HIS 617 Modern European Imperialism and Colonialism Seminar
Kenneth J. Orosz Office Hours: T 1:30-2:30
Fall 2019 W 10:00-12:00
Class Meetings: Classroom Bldg C214 Office: Classroom Bldg C213
M 7:20-10:10 Telephone: 878-3203
E-mail: oroszkj@buffalostate.edu
Course Description
This seminar explores modern European imperialism in Africa and Asia. During the first half of the seminar we will examine in detail current as well as classic theories of imperialism. The remainder of the course will be devoted to readings that highlight some of the current areas of historical enquiry within the field of modern European imperialism, including education, gender, race, culture, missionary activities, and decolonization.
Requirements:
Academic misconduct (including cheating and plagiarism) will not be tolerated. Buffalo State College policies on academic misconduct, including the possible use of textual similarity detection software, are outlined on page 20 of the Graduate catalog. Please note that the minimum penalty for cases of academic misconduct will be an F on the assignment.
Please note that in order to pass this course you must make a good faith attempt to complete all components and requirements. LATE WORK WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED WITHOUT PRIOR ARRANGEMENT. Incompletes will be granted at the sole discretion of the instructor and require a written application outlining the rationale behind granting the incomplete, a list of outstanding assignments and a timetable for their completion. This application must be signed and, if granted, will constitute a formal contract for the completion of the course.
All written assignments must conform to the broad stylistic guidelines outlined in the History Style Sheet. When it comes to citation and bibliography formats, Turabian’s Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Thesis and Dissertations 8th ed. is the bible for historians. The rules spelled out in her manual are simple and easy to understand. Come see me if you have questions regarding citation format, presentation of quotations, or other writing concerns.
30% Discussion: Regular attendance and active participation in weekly class discussions is required. As part of their discussion grade, all students will be required to prepare and lead at least one class discussion of the assigned readings. These readings, which are to be completed by the dates given, include required texts, journal articles, and selected book chapters. Most journal articles can be accessed through the library’s electronic databases; highlighted readings are available in Blackboard under the Content tab.
20% Precis: Students will write eight 2-3 page précis analyzing weekly assigned texts (4 on theories of imperialism, 4 on topics readings). Each précis should identify the main thesis of the work(s) in question and outline the key arguments/pieces of evidence used in advancing that thesis. It may also include a description of the work’s ideological orientation and its contributions to the larger historiography of imperialism. A précis thus provides its reader with a brief summary of a larger work. While the choice of which works to write your précis on are up to you, each précis is due in class on the day that the work in question is scheduled for discussion. Hence, if you are writing on Hobson, that precis would be due in class on September 9.
50% Historiographical Essay: Students will write a 20 page historiographical essay on a topic you have chosen that is germane to the course. These essays should analyze the evolution of historical thinking on your chosen topic, identifying key historical camps and their arguments, shifts in interpretation, methodologies, and sources. Topics must be chosen by October 7 with a preliminary bibliography to follow by October 28. The essay itself is due in class on December 9.
Books: The following books are required reading and are available in the bookstore:
Daughton and White, In God’s Empire ISBN 978-0-195-39644-7 ******
J. A. Hobson, Imperialism: A Study 978-0-300-18056-5
James Lehning, European Colonialism since 1700 978-0-521-74171-2
Vladimir Lenin, Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism 978-0-717-80098-8
James Le Sueur, The Decolonization Reader 978-0-415-23117-6
Nicholas Thomas, Islanders: The Pacific in the Age of Empire 978-0-300-18056-5
Bernard Porter, The Absent Minded Imperialists 978-0-19820854-9
Lora Wildenthal, German Women for Empire 978-0-822-2819-3
****** I will have 1 copy on reserve; otherwise buy used as it is very expensive
Class Schedule:
August 26 Introduction
September 2 No Class
September 9 Classic Theories of Imperialism: Hobson
Hobson, Imperialism
Lehning, European Colonialism since 1700, Ch 1-3
September 16 Classic Theories of Imperialism: Lenin and Schumpeter
Lehning, European Colonialism since 1700, Ch 4-6
Lenin, Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism
D.K. Fieldhouse, “Imperialism: An Historiographical Revision,” Economic
History Review 2nd series, 14,1 (1961): 187-209
A. M. Eckstein “Is there a ‘Hobson-Lenin Thesis’ on late 19th Century Colonial
Expansion?” Economic History Review 2nd series, 44, 2 (May 1991): 297-318
Joseph Schumpeter, “Imperialism as a Social Atavism” in The “New”
Imperialism, 2nd ed., ed. Harrison Wright (Toronto: D.C. Heath and Co, 1976), 69-88.
