A G Hopkins
Biographic Data
| ID | 83454 |
|---|---|
| NAME | A G Hopkins |
| GIVEN NAMES | A G |
| FAMILY NAME | Hopkins |
| SIGNATURE | HOPKINS A G |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Birmingham |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 105 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 975 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 103 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 2 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1965 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 17 |
Capitalism in the Colonies
An account that challenges the conventional views of African merchants under colonialism, examining the emergence and changing fortunes of indigenous entrepreneurs in Lagos, Nigeria In Capitalism in the Colonies , A. G. Hopkins provides the first substantial assessment of the fortunes of African entrepreneurs under colonial rule. Examining the lives and careers of 100 merchants in Lagos, Nigeria, between 1850 and 1931, Hopkins challenges conventi…
Ethical Capitalism
The United States after 1783
This contribution outlines a case for reconsidering US history in the nineteenth century. The standard approach tells the “story of the nation” after 1783 from an internal standpoint that minimizes external connections. Historians of empire, however, distinguish between formal and effective independence and trace the lines of continuity that lead from one to the other. If applied to the newly decolonized United States, this perspective reveals th…
Response
This essay reflects on the contributions to the symposium on American Empire. In discussing the previous commentaries, the ‘Response’ acknowledges some of the book’s limits and defends some of its interpretations. Its main purpose, however, is to endorse the various lines of enquiry the contributors have set out because they suggest ways of opening a subject that has long been confined by national borders and separated by regional specialisations…
Fifty years of African economic history 1
The article summarizes the evolution of the study of African economic history during the past half century. It does so, not by attempting to assess the mountain of evidence that is now available, but by identifying the intellectual impulses that have shaped the contours of the subject. Six main phases have influenced several generations of postgraduate students who have been drawn to the study of Africa: modernisation theory, the dependency thesi…
Globalisation with and without empires
This study relates the history of two distinct societies during and after colonial rule. The kingdom of Klunkung in Bali and the Innu of Labrador had, and still have, different polities, societies, and economies. They were both incorporated into empires, the one Dutch and the other British, which gives them a measure of commonality. An understanding of their varying fortunes, however, needs to link the imperial connection to the phases of globali…
The ‘new international economic order’ in the nineteenth century
This chapter places European, and specifically British, interests in Africa in a much wider context: the globalisation of the world as promoted by the greatest of the Western empires in the nineteenth century. The defeat of France in 1815 presented Britain with an unprecedented opportunity to create an international order that reflected her own interests. The result was the world’s first modernisation programme. It was not a design taken from a r…
Globalisation and decolonisation
This article offers a broad reconsideration of the decolonisation of the Western empires. The argument suggests that existing studies are unable to capture the full significance of the process because they remain confined within the established borders of formal empires and concentrate principally on Asia and Africa. A much larger view is needed to relate decolonisation to a historic change in the character of globalisation. The first example, wh…
Africa, Empire and World Disorder
This volume brings together important articles from the Cambridge historian A. G. Hopkins and reflect the enlargement and evolution of historical studies during the last half century. The essays cover four of the principal historiographical developments of the period: the extraordinary revolution that has led to the writing of non-Western indigenous history; the revitalization of new types of imperial history; the now ubiquitous engagement with g…
The ‘victory’ strategy
This article presents a critique of the ‘oil-spot’ strategy, which has been advertised as a solution to the dilemmas confronting U.S. policy towards Iraq. The occupation of Iraq in 2003 did not create a stable democracy, as policy-makers forecast, but turmoil, resistance, and insurgency. The oil-spot strategy aimed to resolve these problems by creating secure, functioning localities that would spread to other areas. The policy, however, is fundam…
Macmillan’s audit of empire, 1957 1
This chapter provides a fresh examination of the cost-benefit analysis of the empire ordered by Harold Macmillan in 1957. The exercise was the last of its kind and it occurred at a pivotal moment between holding the empire and giving it away. Historians have reported, variously, that the audit was ‘ambiguous’, ‘inconclusive’, or ‘evenly balanced’, which makes it difficult to decide which considerations shaped the final recommendations. A detailed…
Asante and the Victorians
