Publisher Description

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. Debates about the origins and effects of European rule in the non-European world have animated the field of economic history since the 1850s. With special references to European colonialism of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in both Asia and Africa, this book critically reviews the literature on colonialism and economic growth, covers a range of different methods of analysis and offers a comparative approach, as opposed to a collection of regional histories, deftly weaving together different themes. With debates around globalisation, 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.

Author Biography

Leigh Gardner is Associate Professor of Economic History at the London School of Economics and Research Associate in African Economic History at Stellenbosch University.Tirthankar Roy is Professor of Economic History at the London School of Economics.

Table of Contents

Colonial and Indigenous Origins of Comparative DevelopmentOrigins of Colonialism: Is There One Story?Colonialism as an Agent of GlobalizationGrowth and Development in the ColoniesDebates about Costs and BenefitsHow Colonial States WorkedDid Institutions Matter?Colonialism and the EnvironmentBusiness and EmpiresDecolonization and the End of EmpireSummary and conclusion

Review

"The authors provide a clear and balanced guide to a burgeoning literature. Emphasizing diversity of outcomes, they consider how colonizers and colonized stimulated or hindered their respective economies, in the light of environmental constraints." William G. Clarence-Smith, SOAS University of London
"This book gives a nuanced view of how colonial rule was not merely intended as an exploitative tool but was a combination of the empire's desire for power, the intended or unintended consequences of their policies as well as local factors." LSE Review of Books

Long Description

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. Debates about the origins and effects of European rule in the non-European world have animated the field of economic history since the 1850s. With special references to European colonialism of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in both Asia and Africa, this book critically reviews the literature on colonialism and economic growth, covers a range of different methods of analysis and offers a comparative approach, as opposed to a collection of regional histories, deftly weaving together different themes. With debates around globalisation, 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.

Review Quote

"The authors provide a clear and balanced guide to a burgeoning literature. Emphasizing diversity of outcomes, they consider how colonizers and colonized stimulated or hindered their respective economies, in the light of environmental constraints." William G. Clarence-Smith, SOAS University of London

Feature

Critically reviews the literature on colonialism and economic growth;Concise and accessibly written;Comparative approach, as opposed to a collection of regional histories;Inclusive in its coverage of different methods of analysis;Doesn't misrepresent the field by leading the reader down the authors' personal paths.

Details