In this review, I examine existing literature on the nature of the relationship between colonial legacies and economic development. What the literature collectively points out is that colonialism did bring some benefits in terms of technology, peace and an access to and implantation of modern institutions. Yet little attempt was really made to make such benefits endure, and many were restricted to the colonial period. They also brought racism, discrimination, inequality (as a part of their divide and rule policy) and seriously warped many African political and economic institutions. Moreover, once the European powers left, much of what was positive was ephemeral and went into reverse while many of the negatives endured (See Bauer, Chandra,
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It finds that the density of the indigenous population and the strength of liberal elites during the period from 1700 to 1850 were critical factors linking colonial and postcolonial development. The author asserts that colonialism is related to economic development because strong liberal factions tended to be found in the more marginal territories of the empire, and these strong liberal factions were a usually necessary condition for successful economic development during the late colonial period. At the same time, the absence of strong liberals was usually sufficient to ensure a low level of economic development. Hence, the emergence of a liberal-oriented bourgeoisie during the colonial period appears to have been critical to long-run economic success in the region. In developing these arguments, the author focuses on the 15 mainland territories of the Spanish colonial empire that later became nation-states of Latin America: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. This population represents a domain of comparable cases for which one can hypothesize that …show more content…
The challenge is to identify the main dimensions of colonial transformation and to find indicators to measure the factual, real levels of impact. The next level of the project aims at developing a multidimensional measure of the impact of colonialism in order to open up new avenues for comparative research, qualitative as well as
It finds that the density of the indigenous population and the strength of liberal elites during the period from 1700 to 1850 were critical factors linking colonial and postcolonial development. The author asserts that colonialism is related to economic development because strong liberal factions tended to be found in the more marginal territories of the empire, and these strong liberal factions were a usually necessary condition for successful economic development during the late colonial period. At the same time, the absence of strong liberals was usually sufficient to ensure a low level of economic development. Hence, the emergence of a liberal-oriented bourgeoisie during the colonial period appears to have been critical to long-run economic success in the region. In developing these arguments, the author focuses on the 15 mainland territories of the Spanish colonial empire that later became nation-states of Latin America: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. This population represents a domain of comparable cases for which one can hypothesize that …show more content…
The challenge is to identify the main dimensions of colonial transformation and to find indicators to measure the factual, real levels of impact. The next level of the project aims at developing a multidimensional measure of the impact of colonialism in order to open up new avenues for comparative research, qualitative as well as