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Introduction.--Aperçu geÌneÌral de la colonisation contemporaine.--Les causes du colonialisme.--Guerres et reÌvoltes.--Le couÌ't des colonies.--La condition des indigeÌ€nes.--Le commerce coloniale.--Le colonialisme et le militarisme.--Le colonialisme et la reÌvolution mondiale. ; Mode of access: Internet.

IT is not the least of the sins of the current East-West conflict that its hypnotic influence has seduced our attention away from a number of other problems some of which are at least as likely to determine the future of mankind as that conflict itself. Among these problems one which stands out as of indisputably central importance is the future development of the many millions of peoples who remain in a colonial status or have recently emerged from it into a precarious independence. To these peoples there must be assimilated others—notably the Chinese—who, although they have never come under explicit colonial rule, are in the same general position of emerging suddenly from an ancient world into the complex modernities which are essentially the creation of Western Europe and its descendants overseas. From another aspect these are all peoples who in modern times have been the object of the policies and activities of more dynamic states and peoples and who are now vigorously asserting the right to become masters of their own destiny. At the least they demand the right to be let alone to shape their own societies according to their own conceptions of the good life, with such non-imperialistic aid as they may be able to secure; and, beyond this, they seek to play an active role in the shaping of the world at large on equal terms with the peoples to whom they have been subject and inferior. The internal cohesion, structure, and advancement of these peoples, the attitudes which they come to develop, the power which they may achieve, and the goals toward which they direct this power, are matters which may well prove to be the most crucial issues of future decades and even centuries.

Magic Lantern Empire -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Empire as World and Idea: Colonialism and Society in Germany -- 1. Estrangement: Structures and Limits of the Colonial Public Sphere -- 2. World of Work, World of Goods: Propaganda and the Formation of its Object -- 3. No Place in the Sun: The People's Empire -- 4. Carnival Knowledge: Enlightenment and Distraction in the Cultural Field -- 5. Ethnographic-Fantastic: Working-Class Readers at the Colonial Library -- 6. The Hottentot Elections: Colonial Politics, Socialist Politics -- Magic Lantern Empire: Reflections on Colonialism and Society -- Abbreviations -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- Color plates.

Colonialism has been a sore spot in the handling of American foreign policy in the post-World War II period largely because of ambivalent forces, domestic and foreign, which have been tugging at the United States. At the heart of the colonial problem which has faced this country is the central issue of eventual political status for colonial territories. On this question United States policy has traditionally been and continues to be one of condemnation of colonialism and in favor of independence for colonial peoples, with certain reservations added in small print—the grant of independence should not be too hurried and it should be given only to peoples who desire it and are capable of assuming the responsibilities involved.

Address before the Institute of Pacific relations, Lucknow, United Provinces, Oct. 3, 1950.