John Atkinson Hobson (1858 – 1940), was an English economist, social scientist and critic of imperialism, widely popular as a lecturer and writer. During the very late 19th century his notable works included Problems of Poverty (1891), Evolution of Modern Capitalism (1894), Problem of the Unemployed (1896) and John Ruskin: Social Reformer (1898).
Hobson was recruited by the editor of the newspaper The Manchester Guardian to be their South African correspondent. During his coverage of the Second Boer War, Hobson began to form the idea that imperialism was the direct result of the expanding forces of modern capitalism. He believed the mine owners, with Cecil Rhodes, who wanted control of the Transvaal, in the vanguard, were manipulating the British into fighting the Boers so that they could maximize their profits from mining. His return to England was marked by his strong condemnation of the conflict.
His publications during the next few years demonstrated an exploration of the associations between imperialism and international conflict. These works included War in South Africa (1900) and Psychology of Jingoism (1901). In what is arguably his magnum opus, Imperialism (1902), he espoused the opinion that imperial expansion is driven by a search for new markets and investment opportunities overseas. Imperialism gained Hobson an international reputation, and influenced such notable thinkers as Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky, and Hannah Arendt's The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951).
In the present book "Psychology of Jingoism" Hobson writes:
"THAT inverted patriotism whereby the love of one's own nation is transformed into the hatred of another nation, and the fierce craving to destroy the individual members of that other nation, is no new thing. . . . The quick ebullition of national hate termed Jingoism is a particular form of this primitive passion, modified and intensified by certain conditions of modern civilization. . . . In ordinary times politics plays no important part in these feasts of sensationalism, but the glorification of brute force and an ignorant contempt for foreigners are ever-present factors which at great political crises make the musichall a very serviceable engine for generating military passion.
"The object of the diagnosis in these chapters is to point, by a recent and most convincing illustration, the modus operandi of the various forces of public opinion, which are most active in the making and the maintenance of Jingoism, and to investigate the unexplored psychology of this powerful popular passion.
"In order to realize the nature of present-day Jingoism, as distinguished from the national war-spirit in earlier times, attention must be given to a complex of new industrial and social conditions which favour the growth of the passion. Foremost among these is the rapid and multifarious intercommunication of ideas rendered possible by modern methods of transport."
Contents
PART I. The Diagnosis
I. CREDULITY
II. BRUTALITY
III. CHRISTIANITY IN KHAKI
IV. VAINGLORY AND SHORTSIGHT
V. THE ECLIPSE OF HUMOUR
VI. THE INEVITABLE IN POLITICS
VII. ARE EDUCATED JINGOES HONEST?
PART II
The Manufacture of Jingoism
I. THE ABUSE OF THE PRESS
II. PLATFORM AND PULPIT
Hobson was recruited by the editor of the newspaper The Manchester Guardian to be their South African correspondent. During his coverage of the Second Boer War, Hobson began to form the idea that imperialism was the direct result of the expanding forces of modern capitalism. He believed the mine owners, with Cecil Rhodes, who wanted control of the Transvaal, in the vanguard, were manipulating the British into fighting the Boers so that they could maximize their profits from mining. His return to England was marked by his strong condemnation of the conflict.
His publications during the next few years demonstrated an exploration of the associations between imperialism and international conflict. These works included War in South Africa (1900) and Psychology of Jingoism (1901). In what is arguably his magnum opus, Imperialism (1902), he espoused the opinion that imperial expansion is driven by a search for new markets and investment opportunities overseas. Imperialism gained Hobson an international reputation, and influenced such notable thinkers as Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky, and Hannah Arendt's The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951).
In the present book "Psychology of Jingoism" Hobson writes:
"THAT inverted patriotism whereby the love of one's own nation is transformed into the hatred of another nation, and the fierce craving to destroy the individual members of that other nation, is no new thing. . . . The quick ebullition of national hate termed Jingoism is a particular form of this primitive passion, modified and intensified by certain conditions of modern civilization. . . . In ordinary times politics plays no important part in these feasts of sensationalism, but the glorification of brute force and an ignorant contempt for foreigners are ever-present factors which at great political crises make the musichall a very serviceable engine for generating military passion.
"The object of the diagnosis in these chapters is to point, by a recent and most convincing illustration, the modus operandi of the various forces of public opinion, which are most active in the making and the maintenance of Jingoism, and to investigate the unexplored psychology of this powerful popular passion.
"In order to realize the nature of present-day Jingoism, as distinguished from the national war-spirit in earlier times, attention must be given to a complex of new industrial and social conditions which favour the growth of the passion. Foremost among these is the rapid and multifarious intercommunication of ideas rendered possible by modern methods of transport."
Contents
PART I. The Diagnosis
I. CREDULITY
II. BRUTALITY
III. CHRISTIANITY IN KHAKI
IV. VAINGLORY AND SHORTSIGHT
V. THE ECLIPSE OF HUMOUR
VI. THE INEVITABLE IN POLITICS
VII. ARE EDUCATED JINGOES HONEST?
PART II
The Manufacture of Jingoism
I. THE ABUSE OF THE PRESS
II. PLATFORM AND PULPIT
