Lecture Two Global Divides & Colonial Empires PDF

I. ORIGINS OF WORLD META-REGIONS GLOBAL DIVIDES COLONIALISM AND THE MODERN WORLD-SYSTEM East v. West (ancient yet still relevant) Lecture Two...

I. ORIGINS OF WORLD META-REGIONS GLOBAL DIVIDES COLONIALISM AND THE MODERN WORLD-SYSTEM East v. West (ancient yet still relevant) Lecture Two Global North v. Global South Developed v. developing; industrial v. industrializing These oppositions have roots in the era of European colonial expansion (16th - 18th centuries) First World v. Third World terminology started in the Cold War Cold War regions 1 2 Structural/Historical Origins of Global Core & Periphery Countries Today* Global North/South Economic Divide The expansion of European colonialism and capitalism created an economically inter-dependent world political-economic system divided into ‣ Core countries which dominated trade and controlled territories in the economic periphery ‣ Through colonial domination, core countries forced narrow economic specialization on the periphery, … ‣ limiting or preventing industrialization and economic diversi cation. ‣ As the colonial era ended, these former colonial territories emerged as a political and economic meta-region (“global south,” “third world”) … ‣ facing similar colonial legacies as obstacles to trade, economic *Note that contemporary economic differences within countries development, and social equality are often greater than those between countries in recent years 3 fi 4  First/Second/Third Worlds Cold War Era Political Origins of the term “Third World” “Second World” Etymology from French Tiers Monde “First World” ‣ Reference to the “Third Estate” (Tiers État ) in the French Revolution (1789-99): Liberté, égalité, aternité! First global political use: “Car en n ce tiers monde ignoré, exploité, méprisé comme le tiers état, veut lui aussi, être quelque “Third World” chose” (“Trois mondes, une planète”, L'Observateur, 14 août 1952) ‣ Countries with a history of exploitation (i.e. former colonies) but whose future is “revolutionary:” they also want to be something Term adopted by non-aligned movement countries that ‣ wanted to improve their position in world trade Note: “Third” did not mean “last” ‣ but avoid taking sides in the Cold War (US/Western/Capitalist bloc v. USSR/Eastern/Communist bloc) 5 6 II. EUROPEAN EMPIRES & COLONIAL Structural/Historical Origins of INCORPORATION INTO THE WORLD-SYSTEM Global North/South Economic Divide The expansion of European capitalism created a politically and Understanding when and how regions, territories, places, economically interdependent world political-economic and people became part of the modern global economy system divided into helps to explain geographic di erences in: ‣ Core countries which dominated trade and controlled territories ‣ Economic production and position in world trade in the economic periphery ‣ Wealth distribution ‣ Through colonial domination, core countries forced narrow economic specialization on the periphery, ‣ Political con ict ‣ Also demographic structures, political systems, economic ‣ limiting or preventing industrialization and economic diversi cation. institutions, and environmental problems, sports, …. ‣ For most world regions, European colonization played a major ‣ As the colonial era ended, these former colonial territories emerged as a political and economic meta-region (“global south,” role in this world-system formation, although to varying “third world”) degrees ‣ facing similar colonial legacies as obstacles to trade, economic development, and social equality 7 8 fi fl ff fi fr  Global Core & Periphery Countries Today* Key Concept: World Political-Economic System The modern world political-economic system began with the expansion of European capitalism from the mid-18th century (c. 1750*). Timing and form of incorporation through various types of colonial rule tells us a bunch of things about: ‣ What was/is produced and how ‣ Trade patterns (exports and imports) ‣ Land distribution and inequality ‣ Obstacles to development *Note that contemporary economic differences within countries ‣ Who has power over whom are often greater than those between countries in recent years 9 10 Key Concept: The Colonial Division of Production WORLD WEALTH, 1500 Colonized territories were forced to specialized in the production and export of a limited number of raw materials/products: ‣ Commodities for which there was high demand in Europe, but could not be ef ciently produced there (e.g. tropical commodities) ‣ Products for which speci c colonies were considered to have a comparative advantage ‣ But only those that would not compete with producers in core countries or their other colonies. ‣ This left a legacy of primary commodity export dependency* (PCED) *Note: Primary here means unprocessed and therefore low value-added. 