The Case for Colonialism by Bruce Gilley

New English Review Press is pleased to announce the publication of our fifty-first title: The Case for Colonialism by Bruce Gilley.

“For the last hundred years, Western colonialism has had a bad name.” So began Professor Bruce Gilley’s watershed academic article, “The Case for Colonialism,” of 2017. The article sparked a global furor. Critics and defenders of Gilley’s argument battled it out in the court of public opinion. The Times of London described Gilley as “probably the academic most likely to be no-platformed in Britain.” The New York Times called him one of the “panicky white bros” who “proclaim ever more rowdily that the (white) West was, and is, best” and are “busy recyclers of Western supremacism.” In this book, Gilley responds to the critics and elaborates on the case for colonialism. The critics have no evidence for their claims, he asserts. The case for colonialism is robust no matter which colonizer or colonized area one examines. Patient, empirical, humorous, and not a little exasperated by anti-colonial ideologues, Gilley here sets a challenge for the next generation of scholars of colonialism. “It is time to make the case for colonialism again,” he writes.

Bruce Gilley’s The Case for Colonialism is, I believe, one of the most important works of history of the last fifty years. In an age of Western self-flagellation, and the loss of civilizational self-confidence, when every ill in the Third World is blamed on Western colonialism, Gilley’s courageous work is a welcome corrective. Of course, it is superbly documented, and the bibliography alone should provide much material for further studies, but Gilley also provides enough evidence and arguments for the case for colonialism. What is most compelling is that Gilley has used the memoirs of the colonized themselves, figures such as Ahmadu Bello, and Chinua Achebe, and Indian economic historians such as Tirthankar Roy, to make the case that it was “improving the lives of subject peoples through a transfer of liberal norms and impersonal governance institutions were the goals…For most colonized peoples, especially women and marginalized groups, European rule was an opportunity more than a threat.” One hopes that Bruce Gilley’s works will put the record straight after years of Western self-loathing, and that other scholars will no longer be afraid to speak the truth about the positive legacies of Western colonialism.
—Ibn Warraq, author of Why the West is Best and The Islam in Islamic Terrorism

Both those who oppose colonialism and approve of colonialism will learn something from reading this book. The Case for Colonialism is a long overdue response from this author to being attacked by a cancel culture mob when he contradicted their ideologies of “anticolonialism”’ and “decolonization.” Here Gilley replies to his critics plus delivers evidence and arguments for four propositions. That European colonialism had legitimacy. That colonialism delivered real benefits. That we should never accept the airbrushing of history by either intellectuals pushing victimhood, or by developing world ruling elites seeking to blame colonialism for contemporary failed policies. And that we should seek to recover the lessons and institutions of colonialism as one of the fixes for today’s weak and failing states. All 16 chapters are filled with insights and provocations worth engaging with, but the 3 chapters on King Leopold’s Congo, Chinua Achebe, and V.S. Naipaul are worth the price of the book on their own.
—Eric Louw, author of The Roots of the Pax Americana: Decolonization and white-Africans and The Rise, Fall and Legacy of Apartheid

Triumphant and noisy anti-colonialists are focusing on past cruelties and illegitimacy, but they still fail to make decolonization succeed. The time has come to address the colonial era as a whole and to unveil success stories and legacies that may empower those in need of development.
—Marcel Yabili is the author of Leopold II: the Genius and Builder King of Lumumba: The Greatest Fake News of All Time

Bruce Gilley was the first to speak out clearly against the “postcolonial” or “decolonizing” caricature of European empires as comprising nothing but a litany of racism, exploitation, and oppression. His brave, lonely stand, of which a full account is given here, has inspired others—myself included—to follow. Bruce always writes boldly, with both verve and intelligence. Some may find what he says provocative; open-minded readers will find it refreshingly thought-provoking. As I muttered to myself upon first reading his now (in)famous essay: “This may be dynamite, but it’s not at all stupid.” As with that essay, so with this book. Nothing less than an explosion is needed to break the illiberal grip of the reigning narrative.
—Nigel Biggar, Professor Emeritus of Moral Theology at the University of Oxford and author of Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning

Bruce Gilley is a professor of political science at Portland State University and a member of the board of the National Association of Scholars. His previous books on colonialism are The Last Imperialist and In Defense of German Colonialism.