climates. Weaponry made possible the incorporation of communities with
which the Europeans had formerly only traded into imperial systems of
political control. However, the question of why the Europeans wanted to use
their technological advantage in this way remains. Unless technological
determinism – that once a more advanced society encounters a less
advanced one it will inevitably be driven to enlarge the area of contact by the
sheer force of its technological advantage – is accepted, the question of why
technology should have been put to the use that it was needs an answer. The
technological advantage argument is closely related to the self-justification
which the Europeans themselves produced to defend what they were doing,
the domination of one community by another.
Varieties of colonial intervention
The imperialist impulse produced a complex pattern of colonial intervention
in the world’s pre-industrial societies. In addition to the varying balance of
economic, strategic and diplomatic interests, and cultural expansionism
prompted by a confidence in the superiority of Western civilization, there
were highly variable local factors that conditioned the impact of European
intervention. These included material conditions and the different political
organizations encountered when the decision was taken to move from a
purely commercial relationship with pre-industrial societies to their political
incorporation into an imperial structure.
Nor did the European powers promote their cultures in the same way and
to the same degree. It is possible to contrast the approaches of the British and
French or Portuguese to their imperial possessions. Britain’s approach to the
dissemination of its culture was far more pragmatic than some of its conti-
nental neighbours, in that it sought to preserve indigenous cultures, values
and social structures where it suited the colonial power politically to do so. It
was possible for British imperialists to talk at one and the same time about
the great benefits to their colonial dependencies of the liberties that followed
the flag, while at the same time respecting and reinforcing caste and feudal-
ism. Britain’s need for political control and the maintenance of stability was
consistent with the preservation of indigenous practices. In many parts of
West Africa, for example, with the exception of inhuman punishments for
criminal offences defined according to local customary law, existing customs
and laws were left intact. It was far easier to keep a population quiescent
when it was partly governed by its own institutions, laws and customs,
although ultimately subject to the local representatives of the British Crown.
36 Understanding Third World Politics