POLI104 additional reading - Mueller 2016 'When is Imperialism'- the state sovereignty and imperialism

Introduction

• Discussion around imperialism is prevalent due to global disparities in power and wealth and frequent military interventions.
• The interpretation of imperialism varies, leading to ambiguity in its definition.
• Understanding modern imperialism is influenced by theoretical, ideological, and meta-political assumptions, especially about state sovereignty.
• State sovereignty: Commonly seen in spatial terms (boundaries, territory) but also has temporal underpinnings.

Sovereignty, Space, and Time

• Time provides the enabling conditions of experience.
• Temporality affects how we understand world politics.
• Walker critiques the imagining of the territorially bounded state as a timeless entity.
• The state is treated as both a particular entity and a manifestation of the category of "the state."
• The perception of sovereign state rule renders the state as the default against which other political relationships are evaluated.
• The maintenance of the temporal construction of the state provides the foundation for conceptualizing it in spatial terms.
• The discourse of eternity and methodological nationalism can legitimize the state.
• The fixing of an originary temporal moment allows the creation of a co-temporality.
• All sovereign authorities must sustain perceptions of legitimacy to maintain authority.
• Once a state's sovereignty and space of control are secured, imperialism appears external.
• Assumptions of state legitimacy close off inquiry into the possible continuities between normal sovereign state and imperial rule.

Imperialism’s Conventional Temporality

• Early uses of imperialism referred to an imperium, like the Roman empire.
• Later, it began referring to the conquest and acquisition of territories and peoples abroad.
• Formal imperialism: Direct acquisition of control by one state over others.
• Informal imperialism: Primacy of economic institutions in maintaining asymmetrical power internationally.
• State-capital theories of imperialism includes Marxists and radical liberals.
• Every definition of imperialism presupposes a conceptual framework.
• The influence of the discourse of eternity structures how we conceptualize normal sovereign state rule and imperialism.
• Hobson's theory of imperialism portrays states as overflowing their natural banks.
• A critical temporal conception of imperialism requires revisiting the 'when' of imperialism.

Sovereign Rule is Always-Already Imperial

• Sovereign state rule should be thought of as always-already imperial.
• Imperialism is the foundation of sovereignty, lacking the legitimizing constructs.
• Empires have differentiated component parts, coercive power asymmetries, and hub-and-spoke relationships, while states have social contracts and symmetry.
• The borders of states and the frontiers of empire are distinguished along lines of juridical legitimation.
• Protection \text{ in this sense evokes the image of 'a local strong man [who] forces merchants to pay tribute in order to avoid damage … the strong man himself threatens to deliver' (Tilly, 1985: 170).}
• Rights and representation are a product of resistance to war-making and state-making.
• Internal colonialism explains racialized structural inequality.
• Imperialism is comprised of inequalities, violence, and exploitations.
• Maintaining the language of the beginning or emergence of imperialism reinforces the conventional temporality.
• Imperial processes may not always result in a transformative founding origin.
• Identifying imperialism as always-already in the constitution of state sovereignty opens up a conception that incorporates significant aspects of domination and control.

Conclusion

• Modern imperialism is conceptualized through a spatial ideology that juxtaposes it against legitimate sovereign state rule.
• This conventional temporality reinforces the discourse of eternity, which reifies state rule.
• Adopting a critical temporality of imperialism allows us to think about when imperialism exists without reinforcing the discourse of eternity.
• A critical temporality conceptualizes imperialism as something that always-already exists in the constitution of sovereign state rule.
• This sidesteps the limitations of the conventional temporality while retaining the ability to highlight domination and exploitation.