Lecture Notes on Political Economy of Colonialism: Phase 1

Lecture 4: The Political Economy of Colonialism

  • Date and Time: Lecture held at 2:30 PM.

  • Overview:

    • Discussion focuses on the political economy aspects of the first phase of colonialism (roughly the first 100 years of the English East India Company’s rule in India).

    • Political and economic aspects are intertwined, making it difficult to separate them in the context of colonialism.

Transition to Colonial Rule

  • Previous class covers the transition to colonial rule.

  • Today's focus: the political economy within the colony and types of colonialism.

Theories of Colonialism

  • Reviewed theories from last few classes:

    • Metropole-centered theories.

    • Periphery-centered theories (colonized countries).

  • Colonialism as a structure of relations:

    • Core/Metropole: Colonizing country.

    • Periphery: Colonized country.

    • Surplus extraction as a structural process maintained by colonial policies, institutions, ideology, and culture.

Phases of Colonialism

  • Different stages of colonialism based on surplus extraction methods by the metropole:

    • No rigid distinctions between phases; overlap of features.

    • Identification of 3 major phases:

    1. Phase of Monopoly Trade and Revenue Appropriation.

    2. Exploitation through Trade.

    3. Foreign Investments.

    • South Asia mainly examined for the first two phases due to the stunted nature of the third.

Examination of the First Phase

Time Frame

  • 1757 to 1857, characterized by:

    • Appropriation of surplus through monopoly over trade.

    • Revenue appropriation.

  • This phase remained dominant up to 1830s, extending to 1857 (the Revolt).

Surplus Appropriation Methods

Monopoly Trade

  • Initial Focus: Cotton textiles.

  • Political Control: Expansion of the East India Company (EIC) monopoly over trade.

  • Pre-conquest Trade: Company merchants operated on equal footing with Indian merchants until the Battle of Plassey.

  • Post-Battle of Plassey:

    • Company exerted political power over Indian and European competitors.

    • Cotton Textiles: Dominated exports to Britain until the early 19th century.

    • Revenue from Bengal used for procuring these textiles; transition from silver payments to direct revenue collection.

    • Bengal weavers employed at subsistence wages, vulnerable to market fluctuations.