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John Holmwood
University of Nottingham
John Holmwood is emeritus professor of sociology at the University of Nottingham. His main research interests are in sociological theory (including its history), colonialism and inequality, and religion and schooling. With Gurminder K. Bhambra, he has written Colonialism and Modern Social Theory (Polity, 2021). He is an advocate of public sociology and was an expert witness for the defence in professional misconduct cases brought against Birmingham teachers following
(false) accusations that they were part of a 'plot to Islamicise schools'. He is author (with Therese O'Toole) of Countering Extremism in British Schools? The Truth about the Birmingham Trojan Horse Affair,
(Policy Press. 2018).
Talk Information:
Modern Capitalism as Colonialism
December 1, 2023 | 9:00 AM
C. B. Macpherson's account of the political theories of
Hobbes and Locke has been very influential in interpreting the theory of possessive individualism as a
precursor to modern capitalism. It is relatively straightforward to show that the theory is better understood as a direct justification of colonialism.
However, this talk will go further to suggest that the
association with modern capitalism becomes less
problematic once we understand that colonialism and
capitalism are integral. Contra most subsequent
conceptualisations which account for capitalism as only contingently related to colonialism, I argue that we should conceptualise capitalism in terms of the logics of colonialism.