Colonialism as Globalism

Abstract

Lorenzo Veracini’s book Colonialism: A Global History offers a sweeping and negative portrait of colonialism across the world and throughout history, which provides a compelling jumping off point for exploring globalism. The book depicts different phases of colonialism as global waves brought about by the economic incentives of (unequal) trade. These colonial trades, including both protectionist and free trade, were of sufficient depth and breadth to lead to “deep and lasting impacts” on the states involved – that is, to globalism. Veracini’s arguments, while generally convincing, nonetheless suffer from an overly broad rendering, which misses specific historical details. Futhermore, the book ignores both the agency of the colonized and intercolonial trade, which may account for the continuation of globalism in a post-colonial era. Nevertheless, in the final analysis, Veracini’s work provides useful insights into colonialism, economic incentive, and globalism.