September 23 Theories of Imperialism: Robinson and Gallagher
John Gallagher and Ronald Robinson, “The Imperialism of Free Trade,”
Economic History Review 2nd series, 6, 1 (1953): 1-15
John Gallagher and Ronald Robinson, “The Partition of Africa,” in Imperialism:
The Robinson and Gallagher Controversy, ed. Wm. Roger Louis (New York: New Viewpoints, 1976), 73-127.
D.C.M. Platt “The Imperialism of Free Trade: Some Reservations,” Economic
History Review 2nd series, 21, 2 (August 1968): 296-306
D.C. M. Platt , “Further Objections to an ‘Imperialism of Free Trade,’ 1830-60”
Economic History Review 2nd series 26, 1 (February 1973): 77-91
D. K, Fieldhouse, “Imperialism and the Periphery” in The “New” Imperialism
2nd ed., ed. Harrison Wright (Toronto: D.C. Heath and Co, 1976), 181-201
Lynn Martin “The ‘Imperialism of Free Trade’ and the Case of West Africa, ca.1830-ca. 1870” Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History 15, no. 1 (October 1986): 22-40
September 30 Theories of Imperialism: German and French Colonial Expansion
Martin Denning Lewis, “One Hundred Million Frenchmen: The ‘Assimilation’
Theory in French Colonial Policy,” Comparative Studies in Society and History 4, 2 (January 1962): 129-153
C. M. Andrew and A. S. Kanya-Forstner, “Centre and Periphery in the Making of
The Second French Colonial Empire, 1815-1920” Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History 16, 3 (May 1988): 9-34
Alice Conklin,“ Colonialism and Human Rights, A contradiction in Terms? The
Case of France and West Africa, 1895-1914” American Historical Review103, 2 (April 1998): 419-442
Hartmutt Pogge von Strandemann, “Domestic Origins of Germany’s Colonial
Expansion Under Bismarck,” Past and Present no. 42 (February 1969): 140-159
Hans Ulrich Wehler, “Bismarck’s Imperialism 1862-1890,” Past and Present no.
48 (August 1970): 119-155
P.M. Kennedy, “Has the ‘Manipulated Social Imperialism’ Been Antedated?”
Past and Present no. 54 (February 1972) 134-141
October 7 Theories of Imperialism: Orientalism and Subaltern Studies
Gyan Prakash “Subaltern Studies as Postcolonial Criticism,” American Historical
Review 99, 5 (December 1994): 1475-1490
Jon Wilson, “Agency, Narrative and Resistance,” in The British Empire: Themes
and Perspectives, ed. Sarah Stockwell (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2008), 245-268
Frederick Cooper “Conflict and Connection: Rethinking Colonial African
History,” American Historical Review 99, 5 (December 1994): 1516-1545
Keith Windschuttle, “Cultural History and Western Imperialism: The Case of
Edward Said,” Journal of the Historical Society 1, 2-3 (2000-2001): 169-206
Elizabeth Elbourne, “‘Race’, Warfare and Religion in mid-Nineteenth Century
Southern Africa: The Khoikhoi Rebellion Against the Cape Colony and Its Uses, 1850-58,” Journal of African Cultural Studies 13, 1 (June 2000): 17-42.
