Imperialism and its Contradictions

231 Pages·1994·8.836 MB·English

by  Harvey J. Kaye

IMPERIALISM

AND ITS CONTRADICTIONS

IMPERIALISM

AND ITS CONTRADICTIONS

� V. G. Kiernan(cid:9) �
edited & introduced by HARVEY 1. KAYE
R R outledge
Taylor & Francis Group
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First published 1995 by Routledge
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kiernan, V. G. (Victor Gordon), 1913—
Imperialism and its contradictions / V.G. Kiernan ; edited and
introduced by Harvey J. Kaye.
p. cm. — (American radicals)
Collection of previously published essays.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-415-90796-9 (acid-free paper). — ISBN 0-415-90797-7 (acid-free paper)
1. Imperialism. 2. Colonies.(cid:9) I. Kaye, Harvey J.(cid:9) II. Title.(cid:9) III. Series.
JC359.K525 1994
325'.32—dc20(cid:9) 94-14828
CIP
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data also available.
Publisher's Note
The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint
but points out that some imperfections in the original may be apparent.
ISBN 13: 978-0-415-90797-2 (pbk)
To the memory of George Rude (1910-1993),

who firmly believed that all history must be studied afresh.

CONTENTS
Preface xi
Introduction: Imperialism and Its Legacies 1
1 Modern Capitalism and Its Shepherds 23
2 Development, Imperialism, and Some Misconceptions 45
3 Colonial Africa and Its Armies 77
4 Europe and the World: The Imperial Record 97
5 Imperialism and Revolution 121
6 Europe in the Colonial Mirror 145
7 Antonio Gramsci and the Other Continents 171
8 After Empire 191
Index 215
vii

England has to fulfill a double mission in India: one destructive,
the other regenerating—the annihilation of old Asiatic society, and
the laying of the material foundations of Western society in Asia. . . .
The Indians themselves will not reap the fruits of the new elements
of society scattered among them by the British bourgeoisie, till in
Great Britain itself the now ruling classes shall have been supplanted
by the industrial proletariat, or till the Hindoos themselves shall
have grown strong enough to throw off the English altogether. . . .
The profound hypocrisy and inherent barbarism of bourgeois
civilization lies unveiled before our eyes, turning from its home,
where it assumes respectable forms, to the colonies where it goes
naked. . . .
When the great social revolution shall have mastered the results
of the bourgeois epoch, the market of the world and the modern
powers of production, and subjected them to the common control
of the most advanced peoples, then only will human progress cease
to resemble that hideous pagan idol, who would not drink the nectar
but from the skulls of the slain.
—Karl Marx,
The Future Results of British Rule in India (1853)