The significance of Britain’s decision to invade Asante in 1874, and eventually to incorporate the state into what became the colony of the Gold Coast, has long been recognised. The relationship between this episode and broader interpretations of the partition of Africa, however, has yet to incorporate the impressive research that has been carried out on the polity in recent years. The present contribution advances an argument that fits the fall …
The Lagos strike of 1897
This contribution aims to put the history of urban wage labour on the map of research possibilities in tropical Africa by reconstructing the first important strike to take place in what was to become Nigeria. The strike, which occurred in 1897, involved a large number of labourers in the Public Works Department, who took action in protest against changes in their conditions that aimed at cutting wage costs The strike was provoked by the assertive…
Rethinking decolonisation
This chapter advances a case for enlarging conventional studies of decolonization, which focus on colonial possessions in Asia and Africa. The ‘old dominions’, formerly known also as the ‘white’ or ‘settler’ empire, were omitted from studies of decolonisation after the Second World War because it was assumed that they had already achieved effective independence. A re-examination of the historical record shows that this was not the case. Strenuous…
The Victorians and Africa
This article offers a reassessment of Britain’s decision to occupy Egypt in 1882. Research published since 1961, it is suggested, does not support the view put forward by Robinson and Gallagher in their celebrated book, Africa and the Victorians, that Britain intervened reluctantly to safeguard the Suez Canal in response to disorder in Egypt, or that she was led on by French initiatives. Moreover, the decision to occupy Egypt did not have the eff…
History at the universities
This comment questions the accuracy of Prof. Elton’s criticism of new trends in the study of history. Elton fears that the rise of contemporary history, overseas history, and interdisciplinary approaches will undermine the ‘true purpose’ of historical ‘procedure and practice.’ These fears are greatly exaggerated. Contemporary history will not lead to the converging uniformity he predicts but will add diversity and introduce new ways of looking at…
Capitalism, nationalism, and the new American empire
This article draws on Pareto’s theory of elites to explore the relationship between American capitalism and American nationalism, and to connect the invasion of Iraq to classical theories of imperialism. Globalisation has changed the structure of the American economy and promoted interests that have an increased stake in free trade. Neither these interests nor the oil companies advocated intervention in Iraq. Globalisation also accelerated the de…
Africa, Empire and World Disorder
Economic aspects of political movements in Nigeria and the Gold Coast, 1918–1939
Economic imperialism in West Africa
The New Economic History of Africa
The purpose of this article is to promote the revival of African economic history. Poverty, the most pressing issue confronting the continent, has received world-wide publicity in recent years. Yet historians have continued to neglect the history of economic development, which is central to the study of poverty, in favour of themes that have their origins in the Western world rather than in Africa. However, there is now an exceptional opportunity…
External trade
This chapter aims to clarify what has long been a controversial aspect of West African history, namely the external slave trade, by making use of research which has been completed in recent years. It analyses West Africa’s external trade in terms of the model outlined in order to identify the linkages which were established, and explains why their beneficial effects were so limited. Trans-Saharan trade between West and North Africa began as early…
The domestic economy
The domestic economy was a subsistence economy, which was uniform, unchanging and therefore uninteresting. Such an economy is worthy of only cursory attention because the obstacles impeding its development can readily be identified and are familiar enough—at least to experts. West Africa’s economic past is the record of a continuous dialogue between geography and history—from the very beginnings of agriculture to the introduction of modern indust…
The economy in retrospect
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book considers the possibility that various internal obstacles might have been overcome by means of international trade. It argues that the early nineteenth century saw the start of the modern economic history of West Africa, in the sense that the economic structure which began to take shape at that time was essentially that wh…
The open economy under strain
This chapter aims to describe and account for the modifications which were made to the open economies of West Africa during the years 1930–1960. The economist’s formal assumption that each factor of production is homogeneous is seriously at variance with reality. The discussion can move on to consider the domestic economy. The examination of domestic exchange is related to the analysis of the strain exerted on the open economy in several ways. Im…
An Economic History of West Africa
This is the standard account of the economic history of the vast area conventionally known as West Africa. Ranging from prehistoric time to independence it covers the former French as well as British colonies
British Imperialism
The New Economic History of Africa
The purpose of this article is to promote the revival of African economic history. Poverty, the most pressing issue confronting the continent, has received world-wide publicity in recent years. Yet historians have continued to neglect the history of economic development, which is central to the study of poverty, in favour of themes that have their origins in the Western world rather than in Africa. However, there is now an exceptional opportunity…