11 12 fi fi WORLD WEALTH, 1900 Spanish Empire 13 14 Portuguese Empire, c. 1800 French Empire (dark blue from late 1800s) 15 16  US Territories (we just don’t call them ‘colonies’!) British Empire 17 18 THE COLONIAL WORLD IN 1714 THE COLONIAL WORLD IN 1914 19 20  III. PHASES OF COLONIALISM EARLY MODERN OR MERCANTILE PHASE [USE AS REFERENCE IN CONJUNCTION WITH (C. 1400 - 1770) “SPICES, SOULS, AND GOLD” FIGURE 11, CH. ONE IN TEXTBOOK] Accumulation of wealth through extraction and extensive control Colonial history can be divided into “waves” or “phases” of land; Trade controlled by competing states (empires) related to economic conditions in and objectives of the Commodities desired: Precious metals, luxury goods (e.g. spices, colonial powers (dates are approximate): Asian textiles) ‣ Early Modern (or Mercantile): 1500 - 1770 Dominant powers: Spain, Portugal, Netherlands ‣ Transitional (or Early Industrial): 1770 - 1870 Means: Massive extraction of resources using forced labor and ‣ Late Modern (or Late Industrial): 1880 - 1945 feudal-type structures (Latin America); trade alliances with local elites (Asia); beginning of plantation system Each colonial project involved a speci c: Legacies: Huge land grants “given” by the State (Crown) to colonial ‣ Material objectives (what to get) settlers ‣ Methods of control (how to get it) Unequal land distribution ‣ Legitimizing ideologies (why it was “OK” to do it) Demographic transformation; race-class linked social structures The Columbian Exchange of genetic material, crops, diseases 21 22 Note wealth extracted from South America & Asia TERRITORIES INCORPORATED DURING THIS PHASE: The Americas (e.g. US, Mexico, Cuba, Hispaniola, Peru) Philippines Indonesia South Africa 23 24 fi  TRANSITIONAL PHASE: MAJOR IMPACTS OF MERCANTILE PHASE RISE OF INDUSTRIAL CAPITALISM (C. 1770 - 1870) “SUGAR, TEA, AND OPIUM” Demographic: Large numbers of European settlers; decimation of Wealth accumulated through production and intensive indigenous populations; beginning of Atlantic slave trade exploitation of labor; competition among trade companies Economic: Extractive economies* supported by hacienda system Dominant powers: Shift to NW European powers (Britain, France, Netherlands); beginning of US hegemony in Americas Land: Huge tracts of land expropriated and concentrated under Wanted: land, labor, materials for textile industry, timber, markets single owners; latifundia/minifundia pattern of unequal land (demands the Industrial Revolution) ownership; mirror of Europe’s feudal system Means: Plantation production intensi es; tropical commodities Political: Early wars for independence (settlers against Crown); source of huge pro ts (especially sugar) land-owning elites held political control after independence (origin Legacies: of many market-dominant minorities) ‣ PCED: Local industries suppressed, colonies “agriculturalized,” crops Social: Indigenous people marginalized (socially, economically, commercialized for export spatially), legacy of social strati cation linked to race ‣ Deforestation ‣ Pro ts fuel industrial revolution in Europe 25 26 TERRITORIES INCORPORATED DURING IMPACTS OF EARLY INDUSTRIAL PHASE THIS PHASE: Jamaica and Caribbean islands not claimed by Spain (Lesser Demographic: Height of Atlantic slave trade, followed by indentured Antilles), Belize, Suriname, Guyana labor system; smaller settler populations but more migrant labor Economic: Plantation system dominant; production entirely for South Asia (including India) export; infrastructure serves plantations; dependence on a few primary North Africa (Algeria and