Conquest, colonial history & the rise of imperialism.

[C.K.]

Thank you to everyone here for their insight & perspective on all matters discussed.

I've been wanting to learn more about conquest & colonial history (mostly that of Africa, Southeast Asia, South/Central America), and the eventual development of imperialism.

Much of what I find in a book store is blatantly or seemingly written from the point of view of a defender/apologist/romanticizer of European conquest & colonialism. Which I would describe as a rather nauseating perspective.

Is anyone well-read on the subject(s) & familiar with any essential texts from a viewpoint more sympathetic with the colonized population, their struggle against the colonizers, and their right to self-determination, sovereignty, etc?

[Invader Zim]

The literature on this, post-colonialism, is vast. I would actually recommend you start with the Wikipedia page for it which lists a few of the more influential people to have thought about it:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postcolonialism

[johnbrown]

"The Wretched of the Earth" by Frantz Fanon.

[bricolage]

Thank you to everyone here for their insight & perspective on all matters discussed.

I've been wanting to learn more about conquest & colonial history (mostly that of Africa, Southeast Asia, South/Central America), and the eventual development of imperialism.

Much of what I find in a book store is blatantly or seemingly written from the point of view of a defender/apologist/romanticizer of European conquest & colonialism. Which I would describe as a rather nauseating perspective.

Is anyone well-read on the subject(s) & familiar with any essential texts from a viewpoint more sympathetic with the colonized population, their struggle against the colonizers, and their right to self-determination, sovereignty, etc?
This is definitely broad, both chronologically and geographically.

It might be easier to suggest an area you are most interested in (i.e. Africa, Southeast Asia or South/Central America) as well as a time period - are you more interested in first reading about how the colonial empires were established or on how they were eventually decolonised?

(I should also add that I probably won't have great suggestions here, I just thought this might narrow it down for people who do)

[bricolage]

"The Wretched of the Earth" by Frantz Fanon.
This is a great book but probably not the best one if you are looking for a historical text as opposed to a theoretical one.

[John Nada]

"The Wretched of the Earth" by Frantz Fanon.Hey you stole my old username!:glare: Oh well, his was one of the best white allies.:) And The Wretched of the Earth is pretty good for theory.

Some I can think of now(a bit drunk). Leninist stuff which was influential in the anti-colonial movements of the 20th century:

Lenin wrote the book on imperialism: The Right of Nations to Self-Determination (https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1914/self-det/index.htm)
The Revolutionary Proletariat and the Right of Nations to Self-Determination (https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1915/oct/16.htm)
The Discussion On Self-Determination Summed Up (https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1916/jul/x01.htm)
Imperialism and the Split in Socialism (https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1916/oct/x01.htm)
Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism (https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1916/imp-hsc/index.htm) A classic, one of Lenin's best on imperialism.

Hard to believe now if you know the story of Kautsky(and why Lenin and just about every Communist hates him later to this day), but before he sold out and went from one of the most respected Marxist theorists to a liberal apologist for imperialism and counterrevolutions, he wrote Socialism and Colonial Policy (https://www.marxists.org/archive/kautsky/1907/colonial/index.htm) Probably one of the earliest sympathetic Marxist take on subjugated peoples outside Europe and America that I've found online, and closer to the Bolsheviks, though IIRC he might have older ones not yet translated or lost. Although Engels and, AFAIK to a lesser degree, Marx had similar beliefs. Though Kautsky later did a 180 and cooked up the "ultra-imperialist" theory that was basically apologia for WWI.

Regardless of what you think of him, Stalin's Marxism and the National Question (https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1913/03.htm) is influential and I've even see concepts in there turn up bourgeois works.