Imperial Business in Africa Part II. Interpretations
This article, which is in two parts, aims to establish expatriate business history as a necessary and important part of modern African history. Part I surveyed approximately fifty histories of European companies in West, Central and East Africa during the colonial period and drew attention to newly-discovered and little-known records. Part II begins by assessing the quality of the studies listed in Part I, and suggests ways in which the level of …
Economic Imperialism in West Africa
Gentlemanly Capitalism and British Expansion Overseas I. The Old Colonial System, 1688-1850
In an earlier survey of the history of imperialism we suggested that closer attention should be given to the connexions between the slow and uncertain development of industry and the pace and direction of overseas expansion.1 We also argued that insufficient regard had been paid to the influence of non-industrial forms of capitalism on both overseas development and imperial policy. In the course of that survey, the former problem was dealt with i…
Economic Imperialism in West Africa
The Imperial impact
The Creation of a Colonial Monetary System
Gentlemanly capitalism and British expansion overseas II
T he forces represented by what we have termed gentlemanly capitalism rose to prominence in the late seventeenth century. 1 At their centre stood the powerful landed interest which combined, in the manner of samurai, the prestige of inherited social position with progressive, market-oriented ambitions. Closely associated with the landed elite, and offering it both support and deference, were the men of the emerging service sector, whose innovatio…
Imperial Business in Africa Part I
This article, which is in two parts, seeks to establish expatriate business history as a necessary and important part of modern African history. Part I surveys some fifty histories of European companies in West, Central and East Africa during the colonial period, and draws attention to opportunities for research on newly-discovered or little known records. Part II will assess the scholarly quality of the studies listed here, and will formulate so…
Viewpoint. Back to the future
Journal Article BACK TO THE FUTURE: FROM NATIONAL HISTORY TO IMPERIAL HISTORY Get access A. G. Hopkins A. G. Hopkins Pembroke CollegeCambridge Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Past & Present, Volume 164, Issue 1, August 1999, Pages 198–243, https://doi.org/10.1093/past/164.1.198 Published: 01 August 1999
Economic aspects of political movements in nigeria and in the coast 1918–1939
This article attempts to contribute towards an understanding of the rise of nationalism in Nigeria and in the Gold Coast by exploring a neglected theme, namely the economic policy of political organizations in the period between the two World Wars. Before about 1918 political organizations did not have a coherent economic policy. After World War I economic problems became more important, and political parties began to take account of them by form…
Big Business in African Studies
This article surveys research into the business history of Africa completed during the past decade, taking as a point of departure the author's previous essays, ‘Imperial business in Africa’, in this Journal (XVII, (1976), 29–48 and 291–305), and using as a point of reference the published proceedings of two conferences held in Paris and London in 1981 and 1983. It is apparent that knowledge of indigenous and expatriate business in the nineteenth…
The Victorians and Africa
This article offers a reassessment of Britain's decision to occupy Egypt in 1882. Research published since 1961, it is suggested, does not support the view put forward by Robinson and Gallagher in their celebrated book, Africa and the Victorians , that Britain intervened reluctantly to safeguard the Suez Canal in response to disorder in Egypt, or that she was led on by French initiatives. Moreover, the decision to occupy Egypt did not have the ef…
The Lagos Strike of 1897
THE LAGOS STRIKE OF 1897: AN EXPLORATION IN NIGERIAN LABOUR HISTORY1 A. G. Hopkins A. G. Hopkins University of Birmingham Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar 1I should like to express my gratitude to Mr. A. Hughes and Mr. D. Rimmer for reading and greatly improving an earlier draft of this article. Neither is responsible for any errors which still remain. Author Notes Past & Present, Volume 35, Issue 1, Decemb…
From Slave Trade to 'Legitimate' Commerce
This edited collection, written by eleven leading specialists, examines the nineteenth-century commercial transition in West Africa: the ending of the Atlantic slave trade and the development of alternative forms of 'legitimate' trade, mainly in vegetable products. Approaching the subject from an African, rather than a European or American, perspective, the case studies consider the effects of transition on the African societies involved. They of…
Gentlemanly Capitalism and British Imperialism
Rethinking Decolonization
The moment of decolonization is recorded by dates and signalled by ceremony: the guard, political as well as military, is changed; anthems are composed; flags are redesigned. When Malaya became independent in 1957, the national anthem, ‘My Country’, was adopted in the same year, and a new national flag was hoisted in 1963.1 When Nigeria became independent in 1960, the national anthem, ‘Nigeria, We Hail Thee’, was composed for the occasion and the…