Egypt) commodity exports and core country markets Land: Huge areas cleared for plantations, extensive deforestation, soil China (informally/partially through treaty ports and “spheres of depletion, massive land concentration; subsistence producers pushed to in uence”) ecological margins Political: Dependency on Europe; late independence; Political fragmentation Social: Social strati cation linking race and class; colonial education systems imposed, cultural hegemony 27 28 fl fi fi fi fi fi  3. LATE MODERN OR LATE INDUSTRIAL TERRITORIES INCORPORATED DURING (C. 1870 - 1945) THIS PHASE “RUBBER, RAILROADS, RECESSION” Accumulation of wealth through investment (companies and Most of sub-Saharan Africa (“Scramble for Africa”) countries competitively seek new markets) Much of SW Asia (Middle East) Dominant powers: England and France Mainland Southeast Asia Motives: First “global” recession; intense competition for remaining territories Paci c islands Wanted: Territory, markets, capital investment opportunities Korea, Taiwan, Manchuria colonized by Japan Facilitated by new transportation technology and routes: Steam engines and railroads facilitate trade and territorial control; Suez Canal 1869, Panama Canal 1914 open Note: Colonial rule continued in much of sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia until after WW II 29 30 Note wealth extracted from the Caribbean & Africa IMPACTS OF LATE INCORPORATION UNDER MONOPOLY CAPITALISM Demographic: Intense exploitation of local labor, large scale displacement, relocation of indigenous populations Land: Displacement (settler colonies); small farmers taxed into producing new crops for export (peasant-based colonies) Economic: Traditional production reoriented towards new cash crops (“colonial triad”); economies drained of surplus, local industry suppressed, environmental degradation, dependence on new imports. Political: In settler colonies, con icts between the settlers and indigenous groups; in indirectly ruled colonies, con icts between the ethnic groups given unequal power within arti cial borders. Social: New social divisions; tensions between “colonial mentality;” cultural hegemony) and resistance/independence movements 31 32 fi fl fi fl  IV. WHY DID EUROPE BECOME LEGACIES OF COLONIALISM ECONOMICALLY DOMINANT AT THAT TIME? Disrupted pre-existing economic and social structures ‣ Crops commodi ed; subsistence disrupted/displaced In 1400, much of Asia was far more advanced than Europe ‣ Increased economic vulnerability of producers/peasants in world market (socially, economically, technologically, politically) ‣ Changed property relations; land privatized (enclosures) ‣ In 1700, China, India, and Europe had similar levels of economic ‣ Local industries suppressed development, standard of living, and life expectancy Altered resource uses, began intensive environmental impacts ‣ By 1900, Europe and the US accounted for 80% of world GDP; while China dropped to 7% and India to 2% Left economic obstacles to econ. development after independence ‣ Uneven infrastructure This was the Great Reversal or the Great Divergence ‣ Dependence on imports from/exports to colonial metropole Have been shifting back to a more multi-polar world since the 1990s, with Asia rising again. Imposed or redrew borders; imposed European political institutions Created mass poverty and deep inequalities that would fuel Cold War con icts in the 20th century 33 34 35 36 fl fi  WHY EUROPE? WHY DID CAPITALISM DEVELOP IN WESTERN EUROPE (NOT SOMEWHERE ELSE)? Driving forces: ‣ Plague! Changes in social structure after the 14th century Black Death made labor scarce, increased wages, and favored development of private property & literacy among “commoners” ‣ Europe had weak states compared to Asian empires ‣ Wealth accumulated via The Enclosures and from colonial pro ts. (a.k.a. “primitive accumulation”) ‣ Ideological consolidation of Europe as an “imagined community” (Benedict Anderson) in opposition to its (primarily Eastern) “Other” ‣ Well-timed technological innovations (steam engine, textile mill); and accessible energy sources (coal, colonial timber) ‣ British naval supremacy (18th c.) due to limes, the chronometer, and insular (island) geography 37 fi