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SeventyTwoTrillion [he/him] @hexbear.net

Imperialism Reading Group - Empire's Workshop: Latin America, the United States, and the Making of an Imperial Republic - Week 1

This is a weekly thread in which we read through books on and related to imperialism and geopolitics. Last week's thread is here.

The book we are currently reading through is Empire's Workshop by Greg Grandin. There are two main editions, to my knowledge: the original one with a yellow cover from 2006, and an updated version from 2021 with an orange cover. I am reading the latter version.

Please comment or message me directly if you wish to be pinged for this group, or if you no longer wish to be pinged.

This week, we will be reading the Introduction.

Next week, we will be reading Chapter 1.

16 comments

  • This is how I would summarize this chapter:

    • American denial of its own imperialism (especially in Latin America) is, of course, deeply cynical, but does reveal some interesting properties of American imperialism in contrast to the imperialism of the old European empires. Namely, Latin America is more than a "backyard" for the US; it is a workshop in which various imperial techniques and empire-building can be tested, and is a place where imperial creativity can flourish, allowing the US a place to try and create convincing political and moral justifications of their definitely-not-empire.
    • Importantly, Latin America provides a resistance/pushback which has shaped US imperialism over the decades as national and global politics evolves, and in turn, US imperialism shapes Latin America and the forms of resistance that arise, from basic social democracy to outright militancy by guerrillas.
    • The US was involved early and often in Latin America, from the early 1800s onwards. The early techniques are the crude forms of nonetheless recognizable modern techniques; the use of civil society organizations to undermine governments, as well as sending gunboats to raid, occupy, and annex ports and islands around the Caribbean and the rest of the continent. As Latin America developed insurgencies, the US went on to develop counterinsurgencies. There have been over 40 successful regime changes over the 20th century alone across the whole continent.
    • Many of the current legal precedents for invading/bombing countries without congressional approval, denying prisoners human rights, and torturing people were invented and developed in Latin America.
    • Additionally, tools of US corporate and financial/banking domination began in Latin America and later spread to the rest of the world, including attempts to restructure the economies of foreign sovereign countries to suit the whims of the US.
    • The US presidential administrations of the 20th and 21st century have been traditionally defined by their domestic/electoral politics, but their foreign policy views, especially vis-a-vis Latin America are also incredibly important. Each administration has sought a political hegemony domestically in which various groups and capitalist factions are brought together under one banner despite their diverse views and priorities.
    • When looking at the history of Latin America, you can see the story of these US administrations and their evolving interests: from the early days before the Monroe Doctrine where the Spanish were strategically shored up until the US could advance enough; to the commercial exploitation of the continent under the Federalists; to the honing of racism under Jacksonians in opposition to Spanish-America republicanism; to the Confederates seeking to expand slavery in Latin America; to Progressives developing their ideas about "political morality", "free trade", and how governance ought to be while overseeing occupations in Latin America; and then on to the New Deal coalition, and later, the New Right coalition in the 20th century.
    • When US empire has been under threat and they have overreached, Latin America has been a place for a brief retreat and reformulation of how to best approach empire-building. Two great examples are the 1930s (the Depression and the rise of the New Deal) and the aftermath of the Vietnam War in the 1970s in which the US had to find a solution to the spread of third-world nationalism. Whenever US interest and actions in Latin America are heightening, one should study it carefully, observing what the Americans are presently thinking and developing, as the strategies that are successful will spread to the rest of the world before long.
16 comments