Empire - A World History: Anatomy and Concept, Theory and Synthesis

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This chapter attempts a synthesis of the imperial experience in world history. Setting out from an in-depth comparison of two incidents, one from the US occupation of Iraq, the other from the Jewish uprising against Nero (66–70 CE), cooperation with local elites is identified as the key to imperial government. The chapter proceeds to discuss current definitions of empire, followed by a wide-ranging survey of modern theories of empire. Most of these can be grouped within four discourses that originate in societal debates from the early 1900s: about monopoly, capitalism and empire; about empire as predatory networks of aristocratic elites; about empire and national identity; and about geopolitics and the balance of power. These four theoretical discourses provide the four dimensions of an analytical matrix that, finally, structure an attempt at synthesizing the imperial experience in world history, from the third millennium BCE Levantine Bronze Age until the present.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Oxford World History of Empre, Vol. 1: The Imperial Experience
EditorsPeter Fibiger Bang, C. A. Bayly, Walter Scheidel
Number of pages88
VolumeI
Place of PublicationNew York
PublisherOxford University Press
Publication date2021
Pages1-87
Chapter1
ISBN (Print)9780199772360
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021

ID: 291538230