The Economic History of Colonialism

by Leigh Gardner, Tirthankar Roy

Debates about the origins and effects of European rule in the non-European world have animated the field of economic history since the 1850s. This pioneering text provides a concise and accessible resource that introduces key readings, builds connections between ideas and helps students to develop informed views of colonialism as a force in shaping the modern world. With special reference to European colonialism of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in both Asia and Africa, this • critically reviews the literature on colonialism and economic growth; • covers a range of different methods of analysis; • offers a comparative approach, as opposed to a collection of regional histories, deftly weaving together different themes. With debates around globalization, migration, global finance and environmental change intensifying, this authoritative account of the relationship between colonialism and economic development makes an invaluable contribution to several distinct literatures in economic history.

244 pages, Hardcover

Published August 12, 2020

Reviews

[Reko Wenell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this for a university course. A survey on the subject. The main point I ended up with is that all of these issues are complex, there is no one united narrative or reason for colonialism, the economic consequences have many sides, locals had major and different parts to play in business life, common law/civil law institutional quantitative analysis has significant flaws etc. Basically just gave me a better sense of all the complexity with very limited claims.

[Chloe Z · Rating 2 out of 5]

The tone of economic history narratives is so foreign to me and imo it takes too much humanity out of history for me to really get into it?

[mallika]

yayy I get to count my class readings for my goodreads goal