Empire, Hegemony, and Capital
Topics covered include:
• Territorial and capital logics • hegemony • 19th century imperialism • Imperialism to WWII • U.S. hegemony after WW2 • After the Cold War • Neo-liberalism • overreach • blowback
Discussing Research
Required Reading:
Chapter 2, “How America’s Power Grew,” pp. 26-86, in: Harvey, David. (2003). The New Imperialism. Oxford, UK: OxfordUniversity Press.
Optional Readings in the New Imperialism Course Pack on Reserve:
Niall FERGUSON
Colossus: The Rise and Fall of the American Empire (Penguin Books, 2004) – Ch. 5, “The Case for Liberal Empire,” 169-199
Fareed ZAKARIA
The Post-American World (W.W. Norton and Company, 2009) – Ch. 7, “American Purpose,” 215-259
Eric HOBSBAWM
On Empire: America, War, and Global Supremacy (Pantheon Books, 2008) – Ch. 3, “War, Peace, and Hegemony at the Beginning of the Twenty-First Century,” 35-59
Noam CHOMSKY
Hegemony or Survival: America’s Quest for Global Dominance (Henry Holt and Company, 2003) – Ch.2, “Imperial Grand Strategy,” 11-49
Chalmers JOHNSON
Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire (Henry Holt and Company, 2000) – Ch. 1, “Blowback,” 4-33
Additional Resources:
- Robert Kagan: “”America did not change on 9/11. It only became more itself.”
- Fareed Zakara: Post-American World videos [1] & [2]
Blowback:
- Blowback (intelligence) – Wikipedia entry
- Chalmers Johnson, “Blowback,” The Nation, September 27, 2001
- Ron Paul, adopting/applying the concept of “blowback”:
Other Perspectives on the Idea of “Blowback”:
- Ward Churchill: “Some People Push Back: On the Justice of Roosting Chickens”
- Rev. Jeremiah Wright: Sermon on the ‘Chickens Coming Home to Roost’:
- Malcolm X: On the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy – “Chickens come home to roost”:
