Imperial Modernity: history and global inequity in rising Asia

In the recently generalised historical coincidence of neoliberal free-market policy trends with accelerating global economic growth and inequality, India and China stand out as world regions with distinctive histories of imperial inequity. The rise of Asia shows that globalisation does not work the same way everywhere. In Asia historical dynamics of imperial territorialism generate inequities that fit global patterns through their absorption and mediation of capitalism. Economic reforms that brought Asia into global leadership ranks express imperial forms of power, authority, and inequity whose long histories need to be understood to make sense of Asia and global capitalism today. This article focuses particularly on India.