Construction / Deconstruction of Imperial Ideology: Overview

CONSTRUCTION / DECONSTRUCTION OF IMPERIAL IDEOLOGY: OVERVIEW

Terminology

Ø  ideology:

a system of ideas or principles on which a political or economic theory is based

Ø  imperialism:

the actions of a powerful country that tries to take control ( of political / economic / social life ) of weaker countries, often using military force.

Ø  colonialism:

a situation in which one country rules another

→ Construction of imperialist ideology

CONSTRUCTION

Rudyard Kipling, ‘The White Man’s Burden’

Justification

Vocabulary:

premise / to justify / to convince / arguments

different - to conquer - superior ( to ) ( A: inferior )

Three groups of arguments:

1) Cultural justification of empire

Ø  superior, ‘enlightened’ Europeans

Ø  Rudyard Kipling: ‘The White Man’s Burden’

Ø  ‘gifts’: freedom, justice, humanity, progress

Ø  Colonized people defined as ‘other’:

hard-working colonists as responsible and benevolent rulers vs idle natives → right to land, need to be civilized

2) Biological justification of empire

Ø  hierarchy of ‘racial’ groups:

White Europeans / Asian peoples / Africans / natives of the Americas / South Pacific

Ø  Darwin’s principles of natural and sexual selection: ‘survival of the fittest’

→ ‘Social Darwinism’: biological and cultural differences based in nature

Ø  Colonizers’ fears …

… of going native /… of the ‘primitive’ / … of the wild, uncontrolled emotions

3) Religious justification of empire

Ø  Christianity is the only true religion → God-given duty to convert natives

Ø  ‘Black’ vs ‘White’:

sin / darkness / the devil vs God, Christ, goodness, purity

Ø  stereotypes of natives: simple, childlike, naked

DECONSTRUCTION

1) Cultural justification
“Europeans are not superior”
·  Europeans’ image discredited by …… WW I
… social misfits as colonizers
·  autocratic habits overseas vs democratic liberty at home
“Imperialism bad for colonies and colonizers”
·  main motive for imperialist expansion: profit
1930ies: colonies no longer
profitable
·  before c.: self-sufficient in basic foods
after c.: single-crop economies (
raw materials for rich countries )
·  profits not invested in colonies
·  no transfer of technologies
Moral and political condemnation
·  Former slave trade:
morally wrong
ecological and health disaster
·  imperialism vs democracy / right to self-determination
·  colonizers’ language - ideas of political freedom, national sovereignty, responsible government, elections
The ‘other’
·  the ‘self vs the ‘other’ -
mutual ethnic stereotypes,
prejudices
·  irony of history
2) Biological justification
·  hierarchy of racial groups - modern science
·  ‘race’ - ‘ethnic group’
3) Religious justification
·  Christian missionaries’ support of colonialism, slavery - Christian ethic ( against exploitation )
·  Missionaries: health care, education - their religion, European ideas
·  - destruction of ‘native’ cultures