Throughout the semester, we've been reading story after story about the affects of colonialism throughout various parts of the world. While we have discussed the implications and effects of colonialism on both the colonizers and the colonized, we did not spend a great deal of time discussing the "why". My essay will focus on the "why" by looking at the root cause (reasons) of colonialism: Capitalism. Using the texts from our reading, along with additional material about U.S. colonialism I will be able to demonstrate that the single driving force behind all colonialism lies not with religion (although it is often used as justification) but greed, pure and simple.
The following is a list of works I currently plan to use:
Juan Gonzalez. "Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America". New York: Penguin 2000.
Joseph Conrad. "Heart of Darkness". New York: Norton, 2005.
Jared Diamond. "Guns, Germs, and Steel". New York: Norton, 1997.
Bernard MacLaverty. "Cal". New York: Norton, 1995.
Achebe, Chinua. "Things Fall Apart". New York: Anchor, 1994.
Naipaul, V. S. "The Mimic Men". Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1969.
Jin, Ha. "After Cowboy Chickin Came To Town." Jin, Ha. The Bridegroom. New York: Vintage, 2000. 184-225.
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I think this is going to be a great paper. But I have to ask, is it really always greed? I mean there has to be some cases were countries went in to colonize a nation knowing they weren't going to profit anything from that nation except the pleasure of knowing they've helped a nation grow and become more successful as a nation.
ReplyDeleteYes - fundamentally fine. You'll have to spend some time teasing out the nuances and history of capitalism to ensure that the context you're working within is clear. Also, spend a little bit of space discussing the naysayer point of view -- which David has so kindly noted above. By discuss I mean use it to support your argument -- raise it as a different way of viewing the situation, then show how it's bunk (for instance, find a situation in which people say "oh, how nice they did that!" and show how yes, it might have been nice and ended up just fine, but it too was fueled by a desire to gain capital).
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