From Colonialism to Imperialism: Political Economy and Beyond

Summary

This paper explores some of the theoretical and evidentiary challenges facing the comparative study of colonialism and its imperial dimensions through the lens of political economy. It focuses on the advantages and limitations of political economy as a framework for understanding the transformation of colonies into post-colonial societies. Drawing on case material from North America, the Caribbean and India –three areas with vastly different colonial histories - this paper asks whether political economy provides a comprehensive enough explanation for the post colonial societies that have developed in these three areas today. By focusing on the economies, materialities and erasures of history in these three areas, this paper seeks to better understand the historical experiences of these postcolonial societies and what those experiences suggest about the vulnerabilities of political economy when viewed as a totalizing theoretical framework. 

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Expanding the Intellectual Envelope Comparative Approaches to Political Economy   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2016

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

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PaperId(s): 390