Theories of Imperialism

Catalog description

This graduate seminar explores a range of theoretical and empirical debates that bear on the question of what imperialism is, how it functions in relation to capitalism, the state, and class relations, and its relevance as an analytical category in the contemporary global order. Topics for reading will include the historical linkage between racial capitalism and empire, the impact of capitalist development on societies around the world, whether and how imperialism can be exercised through non-territorial rule after the age of formal empire, the extent to which the contemporary capitalist system is governed by imperial relations or something more multipolar in form, and how these concerns matter for achieving a more just society.