Colonialism and Postcolonial Development: Spanish America in Comparative Perspective

by James Mahoney

• ISBN13: 9780521133289
• ISBN10: 0521133289
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-02-15
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

In this comparative-historical analysis of Spanish America, Mahoney offers a new theory of colonialism and postcolonial development. He explores why certain kinds of societies are subject to certain kinds of colonialism and why these forms of colonialism give rise to countries with differing levels of economic prosperity and social well-being. Mahoney contends that differences in the extent of colonialism are best explained by the potentially evolving fit between the institutions of the colonizing nation and those of the colonized society. Moreover, he shows how institutions forged under colonialism bring countries to relative levels of development that may prove remarkably enduring in the postcolonial period. The argument is sure to stir discussion and debate, both among experts on Spanish America who believe that development is not tightly bound by the colonial past, and among scholars of colonialism who suggest that the institutional identity of the colonizing nation is of little consequence.

Author Biography

James Mahoney is Fitzgerald professor of economic history and a professor of political science and sociology at Northwestern University.

Table of Contents

List of Tables, Figures, and Maps	p. xi
Preface	p. xiii
Explaining Levels of Colonialism and Postcolonial Development	p. 1
Relative Levels of Development	p. 4
Existing Perspectives and Their Limitations: New Principles for Case Analysis	p. 10
A General Theory of Colonialism and Development	p. 20
A Focus on Spanish America	p. 32
Spain and Its Colonial Empire in the Americas	p. 35
The Mercantilist Phase, 1492-1700	p. 36
The Liberal Phase, 1700-1808	p. 44
Conclusion	p. 49
Mercantilist Colonialism	p. 50
The Colonial Centers	p. 54
The Colonial Peripheries	p. 77
The Colonial Semiperipheries	p. 100
Conclusion	p. 115
Liberal Colonialism	p. 120
The Rising Peripheries	p. 124
The Mercantilist Carryovers	p. 141
The Fallen Cores	p. 161
The Sustained Peripheries	p. 174
Conclusion	p. 183
Warfare and Postcolonial Development	p. 189
The Effect of Warfare on Development	p. 190
Costa Rican Exceptionalism in Central America	p. 193
Contrasting Paths: Chile and Paraguay	p. 195
Conclusion	p. 200
Postcolonial Levels of Development	p. 203
Postcolonial Economic Development	p. 205
Postcolonial Social Development	p. 221
Conclusion	p. 227
British and Portuguese Colonialism	p. 229
The British Colonial Empire	p. 231
Portuguese America	p. 242
Conclusion	p. 250
Conclusion	p. 253
Summation	p. 253
Implications	p. 264
Notes	p. 271
Glossary	p. 353
Select Bibliography of Works on Colonial Spanish America	p. 357
Index	p. 383
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