Cultures Contexts Political Empires NNNN oooo tttt eeee bbbb oooo oooo kkkk CCCCrrrreeee aaaatttt eeee dddd TTTT aaaagggg ssss yeaeun94 s notebook 1 29 2013 9 36 AM Contexts Cultures Empires Introduction UUUU pppp dddd aaaatttt eeee dddd 1 29 2013 11 08 AM Homework Chapter 1 Reading George Orwell s Shooting an Elephant Introduction Nation State a system of a give and take of services and taxes between the government and its citizen 2003 The word Empire reemerged with the US invasion of Iraq describe the state of affairs shown in nation states Good Empire a system of government vs Bad Empire abuse of power Empire suggests inequality hierarchy inclusion of those who belong in the empire set the context and start for political change Complex Sovereignty still exists today Definitions Empire a large political unit expansionists but doesn t rule all its people the same way It sees population as differentiated and tries to keep it that way Nation a people who imagine themselves to constitute a community Nation state a state which represents itself as governing a single nation in a single territory Obstacles of an Empire Structural Considerations Politics of Difference Ruling different people Need to Organize Rule at a Distance How to secure the loyalty of the people Imperial Trajectory Themes Space and Ecology Ideologies Religion and Law Culture Art Architecture Language Education Political Economy Technology Intermediaries Politics of inclusion and exclusion The Eurasian Steppe Provided means of transportation and communication Example Mongolian Empire ca 1200 s The Sea Ports Provided transportation Example Dutch East India Company 1660 s below Portuguese Empire of the East tried to use the sea like the Dutch Rise to Colonialism A nation sending its own citizens a far distance to claim land British French and Spanish claims in North and Central America 1750 Victory or Death but Glory no matter what happens Napoleon Alexander the Great 334 323 BCE Short lived but left an impression of a conqueror importance of Glory acting like a god insisted that he was the son of a god Charismatic Leadership godlike emperor Universal Empire one can be part of the universal empire with its civilization to which you could belong Roman Empire The maintenance of difference with peace may become a justification for an empire and therefore become and ideology Universality Equality vs Maintenance of Difference Religion Mongols allowed Religious Tolerance Romans started out the same way but 312 the emperor Constantine converted to Christianity Law rights rules and institutions to enforce them Roman Culture Expansion of a specific art architecture as a means of influence Political Economy Organization Exploitation Reward A system to sustain the empire How did they reward their managers Intermediary Important to the stability of the empire Technology Resources to exploit timber sugar salt silver labor oil is a modern day example Lines of Inquiry the tensions between universality and difference the ways that empires dealt with different groups the ways that people partiipated in resisted or accomodated their lives to imperial rule