Critical Paradigm: Imperialist Political Economy

Author: Ronald H. Chirot
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-04-01
Features: This book collects important articles written by a group of renowned scholars who are dedicated to the study of imperialism and development. It serves as a supplement to previously published anthologies that gathered significant theoretical perspectives on issues and debates surrounding these topics. The anthology will be published by "Humanity Press." These projects are connected to the lengthy chapter on "Theories of Imperialism" in my monograph titled "Theories of Comparative Politics" (to be published). These research projects represent the culmination of years of teaching in economics and political science. During that time, I taught two courses on political aspects of development and underdevelopment, but I was unable to convince my colleagues that offering a course on imperialism would be beneficial. Such a course should connect the past issues and debates with recent literature on development issues. When I was welcomed into the field of economics education in 1990, my colleagues organized a graduate seminar on the political economy of imperialism. This is how this book came to be born from that experience. It is an effort to encourage new analyses that should look back and reflect on past contributions, while also considering the prospects of imperialism and development in the contemporary world. I appreciate the support of colleagues who understand this approach, and I am particularly grateful to the graduate students who attended the seminar. They read the materials, became sensitive to issues and debates through weekly discussions and by writing articles expressing their views, and their understanding of the issues led to theoretical breakthroughs. I would also like to thank Elvia Ramirez, a sociology graduate student at the University of California, Riverside, who assisted me during the initial stages of organizing this book. I would also