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 globalization they experienced. The Innu, a hunting and fishing people who inhabit the icy terrain of Labrador, were formally part of Canada and hence of the British empire. During the imperial period, however, their remoteness protected them from invasion, devastation, or informal acculturation. By contrast, the kingdom of Klungung succumbed to military action in1908, when the Dutch incorporated the state and the island. Bali, however, was not transformed by foreign plantations or mines. The Dutch applied a policy of creative indirect rule, whereby Bali was not merely preserved but had its presumed traditions invented and enhanced. When independence came to Indonesia, Bali was ideally placed to take advantage of one of the key industries of post-colonial globalisation: tourism. The Innu were not so fortunate. As Canada became fully independent in the second half of the twentieth century, technical advances made it possible to ‘open up’ the forbidding northern regions of the country. The result, for the Innu, was the destruction of their way of life and compulsory relocation. As Bali dealt with the ambiguous benefits of tourism, the Innu succumbed to a combination of alcoholism and suicide. A full understanding of the effects of colonial rule requires that the policies of the imperial powers be related to specific phases of globalization.

Globalization · Political science · Globalization and Cultural Identity · History · Law · World Systems and Global Transformations