Editing Imperialism (section)

==Justification and issues==
===Orientalism and imaginative geography===
[[File:Antoine-Jean Gros - Bonaparte visitant les pestiférés de Jaffa.jpg|thumb|[[Bonaparte Visiting the Plague Victims of Jaffa|''Napoleon visiting the plague victims of Jaffa'']], by [[Antoine-Jean Gros]]]]
Imperial control, territorial and [[Cultural imperialism|cultural]], is justified through [[discourse]]s about the imperialists' understanding of different spaces.<ref name="Hubbard, P. 2010 p. 239">Hubbard, P., & Kitchin, R. Eds. ''Key Thinkers on Space and Place'', 2nd. Ed. Los Angeles, Calif:Sage Publications. 2010. p. 239.</ref> Conceptually, [[imagined geographies]] explain the limitations of the imperialist understanding of the societies of the different spaces inhabited by the non–European Other.<ref name="Hubbard, P. 2010 p. 239"/>

In ''[[Orientalism (book)|Orientalism]]'' (1978), [[Edward Said]] said that the West developed the concept of [[The Orient]]—an imagined geography of the [[Eastern world]]—which functions as an [[Essentialism|essentializing]] discourse that represents neither the ethnic diversity nor the social reality of the Eastern world.<ref>Sharp, J. (2008). Geographies of Postcolonialism. Los Angeles:London:Sage Publications. pp. 16, 17.</ref> That by reducing the East into cultural essences, the imperial discourse uses place-based identities to create [[Difference (philosophy)|cultural difference]] and psychologic distance between "We, the West" and "They, the East" and between "Here, in the West" and "There, in the East".<ref name="Said, Edward 1979 p.357">Said, Edward. "Imaginative Geography and its Representations: Orientalizing the Oriental", ''Orientalism''. New York:Vintage. p. 357.</ref>

That cultural differentiation was especially noticeable in the books and paintings of early [[Oriental studies]], the European examinations of the Orient, which misrepresented the East as irrational and backward, the opposite of the rational and progressive West.<ref name="Hubbard, P. 2010 p. 239"/><ref>Sharp, J. ''Geographies of Postcolonialism''. Los Angeles: London: Sage Publications. 2008. p. 22.</ref> Defining the East as a negative vision of the Western world, as its inferior, not only increased the sense-of-self of the West, but also was a way of ordering the East, and making it known to the West, so that it could be dominated and controlled.<ref>Sharp, J. (2008). Geographies of Postcolonialism. Los Angeles:London: Sage Publications. p. 18.</ref><ref>Said, Edward.(1979) "Imaginative Geography and its Representations: Orientalizing the Oriental", ''Orientalism''. New York: Vintage. p. 361</ref> Therefore, Orientalism was the ideological justification of early Western imperialism—a body of knowledge and ideas that rationalized social, cultural, political, and economic control of other, non-white peoples.<ref name="Said, Edward 1979 p.357"/><ref name=Gilmartin2009/>{{Rp|116}}

===Cartography===
{{See also|Cartographic propaganda}}
[[File:Arthur Mees Flags of A Free Empire 1910 Cornell CUL PJM 1167 01.jpg|thumbnail|By displaying oversized flags of [[British possessions]], this map artificially increases the apparent influence and presence of the [[British Empire]].]]
One of the main tools used by imperialists was cartography. [[Cartography]] is "the art, science and technology of making maps"<ref name="Harley, J.B. 1989">{{Cite journal |last=Harley |first=J. B. |year=1989 |title=Deconstructing the Map |url=http://www.comitepp.sp.gov.br/MESTRADO/files/Texto%2001%20-%20Harley%20A.pdf |journal=Cartographica: The International Journal for Geographic Information and Geovisualization |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=1–20 |doi=10.3138/E635-7827-1757-9T53 |s2cid=145766679}} p. 2</ref> but this definition is problematic. It implies that maps are objective representations of the world when in reality they serve very political means.<ref name="Harley, J.B. 1989"/> For Harley, maps serve as an example of [[Michel Foucault|Foucault's]] [[Power (social and political)|power]] and [[knowledge]] concept.

