HIS 3995-02   Fall 2002                                                                          Dr. Jeffrey A. Johnson

Topics:  European Imperialism in the 19th-20th Centuries                     SAC 440, X-97404

TOLENT 426   Mon.-Wed., 12:30-1:45pm                                              Hrs. MW 2-3pm

website:  http://www11.homepage.villanova.edu/jeffrey.johnson/             F 9:30-10:30 & by appt.

email:       Jeffrey.Johnson@villanova.edu

 

AIM:   This reading course is intended to examine the phenomenon of European imperialism within the context of the 19th-20th century world.  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 test these interpretations by examining case studies of imperialism during the period from the 1830s to World War II.  We will also consider the perspectives not only of the imperialists, but also 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.

Conrad, Joseph.  Heart of Darkness.  Dover Publications.

Hochschild, Adam.  King Leopold's Ghost.  Houghton Mifflin.

Headrick, Daniel R.  The Tools of Empire.  Oxford University Press.

Conklin, Alice L., ed.  European Imperialism, 1830-1930.  Houghton Mifflin Company.

Parsons, Timothy. The British Imperial Century, 1815-1914.  Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. 

 

WORK AND EVALUATION:  The course will meet twice a week for one hour and fifteen minutes, about half the time devoted to lectures and the rest to discussions of the readings or short oral reports by students.  The oral reports will be based on topics listed in the syllabus, related to the common readings; each student's report will also be written up and submitted as one of the three short essays.  There will also be a midterm and final essay examination.  Oral participation will be graded (20% of total grade, including 10% for oral reports).  Written work will include three short (2-3 page) essays on the common readings or (for at least one paper) outside supplementary readings (15% each); there will also be a midterm (15%) and final essay examination (20%).  Guidelines will be discussed in class.

 

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.

Learning disabilities:  It is Villanova University’s policy to make reasonable academic accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities.  This may include special arrangements for note-taking, taking examinations, etc.  If you will need such arrangements, please make an appointment with one of the instructors as soon as possible to discuss this, or consult the Office of Learning Support Services in Geraghty Hall (610-519-5636).

 

OUTLINE AND READING SCHEDULE: 

 

Week 1 (8/26-28)  Introduction; the imperialist mind-set (read Kipling, 21-100; Conklin, 58-59

 

HIS 3995-02                                                                                            Prof. Jeffrey Johnson

 

Week 2 (9/4)  Formal vs. informal empire:  the British in India

    Read:  Parsons, 1-58  

FIRST SET OF ORAL REPORTS AND ESSAYS TO BE ASSIGNED

 

Week 3 (9/9-11)  Tools of empire in Asia & the Middle East

     Read: (Mon.) Parsons, 91-147; (Wed.) Headrick, 17-57, 150-156, 180-191; opium readings (on-line:  Tea and Opium, Lin Tse-Hsü, "Letter of Advice", Hong Kong History, Treaty of Nanking)

      Oral reports:      (Mon.)  Consider the role of British Imperialism in China and the Ottoman Empire; in what senses was it constructive, and in what senses destructive?  Why?

                                (Wed.)  1)  Why couldn't Chinese defeat the British in the Opium War?

                                2)  Do you think that the British saw opium as "just another product" or as a "tool of empire"?

 

Week 4 (9/16-18)  Tools of empire in Africa

     Read:  (Mon.) Parsons, 59-90; (Wed.) Headrick, pp. 58-126.

FIRST SHORT PAPER DUE (Mon., 9/16)

     Oral reports:  (Mon.)  If Africa offered relatively few “immediate dividends” to the British, in comparison with other areas of their empire, why did they take over so much of the continent?

                                (Wed.)  1)  Could the Europeans have conquered Africa without the “tools” of steamboats and quinine?  Explain the significance and interrelationship of each.

                                2)  How did the 19th-century European “arms race” affect the European conquest of Africa?  What were the most decisive innovations in European weaponry & why?

 

Week 5 (9/23-25)  The Congo:  wealth and horror

     Read: (Mon.) Hochschild, 21-87; (Wed.) Hochschild, 115-181, 225-234

SECOND SHORT PAPER TO BE ASSIGNED (Wed., 9/25)

     Oral reports:  (Mon.)  What sort of man was Henry M. Stanley, and how did he contribute to King Leopold’s takeover of the Congo?

                                (Wed.)  1)  What was the “Congo Free State” – a capitalist enterprise, a feudal kingdom, or something else? 

                                2)  What kinds of atrocities did Leopold’s agents commit in the “Congo Free State” & with what effect on the population?  If the state was closely regulated from Brussels, why were the atrocities allowed to take place?

 

Week 6 (9/30-10/2)  Reactions to the horror

    Read:  (Mon.) Hochschild, 177 [skim the previous pages in the chapter]-224, 253-267; (Wed.) Conrad (entire)

    Oral reports:  (Mon.)  Who was E. D. Morel, and why & how did he organize resistance to the atrocities in the Congo?  What made his approach so effective?

                                (Wed.) 1)  Who is Conrad’s “Mr. Kurtz”?  How do his personality, setting, and actions compare to those of the actual Belgian agents in the Congo?

                                2)  Would Conrad have supported Morel’s campaign?  Discuss evidence from the book to show why or why not.

 

Week 7 (10/7-9)  REVIEW (Mon.) & MIDTERM ESSAY EXAMINATION (Wed.)

