Political Science 675
Imperialism: History, theory and practice
Tuesdays, 4:00 – 6:40, AH 4144
Spring 2013
Professor Latha Varadarajan
Department of Political Science
4136 Adams Humanities
lvaradar@mail.sdsu.edu
Office Hours – Tuesday, 1:00 – 2:00; Thursday, 2:30 – 4:30
Purpose of the course:
Imperialism, it has been remarked, is a term that many use, though few can say what it really
means. The discipline of International Relations, for instance, has largely avoided any serious
engagement with the question of imperialism, its nature and its consequences. Adding to the
general confusion, scholars, commentators and political pundits have tended to use
“imperialism” in quite a cavalier manner. Regardless of whether it is used as an invective or
an ideal, imperialism has been seen as interchangeable with terms like “empire” and
“colonialism.” Imperialism has thus become a term that can refer to anything – the Greek or
Persian Empire of days past, Spanish colonies in the New World, British colonies in Asia
and Africa, or American military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan. It has, in other words,
become a term that in general usage is ahistorical, analytically imprecise and essentially,
meaningless.
The principal objective of this course is to systematically engage with imperialism, both as an
analytical concept and political practice. In doing so, we will address a number of important
questions: what exactly does imperialism mean; how does conceptual clarification set the
stage for understanding the politics of imperialism; to what extent and in what form does
imperialism continue to shape global politics; how, if at all, can imperialism be challenged?
In the first part of the course, we will take a close look at some of the classic theoretical
arguments that have been made about the underlying logic of imperialism. Some of these
texts have been at the forefront of academic trends, some have been more often than not
shrugged away as quaint relics from a bygone era, and others have generally been
overlooked. We will be reading them together as a way to understand the ways in which
arguments about what imperialism means have in fact been rooted in very real political
differences about the nature of global society – what it is, what it ought to be. We will then
examine the history of imperialism and the movements that emerged in opposition to it. In
particular, we will focus on the policies adopted by imperialist powers in the acquisition and
administration of colonies in Asia and Africa, and the human costs of those measures. The
course will conclude with readings that attempt to reflect on the question of whether and
how imperialism might continue to shape contemporary politics.
Required readings:
This is a book-centric course. It is strongly recommended that you purchase the following
books, available at KB Bookstore:
1









J.A. Hobson, Imperialism (Cambridge Library Collection), Cambridge University
Press, 2011
V.I. Lenin, Imperialism, the highest stage of capitalism, International Publishing Company,
1969
Edward Said, Orientalism, Vintage, 1979
Mike Davis, Late Victorian Holocausts: El Nino Famines and the Making of the Third World,
Verso: London, 2002
Adam Hochschild, King Leopold’s Ghost, Mariner Books, 1999
Caroline Elkins, Imperial Reckoning: The Untold Story of Britain’s Gulags in Kenya, Owl
Books, 2005
Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth, Grove Press; Reprint edition, 2005
David Harvey, The new imperialism, Oxford, 2005
Himadeep Muppidi, The Colonial Signs of International Relations, Columbia/Hurst, 2012
In addition, there are selections from texts that are available online or on the course
blackboard. These are indicated on the syllabus.
Be sure to bring with you to class the actual books/articles that we will be discussing that
day.
Reading for and participating in this class:
This is a reading intensive course (approximately 150 pages per week) that will introduce you
to (or re-familiarize you with) not just contemporary political debates, but also complex
theoretical concepts. In order to help you grapple with the texts, I would strongly urge you
adopt a systematic approach to the reading. Remember, your task as students is not to take
any of the readings at face value. In order to get the most from this class you need to read
critically. It is often helpful to keep a set of broad questions in mind as you read for the class:


What are the main points of the author’s argument?
Does it sound convincing? If yes, why? If no, why not?
As far as possible, keep a log of reading notes – this will help you think through the thematic
aspects of the course and be an invaluable aid for the final comprehensive essay. Do keep in
mind the fact that the readings are not discreet entities. To put it differently, you are
expected to put the various authors and ideas into conversation with each other. For
instance, while Lenin and Said are obviously worlds apart (literally, politically, figuratively),
you are expected to draw them together in class discussions as well as your various writing
assignments. When you come across particularly challenging passages or ideas, you should
highlight them and bring them to the class. Unlike lecture-intensive undergraduate classes,
the success of a graduate seminar is heavily contingent on the discussions that you will
generate through your engagement with the readings and thematic concepts. In order to
make the classroom experience not just bearable, but fruitful and enjoyable, you should
come prepared for intense and sustained discussions each week.
