HIST 2857 Global History of Colonialism since 1800

Was colonialism good for the world, or did it make life worse for people who lived under it? This is a live debate among people who are still trying to come to terms with their colonial pasts. In Oxford and South Africa, the Rhodes must Fall movement opposes monuments and romantic portrayals of Cecil Rhodes, the British miner and prime minister who oversaw the brutal treatment of black South Africans. Citizens of Kenya have sued the British government for reparations for what they suffered in detention camps after the Mau Maurebellion of the 1950s. And the Indian writer and statesman, Shashi Tharoor, has passionately argued that the British owe India reparations for their history of violence, and for turning a hugely prosperous civilization into a poor one. On the other side of the debate, however, are historians such as Niall Ferguson or Nigel Biggar, who believe in the importance of Western power and contend that it delivered human rights, democracy, and the rule of law worldwide. Is one side right and the other wrong, or are there elements of truth and distortion on both sides? Fulfills LAMA Requirement for History Majors and Minors.