Unmasking Social Science Imperialism

Tatah Mentan

Description

Contemporary social science is a product of the capitalist world-system and Eurocentrism is constitutive of the geoculture of this system characterized by the parochiality of its universalism, assumptions about the superiority of Western civilization and imposition as the sole theory of global progress. The creation of these structures of knowledge, specifically the institutionalization of the social sciences, is a phenomenon that is inextricably linked to the very formation and maturation of Europe's capitalist world system or imperialism. There is therefore nothing that is natural, logical, or accidental about the institutionalization of the social sciences. These Europeanized structures of knowledge are imposed ways of producing knowledge of the world. This Eurocentrism of social science has justifiably come under increasingly vigorous scrutiny, especially in the period since 1945 with the formal decolonization of Africa, Asia, and much of the Caribbean. This book forcefully argues that if social science is to make any progress in the twenty-first century, it must overcome its Eurocentric heritage that has distorted social analyses and its capacity to deal with the problems of the contemporary world and embrace other non-Western funds of knowledge production.

Sujets

• African Studies

Informations

• Publié par: Langaa RPCIG
• Date de parution: 02 février 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9789956792214
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

knowledge, specifically the institutionalization of the

of social science has justifiably come under increasingly

social science is to make any progress in the twenty-first

UNMASKING SOCIAL SCIENCE IMPERIALISM: Globalization Theory As A Phase Of Academic Colonialism

TATAH MENTAN

UNMASKING SOCIAL SCIENCE IMPERIALISM: Globalization Theory As A Phase Of Academic Colonialism TATAH MENTAN Langaa Research & Publishing CIG Mankon, Bamenda

Publisher: LangaaRPCIG Langaa Research & Publishing Common Initiative Group P.O. Box 902 Mankon Bamenda North West Region Cameroon [e-mail] www.langaa-rpcig.net Distributed in and outside N. America by African Books Collective [e-mail] www.africanbookscollective.com ISBN: 9956-792-20-9 ©Tatah Mentan 2015

DISCLAIMER All views expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Langaa RPCIG.

Table of Contents Maps and figures………………………………………….. v Abbreviations……………………………………………… vii Preface……………………………………………………... ix Chapter 1: Introductory: Why Social Science Imperialism?................. 1 Chapter 2: Social Science, Eurocentrism, Americanization, and Imperialism…………………………………………... 45 Chapter 3: Dissecting Globalization as a Scientific Theory……...97 Chapter 4: Globalization Theory as Repackaged Social Science Imperialism………………………………………. 161 Chapter 5: Toward De-linking From Globalization by the Oppressed and Exploited………………………………… 263 Epilogue: Which Way For The Oppressed And Exploited?...........321 Chapter 6: The Elusive Scientific Land of Promise……... 325 Chapter 7: The Road to Scientific Paradise………………379

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Maps and Figures Map1: Ancient European Colonial Empires……………….. 20 Figure 1-European Colonial Empires……………………….. 21 Figure 2-Distribution of Global Wealth……………………... 22 Figure 3: Basic Development Indicators—Selected Countries…………………………………………………….177 Figure4: Ten Top Developing Countries for Inflow of FDI 1981–1992…………………………………………………. 200 Figure 5: African Debt 1994 – Selected States……………… 208 Figure 6: Profit and Interest: Outflows From the Third World………………………………………………… 209 Figure 7: China’s Energy Consumption by Source………….. 284 Figure 8: World coal consumption based on BP’s 2012 Statistical Review of World Energy……………………………………. 285 Figure 9: Actual world carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels, as shown in BP’s 2012……………………………………… 286 Figure 10: World oil supply and price, both based on BP’s 2012…………………………………………………… 287 Figure 11: US crude oil production by 2012………………… 287 Figure 12: World crude oil production based on EIA data 2012……………………………………………… 289 Figure 13: World oil consumption in million metric tons, divided among three areas of the world……………………………... 290 Figure 14: US Number Employed / Population by 2012……………………………………………………... 291 Figure 15: United States domestic investment compared to consumption of assets, as percentage of National Income……………………………………………. 292 Figure 16: US Balance on Current Account, based on data of US Bureau of Economic Analysis………………………………. 293 Figure 17: Receipts and Expenditures for all US government entities combined mounts in 2012………………………………….. 294 Figure 18: Source of US Government revenue, by year by 2012……………………………………………………... 295 Figure 19: Market Income Indexed to 1917………………… 330 v

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Abbreviations AFTA ................... : ASEAN Free Trade Area APEC ................... : Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation CEFTA ................ : Central European Free Trade Agreement CIS ........................ : Commonwealth of Independent States CSCE.................... : Conference on Security and Co-Operation in Europe CW........................ : Corp Watch EEA...................... : European Economic Area EFTA ................... : European Free Trade Association EU ........................ : European Union FDI ....................... : Foreign Direct Investment FE ......................... : Friends of the Earth GATT................... : General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade GDP ..................... : Gross Domestic Product IBRD .................... : International Bank for Reconstruction and Development ICT ....................... : Information and Communication Technologies IDA....................... : International Development Association IFG ....................... : International Forum on Globalization IMF....................... : International Monetary Fund MNC..................... : Multi-National Company NAFTA................ : North American Free Trade Agreement NATO.................. : North Atlantic Treaty Organization OECD.................. : Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development OEEC .................. : Organization for European Economic Co- Operation OSCE ................... : Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe PGA...................... : Peoples’ Global Action R&D ..................... : Research and Development TFP....................... : Total Factor Productivity

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UN ........................ : United Nations USA ...................... : United States of America USSR .................... : Union of Soviet Socialist Republics WB ........................ : World Bank WEF ..................... : World Economic Forum WSF ...................... : World Social Forum WTO .................... : World Trade Organization

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Preface This book explores the intersection of two powerful worlds, the world of the academic colonizer (globalizer) and that of the colonized (globalized) in the era of rampant global corporate capitalism. Capitalism in its corporate imperialist form today has predominantly assumed the form of global neoliberalism. This form of capitalism differs in various ways from the regulated, welfare state capitalism of the post-World War II decades. The main features of the global neoliberal order include the following: 1) a high degree of global economic integration including in trade, production, and finance; 2) deregulation and privatization of large transnational corporations and banks; 3) strengthened enforcement of the “rights” of large transnational corporations and banks, such as in the area of so called “intellectual property rights”; 4) reductions in, or elimination of, state social programs that benefit the working class and other popular groups. As Lenin told us many decades ago, imperialism is not a foreign policy of one or another country, but a particular stage in the history of the capitalist mode of production. The idea that imperialism is a world system is often treated as a fact so obvious that it requires no further comment. Unfortunately, the misuse of the concept of imperialism in much current communist debate is strong evidence to the contrary. To understand imperialism, contemporary world capitalism, it is above all necessary to grasp the dynamism of the capitalist mode of production itself. This dynamism is manifested in a two-fold tendency of capitalist expansion (Betteheim, 1972). First, there is the tendency to reproduce capitalist production relations and productive forces on a national scale. I say “national scale” because nations or national entities are the best geographical framework of the capitalist mode of production. Lenin noted this when he remarked that the rise of capitalism and the rise of nations were parallel processes. This tendency, also called the tendency to create a national market, acts to break down or absorb all obstacles to capitalist expansion and capital accumulation. ix