2
Assignments and grading:
Apart from consistent class attendance and participation, this course has four types of
assignments:
Leading Discussions:
Each of you is expected to sign up to lead class discussions twice in the semester. This will
entail preparing a brief presentation (approximately 10 minutes), and a list of questions that
you will circulate to the rest of the group (and me) by 6pm on the Monday prior to the class.
The task of the discussion leaders is not simply summarizing the reading chapter by chapter.
Keep in mind that the class as a whole would have covered the same material. Leading
discussion entails three main tasks – identifying the main themes that are highlighted in a
particular reading as well as the questions they give rise to; and explaining why those
particular themes and questions are important; situating that particular reading within the
larger context of the debates in imperialism.
There is no set structure for the presentation – you can be as creative as you want to be, so
long as you accomplish the tasks outlined above. Feel free to coordinate with others who
have signed up for the same week. Depending on the number of students who have signed
up for that week, you could decide to do a coordinated presentation for approximately 30
minutes.
Thought Papers:
You are expected to write four thought papers during the course of the semester. The papers
should provide cogent, critical arguments about a single issue or series of related issues
raised by the reading. While the paper should directly pertain to the reading for the week you
have chosen, feel free to incorporate in it issues raised and discussed earlier in class. The
papers should be 5 pages (double-spaced).
You can choose any of the following dates to hand in your thought papers:
Thought Papers (1 and 2): Feb. 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th, March 5th
Thought Papers (3 and 4): Mar. 26th, Apr. 9th, 16th, 23rd, 30th
Please note that you can write your thought papers only on weeks you will not be leading
discussion.
Reading responses:
On the weeks that you do not have other assignments (leading discussion, thought papers),
you are expected to write a one page, single-spaced response to that week’s reading. The
reading response is not a formal paper, and does to need to be set up with an introductory
paragraph. It can take the form of succinct bulleted paragraphs that highlight what you find
to be the most important issues raised by the readings. You will explain what those issues are
3
and why you consider them to be pertinent, with references to particular page numbers. You
should avoid direct quotations unless absolutely critical. Each response should conclude with
two questions that you would like discussed in the class.
Comprehensive Essays:
Twice during the course of the semester, you will write two critical comprehensive essays.
The topics and instructions will be assigned to you in advance. In responding to the topics,
you will be expected to show your grasp of all the materials that have been covered in the
class up until that point. The due dates for the essay are as follows:
First essay – Due March 19th
Second essay – Due May 14th
Schedule of Readings
Jan. 22nd – Introductions, setting the stage
I. Specters of the past: Theorizing imperialism then and now
Jan. 29th – The liberal way
 J.A. Hobson, Imperialism, Introduction; Part I - Chps. 1, 6; Part II – Chps. 1, 3, 7
[Available online http://www.marxists.org/archive/hobson/1902/imperialism/index.htm]
 Max Boot, “Neither new nor nefarious: The Liberal Empire strikes back,” Current
History, Vol. 102, no. 667, 2003,
https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/bush/boot.htm
Feb. 5th – The price of free trade
 V.I. Lenin, Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism
 David North, “The capitalist crisis and the return of history”, in The Economic Crisis
and the Return of History, Mehring Book: 2011, pp. 9-28 [Blackboard]
 “Why is NATO at war with Yugoslavia? World power, oil and gold,” World Socialist
Web Site, May 24, 1999, http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/1999/05/stat-m24.html
Feb. 12th – Post-Marxism, Take One
 Edward Said, Orientalism, Chapter 1 (I, II, III, IV); Chapter 3 (skim I, IV)
 Hugh Gusterson, “ A double standard on nuclear weapons?”
http://web.mit.edu/cis/pdf/gusterson_audit.pdf
Feb. 19th – Post-Marxism, Take Two
 Karl Kautsky, “Ultra-Imperialism”
http://www.marxists.org/archive/kautsky/1914/09/ultra-imp.htm
 Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, Empire, Preface,; 1.1 (Part I); 2.2, 2.3, 2.5 (Part II).
