"These Wars that Devour Us:" Anti-Colonialism and the Partido Socialista Obrero Español , 1886-1909.
Ehrlich, Matthew.
2015
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Abstract: This thesis analyzes how the Partido Socialista Obrero Español utilized criticism of colonialism to express its alternative visions of Spain, in the process of defining simplified but compelling alternative proletarian identities. The period from 1889-1909 saw the height of European imperialism. The Spanish colonial experience in that era, by contrast, proved disastrous and debilitating. ... read moreSpanish colonialism was tied to the efforts of the small ruling elite to effectuate a nation-building process that would economically modernize the country and consolidate a centralized, stable state. Colonial failures- notably, the loss of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines in 1898, and costly, prolonged conflicts in Morocco in the early twentieth century exposed the fragility of their project, causing immense economic, political, and cultural dislocations. Competing ideologies arose to challenge the system and vie for control of Spain's future. The key formative years of the PSOE coincided with this period in which colonial questions were at the forefront of "the Spanish Crisis." Spanish Socialists developed a distinct anti-colonial ideology as a central component of their political and intellectual conceptualization. Critically assessing contemporary and historical colonial processes, they compared working-class experiences in the metropole to those of oppressed peoples in the peripheries. The common unifying factor was exploitation by the Spanish bourgeoisie. By contextualizing broader socio-political tensions influencing the evolution of this multifaceted discourse, I reevaluate earlier interpretations of Spanish anti-colonialism as superficial, arguing instead that opposition to colonialism played a key role in forming Socialist identities -with important repercussions for their historical development.
Thesis (M.A.)--Tufts University, 2015.
Submitted to the Dept. of History.
Advisor: Christopher Schmidt-Nowara.
Committee: Elizabeth Foster, and Lisa Lowe.
Keywords: History, and Modern history.read less - ID:
- xs55mq383
- Component ID:
- tufts:21405
- To Cite:
- TARC Citation Guide EndNote