 

SEMESTER BREAK (Oct. 14-18)

 

Week 8 (10/21-23)  “Civilization” & stereotypes:  gender & race, ideology & religion

    Read: (Mon.) Conklin, pp. 60-66, 74-86, (Wed.) Conklin, 111-117, 124-137, 149-157

    Oral reports:  (Mon.) 1) Was it inconsistent for the French 3d Republic to proclaim a “civilizing mission” in Africa and Asia while carrying it out through violence?  Explain

                                2) Compare the role of Christian religion and medical science as forces of “civilization” in the British empire

                                (Wed.)  1) Why were gender and racial issues closely interconnected in relations between colonizers and indigenous peoples?  Discuss some examples

                                2) How might soap advertising techniques be seen as a “tool of empire”? Consider racial stereotypes as well as European cultural and social concerns.

 

Week 9 (10/28-30)  Imperialists fall out:  the Boer War and Hobson’s political-economic critique

    Read:  (Mon.) Hobson, introduction & 3-13, 46-61, 206-216; (Wed.) Hobson, 71-93, 136-139, 145-152, 360-368

SECOND SHORT PAPER DUE (Wed., 10/30)

    Oral reports:  Mon.:  1)  Did Hobson criticize both nationalism and imperialism?  Explain.

                                2)  What did Hobson mean by “psychical departmentalism” as a factor shaping the Boer War and British imperialism in general?  Was this unique to Britain?

                                Wed.:       1)  What is the “economic taproot of imperialism” for Hobson?  Who reaps its economic benefits, and why?

                                2)  How, in his view, does imperialism coexist with democracy?  Does he think this coexistence is likely to endure?  Explain.

 

Week 10 (11/4-6)  Imperialism as “science”:  eugenics and racism 

    Read:  (Mon.) Hobson, 153-167, 182-189; (Wed.) Hobson, 237-243, 252-255 (top), 280-284; Conklin, 86-95, 117-137

    Oral reports:  (Mon.)  1) What was the relationship of “scientific imperialism” to eugenics?

                                2) How scientific was the “scientific defence of imperialism” as described by Hobson?  Consider its underlying assumptions.

                                (Wed.)  1)  How effectively did Hobson criticize the assumptions of the “white man’s burden” argument in regard to civilizing “lower races”?

                                2)  If Hobson discussed “lower races,” was he himself a racist?  Consider evidence pro or con.

THIRD SHORT PAPER TO BE ASSIGNED (Wed., 11/6)

  

Week 11 (11/11-13)  The First World War and renewed critical analysis:  Schumpeter and the Marxists

    Read:  (Mon.) Conklin, 43-51; (Wed.) Lenin, 47-108; Conklin, 29-36, 51-53

    Oral reports:        Mon.:  1)  Was Schumpeter correct to call imperialism "atavistic"? 

                                2)  If in Schumpeter’s view capitalism did not cause imperialism, what did?  Critique this view in reference to the main driving forces in 19th century European society.

                                Wed.: 1) How were Lenin's arguments fundamentally different from Hobson's & Schumpeter's?  Where was his critique strongest?  Weakest?  Why?

                                2)  Did Rosa Luxemburg’s analysis of the relationship between the imperial nations and their empires differ in any fundamental way from Lenin’s?  Explain. 

 

Week 12 (11/18-20)  European imperialism during and after the First World War:  the case of the Middle East

    Read:  (Mon.-Wed.)  "The First World War and European Imperialism in the Middle East"  [on Dr. Johnson's website:  documents including the British-French Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916, the Balfour Declaration of 1917, and various readings on the British & French mandates set up after the war in Syria, Palestine, and Iraq (Mesopotamia), as well as the origin of the British protectorate in Kuwait.

    No oral reports (work on 3d short paper)

 

Week 13 (11/25)  Film:  TBA (to be shown in class)

    No reading, no oral reports (work on 3d short paper)

 

THANKSGIVING BREAK (11/27-29)

 

Week 14  (12/2-4)  Varieties of resistance by indigenous peoples

    Read:  (Mon.) Conklin, 181-196; (Wed.), Conklin, 21-29, 51-53, 205-220

    THIRD SHORT PAPER DUE (Wed., Dec. 4)

    Oral reports:        Mon.:  Did European imperialism succeed in imposing real control over the lives and work of indigenous peoples?  What limited this control?

                                Wed.:  1) In Gandhi’s view, what made British control of India possible, and how could it be overthrown?  How did Gandhi’s approach to resistance promote this?  Would violent revolution have succeeded as well?  Consider Ho Chi Minh’s perspective on this.

                                2)  Compare Anderson’s and Chatterjee’s views of nationalism & its significance for anticolonial resistance; whose approach do you find most plausible, and why?

 

Week 15  (12/9-11) The legacy of imperialism (Mon.); REVIEW (Wed.)

    Read (Mon.) Hochschild, 292-306; Headrick, 204-210

    Oral reports:      (Mon.) 1)  Hochschild suggests that the principal legacy of imperialism in the Congo was a “great forgetting” and ultimately the creation of a new dictatorship.  Evaluate and critique this view

                                2)  Headrick suggests that the “true legacy of imperialism” was the European “fascination with machinery and innovation,” which they passed to the peoples of Asia and Africa.  Evaluate and critique this view

                                A 3d oral report on the contemporary legacy of imperialism may be included here as needed