To better illustrate this idea, Bassett focuses his analysis of the role of 19th-century maps during the "[[Scramble for Africa]]".<ref name="Bassett, Thomas J. 1994">{{Cite journal |last=Bassett |first=Thomas J. |year=1994 |title=Cartography and Empire Building in Nineteenth-Century West Africa |journal=Geographical Review |volume=84 |issue=3 |pages=316–335 |doi=10.2307/215456 |jstor=215456 |bibcode=1994GeoRv..84..316B |s2cid=161167051}} p. 316</ref> He states that maps "contributed to empire by promoting, assisting, and legitimizing the extension of French and British power into West Africa".<ref name="Bassett, Thomas J. 1994"/> During his analysis of 19th-century cartographic techniques, he highlights the use of blank space to denote unknown or unexplored territory.<ref name="Bassett, Thomas J. 1994"/> This provided incentives for imperial and colonial powers to obtain "information to fill in blank spaces on contemporary maps".<ref name="Bassett, Thomas J. 1994"/>

Although cartographic processes advanced through imperialism, further analysis of their progress reveals many biases linked to [[eurocentrism]]. According to Bassett, "[n]ineteenth-century explorers commonly requested Africans to sketch maps of unknown areas on the ground. Many of those maps were highly regarded for their accuracy"<ref name="Bassett, Thomas J. 1994"/> but were not printed in Europe unless Europeans verified them.

===Expansionism===
[[File:Siege of Belgrade (Nándorfehérvár) 1456.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|[[Ottoman wars in Europe]]]]
Imperialism in pre-modern times was common in the form of [[expansionism]] through [[vassalage]] and [[conquest]].{{citation needed|reason=dubious|date=November 2021}}

===Cultural imperialism===
The concept of [[cultural imperialism]] refers to the cultural influence of one dominant culture over others, i.e. a form of [[soft power]], which changes the moral, cultural, and societal [[worldview]] of the subordinate culture. This means more than just "foreign" music, television or film becoming popular with young people; rather that a populace changes its own expectations of life, desiring for their own country to become more like the foreign country depicted. For example, depictions of opulent American lifestyles in the soap opera [[Dallas (TV series)#Dallas and the Cold War|''Dallas'' during the Cold War]] changed the expectations of Romanians; a more recent example is the influence of smuggled South Korean drama-series in [[North Korea]]. The importance of soft power is not lost on authoritarian regimes, which may oppose such influence with bans on foreign popular culture, control of the internet and of unauthorized satellite dishes, etc. Nor is such a usage of culture recent – as part of Roman imperialism, local elites would be exposed to the benefits and luxuries of Roman culture and lifestyle, with the aim that they would then become willing participants.

Imperialism has been subject to moral or immoral censure by its critics{{Which|date=December 2014}}, and thus the term "imperialism" is frequently used in international propaganda as a pejorative for expansionist and aggressive foreign policy.<ref name="IESS">"Imperialism." ''International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences'', 2nd edition.</ref>

=== Religious imperialism===
Aspects of imperialism motivated by [[Supremacism#Religious|religious supremacism]] can be described as religious imperialism.<ref name="c737">{{cite journal | last=Cramer | first=Frederick H. | title=The Arab Empire: A Religious Imperialism | journal=Current History | publisher=University of California Press | volume=22 | issue=130 | year=1952 | issn=0011-3530 | jstor=45308160 | pages=340–347 | doi=10.1525/curh.1952.22.130.340 | url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/45308160 | access-date=6 October 2024}}</ref>

=== Psychological imperialism ===
An empire [[mindset|mentality]] may build on and bolster views contrasting "primitive" and "advanced" peoples and cultures, thus justifying and encouraging imperialist practices among participants.<ref>
For example:
{{cite book
 |last1                = Linstrum
 |first1               = Erik
 |date                 = 2016-04-01
 |chapter              = The Laboratory in the Field: Inventing Imperial Psychology
 |title                = Ruling Minds: Psychology in the British Empire
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=BCtUCwAAQBAJ
 |location             = Cambridge, Massachusetts
 |publisher            = Harvard University Press
 |page                 = 36
 |isbn                 = 9780674088665
 |access-date          = 30 September 2022
 |quote                = As late as 1935, a district officer in Northern Rhodesia asserted that 'the idea of the western mind, that can conceive of an individual personality having an independent existence ... is still beyond the scope of savage mentality.'
}} 
</ref>
Associated psychological tropes include the [[White Man's Burden]] and the idea of [[civilizing mission]] ({{langx |fr| mission civilatrice}}).

