【Public Forum of Yushan Scholar, Dr. Harry Harding】The Complex Legacies of Fallen Empires: from Rome to Britain and from Russia to China
Date :
2024-10-01
Department :
International Doctoral Program in Asia-Pacific Studies
【Public Forum of Yushan Scholar, Dr. Harry Harding】The Complex Legacies of Fallen Empires: from Rome to Britain and from Russia to China
Topic: The Complex Legacies of Fallen Empires: from Rome to Britain and from Russia to China
Time: 12:00~14:00, October 17, 2024
Venue: Conference Room I (Room 271338), 13 F., South Wing, General Building of Colleges, NCCU
Speaker: Dr. Harry Harding (Yushan Scholar and University Chair Professor, College of Social Sciences, NCCU)
Host: Dr. Philip Hsiaopong Liu (Associate Dean of CSS & Director of IMAS)
Registration: https://reurl.cc/E6a3zg
Abstract:
Historians have long been fascinated by the rise and fall of empires, by the tragedy of their demise, and by the complex legacy they left. Most authors have focused on the conditions that promoted the rise of formal and informal empires, on the factors that led to their slow decline or sudden collapse or, in a few intriguing cases, their successful evolution into something more sustainable. Other books focus on the impact of empires on the international system in which they rose and fell. Until recently, few have considered the impact and legacy of empires on societies. Now, that question has become a central focus of research and commentary, with most writers, especially from the Global South, condemning the negative impacts that the “ghosts of empires” have had on both rulers and subjects, with a few coming to empires’ defense by presenting, as one author put it, “The Case for Colonialism.” Still relatively unexplored is the longer-term effect of empires on the global and regional systems that they once dominated. That will be the focus of my lecture, drawing on examples that include the Roman and British empires, the Russian and Soviet imperial architectures, China and America. Like the rise and fall of the empires themselves, this story is a complex one that brings together some great achievements of humankind along with some of its worst excesses. Today, my argument will be that the most positive legacies of empires have been in the arts and sciences, while the most problematic have been the economic and political consequences of their domination. Among them, the most dangerous is the irredentist territorial claims that the fall of empires has often generated. Above all, both the rise and fall of empires have created an enduring sense of grievance and humiliation, among both the citizens of the imperial powers and the colonial subjects they governed.
Topic: The Complex Legacies of Fallen Empires: from Rome to Britain and from Russia to China
Time: 12:00~14:00, October 17, 2024
Venue: Conference Room I (Room 271338), 13 F., South Wing, General Building of Colleges, NCCU
Speaker: Dr. Harry Harding (Yushan Scholar and University Chair Professor, College of Social Sciences, NCCU)
Host: Dr. Philip Hsiaopong Liu (Associate Dean of CSS & Director of IMAS)
Registration: https://reurl.cc/E6a3zg
Abstract:
Historians have long been fascinated by the rise and fall of empires, by the tragedy of their demise, and by the complex legacy they left. Most authors have focused on the conditions that promoted the rise of formal and informal empires, on the factors that led to their slow decline or sudden collapse or, in a few intriguing cases, their successful evolution into something more sustainable. Other books focus on the impact of empires on the international system in which they rose and fell. Until recently, few have considered the impact and legacy of empires on societies. Now, that question has become a central focus of research and commentary, with most writers, especially from the Global South, condemning the negative impacts that the “ghosts of empires” have had on both rulers and subjects, with a few coming to empires’ defense by presenting, as one author put it, “The Case for Colonialism.” Still relatively unexplored is the longer-term effect of empires on the global and regional systems that they once dominated. That will be the focus of my lecture, drawing on examples that include the Roman and British empires, the Russian and Soviet imperial architectures, China and America. Like the rise and fall of the empires themselves, this story is a complex one that brings together some great achievements of humankind along with some of its worst excesses. Today, my argument will be that the most positive legacies of empires have been in the arts and sciences, while the most problematic have been the economic and political consequences of their domination. Among them, the most dangerous is the irredentist territorial claims that the fall of empires has often generated. Above all, both the rise and fall of empires have created an enduring sense of grievance and humiliation, among both the citizens of the imperial powers and the colonial subjects they governed.