Talented Officials: Popular Dimensions of Anti-Colonial Imperialism

• In Event: Popular Politics and the Legacies of Empire

Abstract

This paper departs from the predominant literature in the history of political thought that often frames imperial expansion as a unidirectional, European endeavor against non-European others by turning to the imperial ambitions of nineteenth century pre-colonial East Asian actors. More specially, it examines the political thought of two pre-colonial East Asian scholar-officials—Wei Yuan (1794-1856) and Sakuma Shōzan (1811-1864)—and argues for the importance of their shared concept of “officials of talent” to their broader anti-colonial imperial efforts. While the paper acknowledges Wei’s and Sakuma’s elitist tendencies, it nevertheless argues that their turn to the concept of “officials of talent” suggests popular potentials for the anti-colonial imperial politics of their day.

Author

• Alex Haskins, University of Chicago