Imperialism

We talked a bit in class this week about “new imperialism” as compared to “old imperialism.” I feel like we didn’t really come to a consensus about what the difference was exactly, and maybe that’s because the distinction is complex and difficult to articulate, especially based on the small amounts of information that we have. However, looking at the picture on page 788 in our book, I feel like I have some idea. (It might help to look at this)

Maybe the reason we find it hard to explain, in rational terms, this “new imperialism” is because it wasn’t nearly as rational as one might expect. At least, that’s the sense that I get, looking at this picture. Even though there is emphasis on technological advance and new opportunities based on industrialism, it’s really about this vision of global progress, about the inevitability of the European way of life being brought to other places. And not just because that is pragmatic, or objectively the correct way to go about things, but because that is fundamentally right, according to the Europeans. From religion to industry to democracy, the Europeans had this strong sense of self-righteousness that manifests itself in this lithograph by the French School, from the figures on stage to the embracing mermaids.