A timely exploration of one of the big geopolitical questions of our time.
"'Empire' for a time became a quaintly antiquated word, banished from the political spectrum with the collapse of European colonial rule in Africa and Asia. Now, the word has come back as journalists, scholars, and politicians try to come to grips with the singular power of the United States."from Lessons of Empire
In the shadow of America's recent military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, distinguished historians of empires and noted international relations specialists consider the dirty word "empire" in the face of contemporary political reality. Is "empire" a useful way to talk about America's economic, cultural, political, and military power?
This final volume in the Social Science Research Council "After September 11" series examines what the experience of past empires tells us about the nature and consequences of global power. How do the goals and circumstances of the United States today compare to classical imperialist projects of rule over others, whether for economic exploitation or in pursuit of a "civilizing mission"?
Reviewing the much contested history of domination by Western colonizing powers, Lessons of Empire asks what lessons the history of these empires can teach us about the world today.
Recenzijos
"Empire for a time became a quaintly antiquated word, banished from the political spectrum with the collapse of European colonial rule in Africa and Asia. Now, the word has come back as journalists, scholars and politicians try to come to grips with the singular power of the United States." - FROM LESSONS OF EMPIRE"
| Acknowledgments |
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vii | |
| Introduction |
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1 | (18) |
| I. LESSONS OF EMPIRE |
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19 | (15) |
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2. The History of Lessons: Law and Power in Modern Empire |
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34 | (14) |
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3. Imperial Formations and the Opacities of Rule |
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48 | (15) |
| II. EMPIRES AS AGENTS OF CHANGE |
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4. Modernizing Colonialism and the Limits of Empire |
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63 | (10) |
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5. Learning from Empire: Russia and the Soviet Union |
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73 | (21) |
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6. Empires of Liberty? Democracy and Conquest in French Egypt, British Egypt, and American Iraq |
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94 | (22) |
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7. Law and Legitimation in Empire |
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116 | (19) |
| III. MODELS OF POWER |
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8. Imperialism or Colonialism? From Windhoek to Washington, by Way of Basra |
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135 | (22) |
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9. Who Counts? Imperial and Corporate Structures of Governance, Decolonization, and Limited Liability |
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157 | (18) |
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175 | (14) |
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11. China's Agrarian Empire: A Different Kind of Empire, a Different Kind of Lesson |
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189 | (12) |
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12. Imperial Power and Its Limits: America's Colonial Empire in the Early Twentieth Century |
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201 | (16) |
| IV. EMPIRES AS INTERNATIONAL ACTORS |
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13. Imperial and Colonial Encounters: Some Comparative Reflections |
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217 | (12) |
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14. Ways of Remembering the Maine: Lessons of 1898 in Spain and Cuba |
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Christopher Schmidt-Nowara |
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229 | (13) |
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15. Agriculture, Industry, Empire, and America |
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242 | (11) |
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16. Imperialism Is Alive and Well: Globalization and East Asia after September 11 |
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253 | (16) |
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17. Myths of Empire and Strategies of Hegemony |
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269 | (14) |
| Notes |
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283 | (42) |
| Contributors |
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325 | (2) |
| Index |
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327 | |
Craig Calhoun is the director of the London School of Economics and Political Science. He was formerly University Professor at NYU, the director of the Institute for Public Knowledge, and the president of the Social Science Resource Council. His books include the prizewinning Neither Gods Nor Emperors, Nations Matter, Critical Social Theory, and The Roots of Radicalism. His work has been translated into ten languages.
Frederick Cooper is Professor of History at New York University and author of ten books, including Colonialism in Question. He lives in New York City.
Kevin W. Moore is senior associate dean for faculty affairs at Duke University. He is a co-editor, with Eric Hershberg, of Critical Views of September 11: Analyses from Around the World and, with Craig Calhoun and Frederick Cooper, of Lessons of Empire: Imperial Histories and American Power (both published by The New Press). He lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
