Globalization and Empire: A Synthesis
As we approach the broad concepts of globalization, it is necessary to begin promptly addressing the political and social structures feeding into the burgeoning phenomenon. One such political structure is imperialism, the practice by which one state or people are in some manner occupied and subjugated by another state or people. This link between imperialism and globalization is explored in both “Empire and Globalization” by Magee and Thompson and in “Empire After Globalization” by Chaterjee, two articles that use different national empires to discuss and analyze the role of imperialism in globalization.
“Empire and Globalization” by Magee and Thompson presents as its central focal point the British empire of the 18–1900’s. Through their essay, Magee and Thompson argue that the forces of empire are key in the advancement of globalization in the 19th and 20th century. Empire forces the standards and ideals of the occupying force upon the conquered people, expanding multicultural influence. The occupation by an outside force begins the process of cultural erasal, the process of eliminating, erasing and often whitewashing indigenous cultures. The occupying force also consumes the culture of the society they inhabit, bringing back food, clothing, music and other select cultural items. However, there is also a reverse effect of colonization, which is the influence of the occupied on the empire. In the case of Britain, many subjects from India and the Middle East, along with people from the Caribbean, come in the 20th century in droves, bringing with them new, non-English voices and lifestyles.
Chatterjee, on the other hand, looks at an opposite relationship, which is the effect of globalization on modern empire. Chatterjee presents as his central argument that the forces of globalization have changed the rules of empire. By looking at the argument of the United States as an empire, Chatterjee addresses the extent to which empire still functions in an increasingly global and increasingly democratic world. One way this is done is through cultural empire and forced westernizing of foreign peoples. Chatterjee argues this by stating “ the pedagogical aspect of civilizing has only worked in one direction in the modern era- educating the colonized into the status of modern citizens” (Chatterjee 449). Chatterjee further argues that America maintains its modern empire in much the same way as is described above, through the systematic cultural erasal of occupied peoples and trade partners. However, Chatterjee is also explicit that he is not a proponent of the theory that globalization has created a wide, decentralized empire, American or otherwise, stating that there is “no obvious reason why the globalization of the recent period should have led to what is now widely seen as a US imperialism” (Chatterjee)
