperialism, 1830-1930. Houghton Mifflin.
Headrick, Daniel R. The
Tools of Empire. Oxford University
Press.
Strobel,
Margaret. Gender, Sex and Empire.
American Historical Association
Parsons, Timothy. The British Imperial
Century, 1815-1914. Rowman &
Littlefield Publishers.
Hochschild, Adam. King Leopold's Ghost. Houghton Mifflin.
WORK AND EVALUATION: The course will meet once a week for two
hours and fifty minutes, divided into two sessions with a short break. Each session will involve discussions based
on the common readings, introduced (beginning in the second week) by short oral
reports to highlight significant issues and introduce supplementary
evidence. Oral participation will be
graded (20 % of total grade, including 10 % for oral reports). Written work will include two short papers
(about 6-8 pages each) on topics to be chosen by the student in consultation
with the instructor (40 % each). There
will be no final examination.
Late work and plagiarism: The following warnings are included for the
record.
If
you do not complete your written work when it is due, and if you do not have an
adequate excuse (and contact the instructor before the due date), your
maximum possible grade will be reduced by one letter grade after each week the
assignment is overdue.
The
instructor will not tolerate plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty;
students handing in work that is demonstrably not their own, or which involves
dishonest manipulation or misrepresentation of sources, can expect to be
disciplined according to standard university procedures. The usual penalty is a failing grade in the
course.
OUTLINE AND READING SCHEDULE:
Part One:
Shaping the “New imperialism”
Week 1 (6/3)
Introduction; the imperialist mind-set
Read: Kipling, pp. 21-100 (note
glossary, 101-102); PAPER TOPICS & ORAL REPORTS
HIS 8275-030 CRN: 13705 Prof.
Jeffrey Johnson (2)
Week 2 (6/10) Imperialism and international systems: the British case
Read Parsons, entire
Oral reports: 1) British imperial economic strategy in 19th-century India (use P.J. Marshall, Bengal: The British Bridgehead : Eastern India, 1740-1828; C. A. Bayly, Indian Society and the Making of the British Empire [if available]; B. R. Tomlinson, Economy of Modern India)
2) The “official mind” in Africa (use Robinson, Ronald, & John Gallagher, Africa and the Victorians)
Week 3 (6/17) "Classic” non-Marxist interpretations of
imperialism: Hobson and Schumpeter
Read: Hobson, entire;
Conklin, 43-51
Oral reports: 1) Hobson and the “new imperialism” (Richard Koebner & H. D. Schmidt, Imperialism; The Story and Significance of a Political Word)
2) Schumpeter’s
sociological analysis (see his Imperialism and Social Classes)
Week 4 (6/24) Effect of the First World War on the
debate: anti-Imperialism and
revolutionary Marxism
Read: Lenin, entire; Conklin, 21-36,
51-53
Oral reports: 1) Lenin and other Marxist
anti-Imperialists (Peter A. DeCaro, Rhetoric
of Revolt : Ho Chi Minh's Discourse for Revolution; Bukharin, Imperialism and World Economy)
2)
Anti-Marxist critics between the wars (William Langer, The Diplomacy of Imperialism; C. J. Hayes, A Generation of Materialism (selected chapters);
Week 5 (7/1)
Race and gender issues
Read: Strobel, entire; Conklin,
pp. 97-137
Oral reports: 1) Sexuality,
race and imperialism (Anne McClintock, Imperial
leather: Race, Gender, and Sexuality in the Colonial Contest; Paul B. Rich;
Race and Empire in British Politics)
2)
Brief presentations of selected papers
FIRST PAPERS DUE
SECOND SET OF PAPER TOPICS TO BE ANNOUNCED
Part Two:
The “New Imperialism” in action
Week 6 (7/8)
Formal vs. informal empire & technological issues in North Africa
& Asia
Read: Headrick, pp. 3-57, 83-104,
129-191
Oral reports: 1) North
Africa (Algeria, Egypt)
2)
Asia (Opium War, Indian Mutiny)
Week 7 (7/15) Scientific and technological factors behind
European dominance in Africa; opposition to European technology and
“civilization” in India
Read:
Headrick, pp. 58-79, 105-126, 192-210; Conklin, pp. 67-74, 81-95;
Gandhi, Hind Swaraj (on-line: http://www.mkgandhi.org/swarajya/coverpage.htm),
chsIV-VIII, XII-XVII, XIX-XX
Oral
reports: 1) "Development" & socioeconomic dependency
(India, Africa)
2)
Indian non-violent resistance (Gandhi)
HIS 8275-030 CRN: 13705 Prof.
Jeffrey Johnson (3)
Week 8 (7/22) The Congo and the "scramble for
Africa"; Leopold’s empire and reactions to it
Read: Hochschild, entire
Oral reports: 1) Leopold’s empire and its enemies
(sources TBA)
2)
French & German empires in Africa:
comparative cases
Week 9 (7/29) Cultural effects, resistance, and the legacy
of imperialism
Read: Conklin, 139-220
Oral reports: 1) Forms of
resistance to imperialism in Africa
2) Brief
presentations of selected papers
SECOND PAPERS due