The Imperial Present: Geography, Imperialism, and its Continued Effects

Abstract

The era of formal imperialism and colonial expansion may be over but its political economies, its hegemonic knowledges, and its composite array of prevailing and hybrid cultures remain. This chapter reflects on this imperial present by exploring some focal themes and theoretical concerns of geographers working on imperialism today. It begins by sketching the development of “postcolonialism,” arguably the most important theoretical and political influence in geography in recent years that has both extended and renewed critical engagements with imperialism, past and present. It outlines a number of these key engagements, including the focus on the various functions and legacies of imperial discourse, the import of decentering hegemonic imperial geographical knowledges, and the problem of positionality and representation in geo-graphing the complexities and contradictions of imperialism's myriad overlapping worlds. The chapter then addresses the critical challenge of theorizing resistance, before outlining the enduring imperial modalities of power operative in contemporary moment.

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