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Imperialism is a type of advocacy of empire. Its name originated from the Latin word ''"imperium"'', which means to rule over large territories. Imperialism is "a policy of extending a country's power and influence through colonization, use of military force, or other means".〔Oxford Dictionaries: (id=5gCHckKszz0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=dictionary+of+human+geography&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Nah1UdLTNYfgqAHcgoCQDg&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAA The Dictionary of Human Geography )'' (5th ed.). Wiley-Blackwell. p. 373. ISBN 978-1-4051-3288-6〕 Imperialism has greatly shaped the contemporary world.〔Mary Gallaher, et al. ''Key concepts in political geography'' (Sage, 2009).〕 The term imperialism has been applied to Western (and Japanese) political and economic dominance especially in Asia and Africa in the 19th and 20th centuries. Its precise meaning continues to be debated by scholars. Some writers, such as Edward Said, use the term more broadly to describe any system of domination and subordination organised with an imperial center and a periphery.〔Edward W. Said. Culture and Imperialism. Vintage Publishers, 1994. P. 9.〕 Imperialism is defined as "an unequal human and territorial relationship, usually in the form of an empire, based on ideas of superiority and practices of dominance, and involving the extension of authority and control of one state or people over another."〔 Imperialism is a process and ideology that does not only focus on political dominance, but rather, conquest over expansion. Imperialism is particularly focused on the control that one group, often a state power, has on another group of people.〔Howe, Stephen. Empire: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2002. Print.〕 There are "formal" or "informal" imperialism. "Formal imperialism" is, "the physical control or full-fledged colonial rule".〔 "Informal control" is less direct; however, it is still a powerful form of dominance.〔 The definition of imperialism has not been finalized for centuries and was confusedly seen to represent the policies of major powers, or simply, general-purpose aggressiveness. Further on, some writers used the term imperialism, in slightly more discriminating fashion, to mean all kinds of domination or control by a group of people over another. To clear out this confusion about the definition of imperialism one could speak of "formal" and "informal" imperialism, the first meaning physical control or "full-fledged colonial rule" while the second implied less direct rule though still containing perceivable kinds of dominance.〔 Informal rule is generally less costly than taking over territories formally. This is because, with informal rule, the control is spread more subtly through technological superiority, enforcing land officials into large debts that cannot be repaid, ownership of private industries thus expanding the controlled area, or having countries agree to uneven trade agreements forcefully.〔Cleary, Vern. "Introduction: What Is Imperialism?" Modern World History. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Feb. 2015.〕 It is mostly accepted that modern-day colonialism is an expression of imperialism and cannot exist without the latter. The extent to which "informal" imperialism with no formal colonies is properly described remains a controversial topic amongst historians. Both colonization and imperialism have been described by Tom Nairn and Paul James as early forms of globalization: The word imperialism became common in Great Britain during the 1870s and was used with a negative connotation. In Britain, the word had until then mostly been used to refer to the politics of Napoleon III in obtaining favorable public opinion in France through foreign military interventions.〔 ==Colonialism vs. imperialism== "The word ‘empire’ comes from the Latin word imperium; for which the closest modern English equivalent would perhaps be ‘sovereignty’, or simply ‘rule’".〔Howe, 13〕 The greatest distinction of an empire is through the amount of land that a nation has conquered and expanded. Political power grew from conquering land, however cultural and economic aspects flourished through sea and trade routes. Europe and the United States of America had controlled over eighty percent of the globe's land area along with holding important seaports at their possession. A distinction about empires is "that although political empires were built mostly by expansion overland, economic and cultural influences spread at least as much by sea".〔Howe, 45〕 Some of the main aspects of trade that went overseas consisted of animals and plant products. European empires in Asia and Africa "have come to be seen as the classic forms of imperialism: and indeed most books on the subject confine themselves to the European seaborne empires".〔Howe, 62〕 European expansion caused the world to be divided by how developed and developing nation are portrayed through the world systems theory. The two main regions are the core and the periphery. The core consists of high areas of income and profit; the periphery is on the opposing side of the spectrum consisting of areas of low income and profit. These critical theories of Geo-politics have led to increased discussion of the meaning and impact of imperialism on the modern post-colonial world. The Russian leader Lenin suggested that "imperialism was the highest form of capitalism, claiming that imperialism developed after colonialism, and was distinguished from colonialism by monopoly capitalism".〔Gilmartin, 116〕 This idea from Lenin stresses how important new political world order has become in our modern era. Geopolitics now focuses on states becoming major economic players in the market; some states today are viewed as empires due to their political and economic authority over other nations. The term "imperialism" is often conflated with "colonialism", however many scholars have argued that each have their own distinct definition. Imperialism and colonialism have been used in order to describe one's superiority, domination and influence upon a person or group of people. Robert Young writes that while imperialism operates from the center, is a state policy and is developed for ideological as well as financial reasons, colonialism is simply the development for settlement or commercial intentions. Colonialism in modern usage also tends to imply a degree of geographic separation between the colony and the imperial power. Particularly, Edward Said distinguishes the difference between imperialism and colonialism by stating; "imperialism involved 'the practice, the theory and the attitudes of a dominating metropolitan center ruling a distant territory', while colonialism refers to the 'implanting of settlements on a distant territory.'〔Gilmartin, Mary "Colonialism/Imperialism"〕 Contiguous land empires such as the Russian or Ottoman are generally excluded from discussions of colonialism. Thus it can be said that imperialism includes some form of colonialism, but colonialism itself does not automatically imply imperialism, as it lacks a political focus. Imperialism and colonialism both dictate that the political and economic advantage over a land and the indigenous populations they control, yet scholars sometimes find it difficult to illustrate the difference between the two.〔Painter, Joe & Jeffrey, Alex ''Political Geography'' (2nd ed. London, GBR: SAGE Publications Ltd, 2009). pg. 107〕 Although imperialism and colonialism focus on the suppression of ''an other'', if Colonialism refers to the process of a country taking physical control of another, Imperialism refers to the political and monetary dominance, either formally or informally. Colonialism is seen to be the architect deciding how to start dominating areas and then imperialism can be seen as creating the idea behind conquest cooperating with colonialism. Colonialism is when the imperial nation begins a conquest over an area and then eventually is able to rule over the areas the previous nation had controlled. Colonialism's core meaning is the exploitation of the valuable assets and supplies of the nation that was conquered and the conquering nation then gaining the benefits from the spoils of the war.〔Painter & Jeffrey, ''Political Geography'' pp. 170-75〕 The meaning of imperialism is to create an empire, by conquering the other state's lands and therefore increasing its own dominance. Colonialism is the builder and preserver of the colonial possessions in an area by a population coming from a foreign region.〔Painter & Jeffrey, ''Political Geography'' pp. 173-76〕 Colonialism can completely change the existing social structure, physical structure and economics of an area; it’s not unusual that the characteristics of the conquering peoples are inherited by the conquered indigenous populations.〔Painter & Jeffrey, ''Political Geography'' p. 41〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Imperialism」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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