İbrahim S. Soral
Question: How did the various forms of European colonialism affect the colonial legacy in terms
of path dependence?
Discussion: Colonialism, the exercise of power over the people of a region, has occurred in many
forms since the 16th century. Among the colonial empires, some stand out as they best exhibited
the characteristics of certain forms of colonialism. In that sense, countries like Spain, Dutch, and
Britain each represent the different stages such colonialism went through as the old colonialism,
merchant capital and new colonialism respectively.
Spain was one of the earliest colonial empires dating back to 16th century. Its motives behind
colonization are often far away from capitalist mindset in that they adopt a style which promotes
quasi-feudalism. “Spain’s economy in the sixteenth century had been dominated by semi-feudal
interests, hence the emphasis on war, plunder, slavery, and short-term gain. Because there was yet
no capitalist logic of maximum profit at work, Spanish policies in the Western hemisphere
epitomized the old colonial system (Cypher and Diet 2009).” As for Dutch colonialism – merchant
capital, it can be said that it was somewhere in between the old and new forms of colonialism. That
is mainly because their mode of production (sugar plantation systems) exhibits both capitalist and
quasi-feudal features. “Thus, the Dutch plantation system combined capitalist-type behaviour,
such as expanded production, as represented by the maintenance of a fixed investment in plantation
lands, and the profit motive, with quasi-feudal attitudes toward labour. (Cypher and Diet 2009).”
Dutch plantation system, moreover, improved the living conditions of slaves and made them live
longer. When it comes to British colonialism, it may be argued that their way of colonization in
India – industrial capital – had the properties of industrialization and capitalism. They improved
the agricultural production techniques and specialized in the production of cotton and wheat.
Moreover, they concentrated on the peasants to attend their fiscal goals thereby changing the social
order of India by tyrannizing them.
Considering the forms of colonialism mentioned above, one may wonder how they affected the
path dependence of the colonized countries. To answer this question, comparing the Mexico and
United States in terms of colonial legacy might be a good illustration. Although the per capita
income gap between them was not big in the beginning of the 19th century, the gap widened
through 19th century. One good excuse for this widened gap was the institutions of these countries.
Mexico could not easily get rid of the stiff and feudal institutions of Spanish rule long after its
independence. Conversely, a civil war was enough to clear off the colonial legacy in United States.
“Spanish colonialism of an essentially feudal nature thus lasted longer, penetrated deeper into the
behavioural dynamics of Mexican society, and was more difficult to eradicate than British rule in
the North American colonies (Coatsworth 1978, Thomas 1965).”
Consequently, the level of sophistication of European colonialism has profound effects on the
colonial legacy. To put it another way, the more colonialism gets sophisticated the less path
dependence gets effective for the colonial regions, as it can be seen in the example with Mexico
and United States.
References
Cypher, J. (2020) “The Process of Economic Development.” 5th edn. Taylor and Francis.
pp. 73-96.
Coatsworth, John., and Bulmer-Thomas, Victor. (2005) “Political Economy and Economic
Organization”. The Cambridge Economic History of Latin America.: 235-274