Junior Tutorial in History, Spring 2008

Richard Elphick

Globalization and the Aftermath of Empire

An overview of some global trends since World War II. Most sessions will consist of a book-length history that uses narrative to advance a provocative (and perhaps unfashionable)  argument, along with several articles and chapters expressing discordant views.

We will begin by discussing rival understanding of European imperialism and the reasons for the European retreat from Africa and Asia. Then we will consider the history of three regions in the late colonial and postcolonial era: India (with emphasis on Gandhi’s campaigns, inter-religious violence, and the international influence of Gandhi and pacifism in the late twentieth century); Africa (especially apartheid and its abolition in South Africa and economic and political decay in much of tropical Africa); and Southeast Asia (with emphasis on the Philippines, Vietnam, and the American neo-empire in Asia).

The three final sessions will be devoted to international geopolitical and cultural trends that dominated the last half of the twentieth century: the Cold War and the triumph of capitalism and liberal democracy; the decline of religion in Western Europe and the growing influence of Christianity and Islam elsewhere; and the economic integration of the world as manifested in development and underdevelopment, and in the opportunities and agonies of globalization.