===Social imperialism===
The political concept [[social imperialism]] is a Marxist expression first used in the early 20th century by [[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]] as "socialist in words, imperialist in deeds" describing the [[Fabian Society]] and other socialist organizations.<ref>{{cite book
 |last=Lenin
 |first=Vladimir
 |author-link=Vladimir Lenin
 |date=1987
 |title=Essential Works of Lenin
 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qk_A74ZnjNMC
 |location=Mineola, New York
 |publisher=Dover Publications
 |page= 254
 |isbn=9780486253336
}}</ref>
Later, in a split with the [[Soviet Union]], [[Mao Zedong]] criticized its leaders as social imperialists.<ref>''Chambers Dictionary of World History'', B.P.Lenman, T. Anderson, Editors, Chambers: Edinburgh. 2000. p. 769.</ref>

===Social Darvinism===
[[File:China imperialism cartoon.jpg|upright|thumb|A French [[political cartoon]] depicting a shocked [[Mandarin (bureaucrat)|mandarin]] in [[Manchu people|Manchu]] robe in the back, with [[Queen Victoria]] ([[British Empire]]), [[Wilhelm II of Germany|Wilhelm II]] ([[German Empire]]), [[Nicholas II of Russia|Nicholas II]] ([[Russian Empire]]), [[Marianne]] ([[French Third Republic]]), and a [[samurai]] ([[Empire of Japan]]) stabbing into a [[king cake]] with {{Lang|fr|Chine}} ("China" in French) written on it. A portrayal of New Imperialism and its effects on [[Qing Empire|China]].]]

Stephen Howe has summarized his view on the beneficial effects of the colonial empires:

{{Blockquote|At least some of the great modern empires—the British, French, Austro-Hungarian, Russian, and even the Ottoman—have virtues that have been too readily forgotten. They provided stability, security, and legal order for their subjects. They constrained, and at their best, tried to transcend, the potentially savage ethnic or religious antagonisms among the peoples. And the aristocracies which ruled most of them were often far more liberal, humane, and cosmopolitan than their supposedly ever more democratic successors.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stephen Howe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=04lJ4TshmxcC&pg=PT164 |title=Empire: A Very Short Introduction |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-19-160444-7 |page=164| publisher=OUP Oxford }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Krishan Kumar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iupuDQAAQBAJ |title=Visions of Empire: How Five Imperial Regimes Shaped the World |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-4008-8491-9 |page=4| publisher=Princeton University Press }}</ref>}}

A controversial aspect of imperialism is the defense and justification of empire-building based on seemingly rational grounds. In [[ancient China]], [[Tianxia]] denoted the lands, space, and area divinely appointed to the Emperor by universal and well-defined principles of order. The center of this land was directly apportioned to the Imperial court, forming the center of a world view that centered on the Imperial court and went concentrically outward to major and minor officials and then the common citizens, [[tributary states]], and finally ending with the fringe "[[barbarians]]". Tianxia's idea of hierarchy gave Chinese a privileged position and was justified through the promise of order and peace.