Zeynip Çelik and Leila Kinney, “Ethnography and Exhibitionism at the
Expositions Universelles,” Assemblage 13 (December 1990): 34-59
Historiographical paper topic due
October 14 No Class
October 21 Topics: Science, Technology, Environment and Imperialism
Daniel Headrick, “The Tools of Imperialism: Technology and the Expansion of
European Colonial Empires in the 19th Century,” Journal of Modern History 51, 2 (June 1979) 231-263
Richard Roberts, “French Colonialism, Imported Technology, and the Handicraft
Textile Industry in the Western Sudan, 1898-1918,” Journal of Economic History 47, 2 (June 1987): 461-472
David Arnold, “Europe, Technology and Colonialism in the 20th Century,”
History and Technology 21, 1 (March 2005): 85-106.
Londa Shiebinger et al, “Focus on Colonial Science,” Isis 96, 1 (March 2005): 52-
87.
Thaddeus Sunseri, “Reinterpreting a Colonial Rebellion: Forestry and Control in
German East Africa, 1874-1915,” Environmental History 8, 3 (July 2003): 430-451
James Boyce, “Canine Revolution: The Social and Environmental Impact of the
Introduction of the Dog to Tasmania,” Environmental History 11 (January 2006): 102-129
Gavin Bowd and Daniel Clayton, “Tropicality, Orientalism and French
Colonialism in Indochina: The Work of Pierre Gourou, 1927-1982,” French Historical Studies 28, 2 (Spring 2005): 297-327
October 28 Topics: Imperialism in the Pacific
Nicholas, Islanders
Preliminary bibliography for final paper due
November 4 Topics: Race and Gender
Wildenthal, German Women for Empire
Margaret Strobel, “Gender, Race and Empire in Nineteenth and Twentieth
Century Africa and Asia,” in Becoming Visible 3rd ed., ed. Renate Bridenthal et al (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998), 389-414
November 11 Topics: Education and Imperialism
Catherine Hall, “Making Colonial Subjects: Education in the Age of Empire,”
History of Education 37, 6 (November 2008): 773-787
Satadru Sen “The Politics of Deracination: Empire, Education and Elite Children
in Colonial India,” Studies in History 19, 1 (February 2003): 19-39
Bob White, “Talk about School: Education and the Colonial Project in French and
British Africa (1860-1960)” Comparative Education 32, 1 (March 1996): 9-25
Stafford Kay “African Roles, Response and Initiatives in Colonial Education: The
Case of Western Kenya,” Paedagogica Historica 16, 2 (1976): 272-293
Gail Kelly, “Learning to Be Marginal: Schooling in Inter-war French West
Africa,” Journal of Asian and African Studies 21, 3-4 (1986): 171-184
Frances Gouda “Teaching Indonesian Girls in Java and Bali 1900-1942: Dutch
Progressives, the infatuation with ‘Oriental’ refinement, and ‘Western’ ideas about proper womanhood,” Women’s History Review 4, 1 (1995): 25-62
Anthony Sweeting “Language and the History of Colonial Education: The Case of
Hong Kong,” Modern Asian Studies 41, 1(2007): 1-40
Sybille Küster, “‘Book Learning’ vs ‘Adapted Education’: The Impact of Phelps-
Stokesism on Colonial Education systems in Central Africa in the Interwar Period,” Paedagogica Historica 43, 1 (February 2007): 79-97
November 18 Topics: Missions and Imperialism
Daughton and White, In God’s Empire
November 25 Topics: Empire and Culture
Bernard Porter, The Absent Minded Imperialists
Bernard Porter, “Further Thoughts on Imperial Absent Mindedness,” Journal of
Imperial and Commonwealth History 36, 1 (March 2008): 101-118
John Mackenzie, “Comfort and Conviction: A Response to Bernard Porter,”
Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History 36, 4 (December 2008): 659-668
December 2 Topics: Decolonization
Lehning, European Colonialism since 1700, Ch 7
Le Sueur, The Decolonization Reader
December 9 Final Paper due