Globalisation and Decolonisation
This article offers a broad reconsideration of the decolonisation of the Western empires. The argument suggests that existing studies are unable to capture the full significance of the process because they remain confined within the established borders of formal empires and concentrate principally on Asia and Africa. A much larger view is needed to relate decolonisation to a historic change in the character of globalisation. The first example, wh…
Economic Change in Pre-Colonial Africa
Informal Empire in Argentina
Andrew Thompson's review of the long-running debate on informal empire will be welcomed both by specialists, who need to be reminded from time to time that many trees do sometimes make a forest, and by teachers, who need help in guiding their students through both. The comments that follow are therefore offered in a constructive spirit that is wholly in accord with Thompson's purpose in trying to take hold of a notoriously slippery concept. My ai…
An Economic History of West Africa
The Political Economy of British Expansion Overseas, 1750-1914
Accounting for the British Empire
(1988). Accounting for the British Empire. The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History: Vol. 16, No. 2, pp. 234-247
Volta Resettlement Symposium
By 1967, when the water level reaches its maximum, the Volta dam will have created one of the largest man-made lakes in the world, thereby completing a scheme which has fascinated government officials, business men, and politicians since the early years of the century. The purpose of the symposium, which was sponsored jointly by the Volta River Authority and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, was to consider the progress made…
Economic aspects of political movements in nigeria and in the coast 1918–1939
This article attempts to contribute towards an understanding of the rise of nationalism in Nigeria and in the Gold Coast by exploring a neglected theme, namely the economic policy of political organizations in the period between the two World Wars. Before about 1918 political organizations did not have a coherent economic policy. After World War I economic problems became more important, and political parties began to take account of them by form…
The Lagos Strike of 1897
THE LAGOS STRIKE OF 1897: AN EXPLORATION IN NIGERIAN LABOUR HISTORY1 A. G. Hopkins A. G. Hopkins University of Birmingham Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar 1I should like to express my gratitude to Mr. A. Hughes and Mr. D. Rimmer for reading and greatly improving an earlier draft of this article. Neither is responsible for any errors which still remain. Author Notes Past & Present, Volume 35, Issue 1, Decemb…
The Western Sudan in the Middle Ages
Journal Article THE WESTERN SUDAN IN THE MIDDLE AGES: UNDERDEVELOPMENT IN THE EMPIRES OF THE WESTERN SUDAN Get access A. G. Hopkins A. G. Hopkins University of Birmingham Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Past & Present, Volume 37, Issue 1, July 1967, Pages 149–156, https://doi.org/10.1093/past/37.1.149 Published: 01 July 1967
Economic Imperialism in West Africa
Economic Imperialism in West Africa
History at the Universities
The Creation of a Colonial Monetary System
Yankee Traders, Old Coasters and African Middlemen. A History of American Legitimate Trade with West Africa in the Nineteenth Century
Economic Imperialism in West Africa
An Economic History of West Africa
An Economic History of West Africa
Africans and the Market
On Importing Andre Gunder Frank into Africa
An Economic History of West Africa
Rationality and Technology in African History
An Economic History of West Africa
Imperial Business in Africa Part II. Interpretations
This article, which is in two parts, aims to establish expatriate business history as a necessary and important part of modern African history. Part I surveyed approximately fifty histories of European companies in West, Central and East Africa during the colonial period and drew attention to newly-discovered and little-known records. Part II begins by assessing the quality of the studies listed in Part I, and suggests ways in which the level of …
Imperial Business in Africa Part I
This article, which is in two parts, seeks to establish expatriate business history as a necessary and important part of modern African history. Part I surveys some fifty histories of European companies in West, Central and East Africa during the colonial period, and draws attention to opportunities for research on newly-discovered or little known records. Part II will assess the scholarly quality of the studies listed here, and will formulate so…
Economic Change in Pre-Colonial Africa
An Economic History of West Africa
Colonial Development. An Econometric Study
Journal Article BIRNBERG (T. B.) and RESNICK (S. A.). Colonial Development. An Econometric Study Get access Colonial Development. An Econometric Study. By T. B. Birnberg and S. A.!Resnick. (London: Yale University Press, 1976. Pp. xiii + 347. £12.00.) A. G. Hopkins A. G. Hopkins University of Birmingham Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Volume 87, Issue 346, 1 June 1977, Pages 350–352, …
Africa and the International Economy, 1800-1960
The Imperial impact
Great Britain
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History (73 works) · Political science (66 works) · Economics (44 works) · Law (42 works) · African history and culture studies (41 works) · History (41 works) · Geography (30 works) · Sociology (26 works) · Australian History and Society (24 works) · Ancient history (22 works)