Studying Empire: Definitions and Categories
The European empires had much in common with each other, as well as with other historic empires. However there were also significant differences in the way that they operated. Historians, political scientists, anthropologists and others who study empires have developed terms and categories for discussing these similarities and differences. In this section, we outline a few key terms and categories which you may come across through this unit. Note that all of these terms and categories are open to critique and I have noted some common criticisms.
Imperial Metropole, Periphery and Networks
In describing the relationship between the rulers and the ruled within an empire, we can talk about the imperial centre – where the ruling elite are concentrated – and the imperial periphery - the regions which are geographically furthest from this centre.
The term metropole is often used as a shorthand for the imperial centre, though technically it refers to the urban centre of the empire - for example, in the case of the Dutch Empire, this was Amsterdam, in the case of the British Empire, this was London.
From the metropole, imperial orders, officials, ideology and culture went out; while economic and cultural benefits flowed in to those at its centre. In addition, empires were made up not only of connections between the metropole and the periphery, but of vast networks that created new relationships between peoples and cultures. Some of these networks have been very obvious to historians of empire – for example, networks of colonial officials, missionaries and natural scientists – but others, such as networks of indigenous people, have only recently been acknowledged in histories of the Empire. These different networks were an essential part of imperial power but, as we will see, they could also become a tool for resistance against the empire.
Scholars have challenged the over-use of the terms 'metropole' and 'periphery' because they can easily imply that power, people, goods, cultural knowledge only flowed in one or two directions, from the metropole to the periphery, or between metropole and periphery. In fact, as we will see in this unit, so-called 'peripheries' could be the site of significant influence, resistance, knowledge and political change (see Cooper and Stoler in this week's readings).. The focus on networks also reminds us that many, many things happened among Indigenous peoples and other inhabitants of the colonies which had little direct connection to the so-called imperial centre (see Banivanua-Mar, Decolonisation in the Pacific, in the further readings).
Types of colony
In analysing European empires, scholars - particularly political scientists - have sought to identify the different types of colonies that were established. For example, in his work Colonialism: A Theoretical Overview, Jurgen Osterhammel argues for three types of colony:
'exploitation colonies', where a smaller number of Europeans oversaw the extraction of resources (including human beings) for profit
'settler colonies', where large numbers of Europeans moved permanently, and
'maritime enclaves' which were strategically located port towns or islands
Other social scientists have developed more complex systems of categorisation. From a historical perspective, however, many colonies overlap, moved between or do not neatly fit these categories. While such categories can be useful in understanding differences and similarities between the colonies and the experience of those within them, they should be treated with caution.
In the last two decades, scholars and activists in the settler colonies have focused particularly on theorising the operation of 'settler colonialism' as a distinctive form of imperial domination and exploitation. This work has been strongly driven by Indigenous scholars who are seeking to analyse and make visible the continued existence and violence of settler colonial structures. The history of this particular field of analysis is outlined by J, Kehaulani Kauanui in the article "A structure not an event" included in this week's readings. In this context, Kauanui emphasizes that settler colonialism is an ongoing process rather than a singular historical event, highlighting how its legacies persist in contemporary societal frameworks and relations. The complexities of these narratives demand a nuanced approach that reconciles historical injustices with current realities.