Not confined by era or area, this analysis is based on a theoretical foundation. By looking at the emancipation debate from the Englightenment to Habermas, the author critically assesses world system theories and considers the position Marxism holds in the debate. This volume attempts to demonstrate this historical examples, ranging from the time of the Crusades to the 20th century. Pieterse launches his discussion from the medieval feudal era of empire building. He then goes on to take in the "modern" bourgeois and mercantile imperialism, considering among other things, the way England has used Ireland as a "stepping stone" for conquest, the role of racism in imperial history and the continuities between the British Empire and modern day US hegemony. He looks at the class struggles in the Western World, the plight of the American Indians, the liberation movements in Africa and the transatlantic emancipatory triangle which has replaced the triangle of trade.
This is a work about the complex configurations which arise from the interpretation of empire and emancipation, the central assertion of which is that empires create interdependencies which, in the long run, cannot be controlled.
- ISBN10 0745303617
- ISBN13 9780745303611
- Publish Date 31 January 1990 (first published 22 January 1990)
- Publish Status Unknown
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Pluto Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 384
- Language English