布爾戰爭對霍布森帝國主義理論的影響

Abstract

本論文的目標，乃欲闡明霍布森在第二次布爾戰爭(1899-1902)中的經驗，與他著作的反布爾戰爭作品，如何影響他的《帝國主義》一書。約翰•阿特金森•霍布森(1858-1940)最知名的作品《帝國主義：一份研究》(1902)，分析西方先進國家帝國主義擴張行徑背後的資本主義動機，並批判帝國主義對受壓迫殖民地與帝國本身在政治與經濟上的傷害。由於《帝國主義》一書最早出版於1902年，即為第二次布爾戰爭結束的同一年，許多《帝國主義》中的論點，尚可追溯到霍布森的反戰作品中，如《在南非的戰爭：原因與效應》(1900)，與《好戰主義心理學》(1901)。霍布森在《帝國主義》中對帝國主義擴張背後的資本主義勢力的論證，乃遵循他在上述兩部反布爾戰爭著作中，分析南非資本家、英國政府與英國媒體關係的論述邏輯。這表示霍布森在南非的採訪經驗與研究，對他的帝國主義與資本主義理論的成形大有影響。經由比較霍布森的反戰著作與《帝國主義》，我們得以更加了解霍布森帝國主義理論的歷史脈絡，以及十九世紀晚期自由主義思想的轉型過程。

This thesis aimed to illustrates how John Atkinson Hobson (1858-1940)’s experience in the Second South African War (also noted as the Second Boer War) and his anti-Boer War work had influenced Imperialism: A Study. Hobson’s most famous work, Imperialism: A Study, analyzes the capitalistic motive behind imperialistic expansion of western advanced nations, and criticizes the damage that imperialism has brought upon the oppressed colonies and the empire itself. Since Imperialism was published first in 1902, when the Second Boer War ended, many of the arguments in Imperialism could still be traced back to John A. Hobson’s own anti-Boer War work, like The War in South Africa: Its Causes and Effects (1900) and The Psychology of Jingoism (1901). Hobson’s demonstration of the capitalistic forces behind the imperialistic expansion in Imperialism is following his discourse on the relation between South African capitalists, British government and British media in the other two books The War in South Africa and The Psychology of Jingoism. This implies Hobson’s experience and investigation in South Africa during the Boer War, has had greatly affected the formation of his theory on imperialism and capitalism. By comparing Hobson’s works on the Boer War and Imperialism, we can acquire a better understanding of the historical context of Hobson’s theory of imperialism and the transformation of liberalism in late nineteenth century.