History 6395 Fall 1998
Instructor Karl
Ittmann
Office 560
AH, ext 743-3102
Email-KITTMANN@Jetson.uh.edu
Office Hours:
2:30-3:30 M, W and by appointment.
This course will examine recent
work on the history of imperialism. The following topics will form the basis of
the class reading:
1) Theories of imperialism
2) The creation of Europe as
a cultural, social and economic area and the related process of creating a
non-European "other".
3) The process of western
expansion from 1500-1800 and its consequences.
4) The role of various
western powers in the process of imperialism.
5) The social and cultural
impact of imperialism upon the conquered and the conquers.
Course Requirements: An in-class presentation, weekly summary of readings (1 page), and an
historiographic essay on a topic in imperialism 15-25 pages in length.
Required Texts
Janet Abu Lughod, Before European Hegemony
Robert Bartlett, The Making of Europe
Cain and Hopkins, British Imperialism: Innovation and
Expansion 1688-1914
Alfred Crosby, Ecological Imperialism
Ronald Hyam Empire
and Sexuality
Henrika Kuklick, The Savage Within
John Mackenzie, Propaganda and Empire
Wolfgang Mommsen, Theories of Imperialism
Edward Said, Orientalism
Eric Wolf, Europe and the People Without History
In addition, there will be a
number of articles assigned for each week.
Schedule of Classes
Week 1 September 2 Thinking About Imperialism
Wolfgang Mommsen, Theories
of Imperialism
Barkan, “Post-Anti-Colonial History”
Spivak, “Can the Sub-Altern Speak”
Week 2 September 9
Europe Before Expansion
Robert Bartlett, The
Making of Europe
Week 3 September 16 The World System Prior to 1500
Janet Abu Lughod, Before
European Hegemony
Reviews of Ligoud and Chirot, “The Rise of the West”
Week 4 September 23 The World System Before 1800
Eric Wolf, Europe and
the People Without History
Roseberry, “European History and the Construction of
Anthropological Subjects” and
“Anthropology, History and Modes of Production”
Week 5 September 30 The Consequences of Discovery
Alfred Crosby, Ecological
Imperialism
Brooks, “Revising the Conquest of Mexico”
Week 6 October 7 The British Empire
Cain and Hopkins, British
Imperialism: Innovation and Expansion 1688-1914
Reviews of Cain and
Hopkins
Week 7 October 14 Accounting for Empire
O’Brien, “Costs and Benefits of British Imperialism”
O’Brien, “The Foundations of European Industrialization”
Hopkins, “Accounting for the British Empire”
Porter, “The Balance Sheet of Empire”
Inikori, “Slavery and the Development of Industrial Capitalism
in England”
Richardson, “The Slave Trade, Sugar, and British Economic
Growth”
Week 8 October 21
Other Imperialisms
Andrew and Kanya Forstner, “Centre and Periphery”
Wesseling, “Strange History of Dutch Imperialism”
Gann, “Marginal Colonialism: the German Case”
De Santis, “The Imperialist Impulse and American Innocence”
Week 9 October 28 Imperialism and Culture Part I
Edward Said, Orientalism
Prakash, “Writing Post-Orientalist Histories of the Third
World”
O’Hanon and Washbrook, “After Orientalism”
Week 10 November 4 Gender and Sexuality
Ronald Hyam Empire and Sexuality
Berger, “Empire and Sexual Opportunity
Strobel, “Gender, Sex and Empire”
Week 11 November 11 Imperialism and Culture Part II
R. Mackenzie, Propaganda
and Empire
Week 13 November 18 Science and Empire
Henrika Kuklick, The
Savage Within
Week 14 December 2
Presentations