Colonialism and empire in the history of modern political thought

Abstract

Traditionally, the history of modern political thought has analyzed the texts of the main authors of the period as reflections that had as central questions the emergence of nation-states, the rights and obligations of citizens and the establishment of religious freedom. However, in recent times, political and post-colonial theorists and historians of political thought have interpreted the works of thinkers from the 15th to the 19th centuries also based on the importance of conquest, colonization and the imperial experience in their works. This change of perspective had happened in different areas of the social sciences, such as anthropology, history or literature, however in the case of the history of political thought this transformation has been more recent. The present work seeks to analyze, at first, some works that can be considered pioneers in this paradigm shift. In these works, the theme of empire appears in an innovative way as an unavoidable concern in the reflections of modern political thinkers. Another major issue we seek to discuss is the complex and problematic relationship, which an important part of the literature has highlighted, between the classic authors of the liberal tradition and the imperial expansion of the great European powers. Some authors will emphasize the constitutive relationship between liberalism and empire, while others will argue about a more contradictory relationship with significant differences between the various classical authors.