The purportedly scientific nature of "[[Social Darwinism]]" and a theory of races formed a supposedly rational justification for imperialism. Under this doctrine, the French politician [[Jules Ferry]] could declare in 1883 that "Superior races have a right, because they have a duty. They have the duty to civilize the inferior races."<ref>{{Cite book |title=Modern Imperialism |publisher=D.C. Heath |year=1969 |editor-last=Austen |editor-first=Ralph |location=Lexington, Massachusetts |pages=70–73}}</ref> [[J. A. Hobson]] identifies this justification on general grounds as: "It is desirable that the earth should be peopled, governed, and developed, as far as possible, by the races which can do this work best, i.e. by the races of highest 'social efficiency'".<ref>Hobson, J.A. ''Imperialism: A Study.'' Cosimo, Inc., 2005. p. 154, https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.121968/page/n183/mode/2up?view=theater</ref> The [[Royal Geographical Society|Royal Geographical Society of London]] and other geographical societies in Europe had great influence and were able to fund travelers who would come back with tales of their discoveries. These societies also served as a space for travellers to share these stories.<ref name=Gilmartin2009/>{{Rp|117}} Political geographers such as [[Friedrich Ratzel]] of Germany and [[Halford Mackinder]] of Britain also supported imperialism.<ref name=Gilmartin2009/>{{Rp|117}} Ratzel believed expansion was necessary for a state's survival and this argument dominated the discipline of [[geopolitics]] for decades.<ref name=Gilmartin2009/>{{Rp|117}} British imperialism in some sparsely-inhabited regions applied a principle now termed [[Terra nullius]] (Latin expression which stems from [[Roman law]] meaning 'no man's land'). The British settlement in Australia in the 18th century was arguably premised on ''terra nullius'', as its settlers considered it unused by its original inhabitants. The rhetoric of colonizers being racially superior appears still to have its impact. For example, throughout Latin America "whiteness" is still prized today and various forms of [[blanqueamiento]] (whitening) are common.

Imperial peripheries benefited from [[economic efficiency]] improved through the building of roads, other infrastructure and introduction of new technologies. [[Herbert Lüthy]] notes that ex-colonial peoples themselves show no desire to undo the basic effects of this process. Hence moral self-criticism in respect of the colonial past is out of place.<ref>[[Wolfgang Mommsen| Mommsen, Wolfgang]] (1982). ''Theories of Imperialism'', (tr. Falla, P. S. Chicago: University of Chicago Press), p 76-77, https://archive.org/details/theoriesofimperi0000momm/page/76/mode/2up?view=theater</ref>

===Environmental determinism===
The concept of [[environmental determinism]] served as a moral justification for the domination of certain territories and peoples. The environmental determinist school of thought held that the environment in which certain people lived determined those persons' behaviours; and thus validated their domination. Some geographic scholars under colonizing empires divided the world into [[climate zone|climatic zones]]. These scholars believed that Northern Europe and the Mid-Atlantic [[temperate climate]] produced a hard-working, moral, and upstanding human being. In contrast, tropical climates allegedly yielded lazy attitudes, sexual promiscuity, exotic culture, and moral degeneracy. The tropical peoples were believed to be "less civilized" and in need of European guidance,<ref name=Gilmartin2009/>{{Rp|117}} therefore justifying colonial control as a [[civilizing mission]]. For instance, American geographer [[Ellen Churchill Semple]] argued that even though human beings originated in the tropics they were only able to become fully human in the [[Temperate climate|temperate]] zone.<ref name="Arnold2000">{{Cite journal |last=Arnold |first=David |year=2000 |title="Illusory Riches": Representations of the Tropical World, 1840–1950 |journal=Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=6–18 |doi=10.1111/1467-9493.00060|bibcode=2000SJTG...21....6A }}</ref>{{Rp|11}} Across the three major waves of [[European colonialism]] (the first in the Americas, the second in Asia and the last in Africa), [[environmental determinism]] served to place categorically indigenous people in a racial hierarchy. Tropicality can be paralleled with Edward Said's [[Orientalism]] as the west's construction of the east as the "other".<ref name=Arnold2000/>{{Rp|7}} According to Said, orientalism allowed Europe to establish itself as the superior and the norm, which justified its dominance over the essentialized Orient.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mountz |first=Alison |title=Key Concepts in Political Geography |year=2009 |isbn=9781412946728 |editor-last=Gallaher |editor-first=Carolyn |pages=328–338 |chapter=The other |doi=10.4135/9781446279496.n35 |editor-last2=Dahlman |editor-first2=Carl |editor-last3=Gilmartin |editor-first3=Mary |editor-last4=Mountz |editor-first4=Alison |editor-last5=Shirlow |editor-first5=Peter |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XpBJclVnVdQC&pg=PA328}}</ref>{{Rp|329}} Orientalism is a view of a people based on their geographical location.<ref>Compare: {{Harvard citation no brackets|Gilmartin|2009}}, "...&nbsp;the practice of colonialism was legitimized by geographical theories such as environmental determinism."</ref>