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Critics of Empire: Sources

Module description

Modern imperial projects were not without their critics. Critics of empire—be they anti-colonialists, anti-imperialists, pacifists, cosmopolitans, feminists, or nationalists—sought to identify, understand, and eradicate the root causes of imperialism. Empire’s critics sought to understand and undermine imperialism across the nineteenth and twentieth century, a time when the changing nature of the global political economy played a particularly important role in the shaping of imperialism and its critics. This module therefore introduces students to the complex relationship between modern critiques of imperialism and the history of global capitalism, focusing particularly upon the British and American Empires.

Module aims - intentions of the module

By using a combination of tutor-led seminars and student-led seminars, students will come away with a sophisticated understanding of the interrelationship between theories of imperialism and the global capitalist system. The sources to be examined include correspondence, newspapers, magazines, pamphlets, conference and organizational records, speeches, novels, poetry, and government documents, focussing on the context of the British and American Empires. They will also learn to present some of these complex issues to the rest of the class by leading a seminar in the second half of the course. 

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Have a detailed knowledge of the different sources available for the study of theories of imperialism, together with a very close specialist knowledge of those sources which the students focus upon in their seminar presentations and written work.
• 2. Analyse the complex diversity of the sources studied.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. Analyse closely original sources and to assess their reliability as historical evidence. Ability to focus on and comprehend complex texts
• 4. Understand and deploy relevant historical terminology in a comprehensible manner.
• 5. Follow theories of imperialism across the period.

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 6. Do independent and autonomous study and group work, including presentation of material for group discussion, developed through the mode of learning
• 7. Digest, select and organise material to produce, to a deadline, a coherent and cogent argument, developed through the mode of assessment
• 8. Present complex arguments orally

Syllabus plan

The module will examine a wide array of sources relating to theories of imperialism, focusing upon the critics of imperialism—anti-colonial nationalists, cosmopolitans, anti-imperialists, pacifists, feminists, Marxists, non-Marxists—within the context of the British and American Empires.

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

The re-assessment consists of a 4,000 word portfolio of source work, as in the original assessment, but replaces the individual presentation with a written script that could be delivered in such a presentation and which is the equivalent of 25 minutes of speech (2,500 words).

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Anthony Brewer, Marxist Theories of Imperialism: A Critical Survey (Routledge, 1980).
• Martin Ceadel, Semi-Detached Idealists: The British Peace Movement and International Relations, 1854-1945 (Oxford University Press, 2001).
• Gregory Claeys, Imperial Sceptics: British Critics of Empire 1850-1920 (Cambridge University Press, 2010)
• Michael Doyle, Empires (Cornell University Press, 1986).
• Norman Etherington, Theories of Imperialism: War, Conquest, andCapital (London, 1984).
• David S. Patterson, Toward a Warless World: The Travail of the American Peace Movement, 1887-1914 (Indiana University Press, 1977).
• Brenda Gayle Plummer, Rising Wind: Black Americans and U.S. Foreign Affairs, 1935-1960 (University of North Carolina Press, 1996).
• Bernard Porter, Critics of Empire: British Radical Attitudes to Colonialism in Africa 1895-1914 (Macmillan, 1968).
• Leila J. Rupp, Worlds of Women: The Making of an International Women’s Movement (Princeton University Press, 1997).
• Bernard Semmel, The Liberal Ideal and the Demons of Empire: Theories of Imperialism from Adam Smith to Lenin (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993).
• Ian Tyrrell and Jay Sexton, Empire’s Twin: U.S. Anti-Imperialism from the Founding Era to the Age of Terrorism (Cornell University Press, 2015).
• Penny M. Von Eschen, Race against Empire: Black Americans and Anticolonialism, 1937-1957 (Cornell University Press, 1997).
• W. A. Williams, The Tragedy of American Diplomacy (1959).

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

ELE: https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=11342 

Key words search

Empire; Imperialism; Critics