1. Theories of Educational imperialism
Ben Justice 11.2009
Theory Description Pros Cons
Christian
Missionary/Millennialism
Christian groups need to “save”
the souls of non-believers,
which motivates church and
secular leaders, as well as
missionaries, to educate
imperial subjects. (Some
Christian scholars would argue
that God may even favor this
work.)
A powerful personal motivation
for individual actors. Strong
evidence for religious factor in
early British empire, and fusion
of Protestantism and
nationalism in 19th
c. America
Relatively weak for 20th and
21st
c. Does not explain
lackluster efforts in earlier
centuries, nor does it account
for other motives (esp.
economic ones).
Jeffersonian Republicanism/
Political Enlightenment
Anti-colonial imperialism
requires an enlightened
citizenry. Lack of virtue and
knowledge caused the downfall
of previous empires. Education
provides social stability and a
foil to demagoguery. The
America empire is the highest
stage of human history.
Captures the rhetoric of
American political leaders and
school reformers from the late
18th
century to today. All
modern governments offer
schools to legitimate them by
creating the social category
“citizen.”
What about formal education
that discourages democratic or
republican thought? Formal
education can lead people to
accept, as well as challenge
political and social inequality.
What about economic and
religious motives that transcend
the state interest?
Global Security/
Social Control
Empires encourage formal
education to teach children to
accept imperial control.
Empires require stability at the
margins to maintain expansion.
This argument cuts across the
centuries and explains imperial
education in times of war.
What about times of peace?
Security for whom (imperial
interests are not uniform in
some cases). People (including
children) do not passively
accept the education they
receive.
White Supremacy The perception of white Racism is clearly evident in Race theories sometimes

2. supremacy is buttressed by the
educator/educated formulation.
Theories of racial inferiority
justify imperial expansion, and
offering formal education in
exchange for subjugation
provides intellectual and legal
legitimacy.
each of the case studies.
Throughout the 19th
and 20th
centuries, school curricula were
explicitly racist… creating an
imperial ideology that rested on
white supremacy.
undercut efforts at imperial
expansion, or even embarrassed
American propaganda efforts
vis a vis other empires (e.g. the
Cold War context of the Civil
Rights Movement).
Race is a moving target.
Liberal Economic
Leninist/
Cultural Imperialism
Post-Modern
Cultural Studies