Imperialism

Imperialism is about one state or entity (sometimes called a metropole) asserting influence over another state or entity in ways that exploit the resources and wealth of the latter for the sake of the former. Metropolitans justify this expansionism and exploitation by pointing to differences between the two entities in terms of technology and military might, political organization, economic vision, biology, civilizational development, religious belief, morality, or system of justice. Imperialism is fundamentally about creating and perpetuating inequality. Over the past two millennia, ideas about what imperialism entails have expanded beyond just military conquest and territorial domination to include political, economic, cultural, and ecological forms. From the late nineteenth century, critics of imperialism have discussed it as contiguous with capitalist expansionism. In any imperial example, total hegemony is never complete, and therefore resistance to imperialism fundamentally shapes how imperialism is conceived of, carried out, and remembered. Because imperialism requires inequalities, those seeking more equitable relationships must identify the myriad ways imperialism has influenced life today and work to “unlearn”, “decolonize”, or at least “provincialize” imperialist thinking and structures.