[Blackboard]
4
II. Imperialism in action
Feb. 26th – Disciplining the economy…and the natives
 Mike Davis, Late Victorian Holocausts, Chapters 1-6; Chapter 9
Mar. 5th – The real heart of darkness
 Adam Hochschild, King Leopold’s Ghosts, Introduction, Prologues, Chapters. 1-5, 8 10, 12-13, 15, 18-19
March 12th – Disciplining rebellion
 Caroline Elkins, Imperial Reckoning, Chapters 1-5, 10 and Epilogue
March 19th – FIRST COMPREHENSIVE ESSAY DUE
III. Anti-imperialism in action
March 26th – Internationalism and the clarion call of revolution
 August Nimtz, “The Eurocentric Marx and Engels and other related myths,” in
Crystal Bartolovich and Neil Lazarus (eds), Marxism, Modernity and Postcolonial Studies,
pp. 65-80 [Blackboard]
 Karl Marx, “The British Rule India,”
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1853/06/25.htm
 Karl Marx, “The future results of British rule in India,”
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1853/07/22.htm
 Iqbal Husein (ed.). “Karl Marx on India,” pp. 89-96; 148-151; 196-205
[Blackboard]
 Proceedings of the Second Congress of the Communist International, July 19-August
7, 1920, [Blackboard]
* V.I. Lenin, “Report on the National and Colonial Question,”
* Discussion on the National and Colonial Question
* Theses on the national and colonial question
April 2nd – SPRING BREAK
April 9th – Nationalism and the comfort of reform
 Jawaharlal Nehru, The Discovery of India, Chapters 1, 3, Selections from Chapters 6, 7,
8 and 10 (pp. 305-361; 390-401; 573-614), Epilogue [Blackboard]
April 16th – Violence and the lure of a ‘Third Way’
 Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth, Preface, Chapters 1, 2, 3 and Conclusion
5
IV. Millennial visions: Imperialism in the new world order
April 23rd – The novelty of international politics?
 David Harvey, The New Imperialism, Chapters 1, 2, 4 (pp. 145-156; 169-182), 5
April 30th – The ‘Other’ story
 Himadeep Muppidi, The Colonial Signs of International Relations
May 7th – Back to the future
 Responsibility to Protect: Report of the International Commission on Intervention
and State Sovereignty (2001), 1-18, 31-37, available at
http://responsibilitytoprotect.org/ICISS%20Report.pdf
 Barack Obama, “Remarks by the President in Address to the Nation on Libya,”
National Defense University, March. 28, 2011, at http://www.whitehouse.gov/thepress-office/2011/03/28/remarks-president-address-nation-libya
 Hugh Roberts, “Who said Gaddafi had to go?,” London Review of Books, November
17, 2011, http://www.lrb.co.uk/v33/n22/hugh-roberts/who-said-gaddafi-had-to-go
 Gilbert Achcar, “Libya: A legitimate and necessary debate from an anti-imperialist
perspective,” ZNet, March 25, 2011, http://www.zcommunications.org/libya-alegitimate-and-necessary-debate-from-an-anti-imperialist-perspective-by-gilbertachcar
 “No to imperialist intervention in Libya,” World Socialist Web Site, March 11, 2011,
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2011/03/pers-m19.html
 Juan Cole, “An Open Letter to the Left on Libya,” Informed Comment, March 27,
2011, http://www.juancole.com/2011/03/an-open-letter-to-the-left-on-libya.html
 David Walsh, “The Case of Professor Juan Cole,” World Socialist Web Site, April 1,
2011, http://wsws.org/en/articles/2011/04/pers-a01.html
 Roger Cohen, “Score One for Interventionism,” New York Times, August 29, 2011,
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/30/opinion/30iht-edcohen30.html?_r=0
 Amnesty International, Report on Libyan Militia, February 16, 2012,
http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/news-item/amnesty-international-says-out-ofcontrol-libyan-militias-are-commiting-widespread-abuses-against-su
 Bill Van Auken, “The Quiet American: the death of J. Christopher Stevens,” World
Socialist Web Site, September 14, 2012,
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2012/09/quie-s14.html
FINAL ESSAY DUE TUESDAY, MAY 14Th
6