Since its establishment in April 2018, the Institute of Area Studies, Peking University (PKUIAS) has achieved remarkable results in platform construction, talent development and international exchanges under the support of the university administration. This year marks the fifth anniversary of the IAS’s establishment, and to celebrate the occasion, the institute launched a series of “Master Salon” and “Youth Salon” activities, inviting renowned scholars and young scholars from various disciplines to share their intellectual insights. The attention and participation of students and faculty members both within and outside the university are welcomed.

On the evening of May 12, the second session of the Youth Salon invited Prof. Yin Zhiguang from the School of International Relations and Public Affairs at Fudan University to speak on “Liberal Imperialism: The Partitioning of Africa by a Secret Web of Capitalist Countries.” Participating in the salon were also Associate Professor Lei Shaohua, from the School of International Studies at Peking University; tenured Associate Professor Wang Weijia, from the School of Journalism and Communication at Peking University; and Prof. Song Nianshen from the Tsinghua Institute for Advanced Study in Humanities and Social Sciences. The salon was moderated by tenured Associate Professor Zhang Yongle from the Law School at Peking University, who is also deputy director of PKUIAS.

At the beginning of the lecture, Prof. Yin Zhiguang raised several questions that he thought it would be good for the audience to think about, that is: Where is the material foundation of the world today? Where is the material foundation of Asia-Africa relations today? Where are the goals of national development in the Asian-African world headed in the future? He hoped to address these questions and, based on them, understand the Asian-African community and grasp the formation of the modern world through Asian-African activities. To interpret these questions, he focused on exploring the context of the development of the Boer War and liberal imperialism. Per Prof. Yin Zhiguang, the Boer War has had a significant and profound impact on the present world. Discussion of the Boer War does not start from the war itself but from the crucial point of 1880. Before 1880, the African continent was primarily colonized in its coastal regions. The convening of the Berlin Conference in 1880 ultimately led to the partitioning and colonization of all of Africa.

To explain the global significance of the Boer War, Yin Zhiguang first analyzed the concept of imperialism around 1880, starting with the biography of the British explorer Mary Kingsley. Mary Kingsley’s life was closely intertwined with Africa and the fate of the British Empire. She was a staunch imperialist who, on one hand, advocated the necessity and importance of British overseas expansion, and on the other hand, advocated for the protection of African tribal cultures and indigenous religions, criticizing the Christian missionaries in Africa. She argued for an “indirect” influence on Africa through commerce and technology. Her complex attitude, in fact, already had shades of 20th-century cultural relativism.

Kingsley’s story illustrates one of the characteristics of the imperialist ideas that emerged in the heartland of the capitalist global system. It was a retrograde product of imperial political change. We can use a political-economic perspective to closely examine the concept of “imperialism” as a reason for empire. As early as 1584, when Richard Hakluyt pitched his colonial plan for the Americas to Queen Elizabeth I, one of the important reasons he listed was that commercial expansion itself could serve as a vehicle for the spread of the Christian Gospel. This attitude of adding universal moral values to profit-driven commerce runs through the entire narrative of British imperial rationale. However, in the mid- to late 19th century, the emergence of other newly industrialized countries in Europe challenged this narrative. The narrative of commerce as a carrier of civilization could only serve as a reason for imperial expansion when there were no competing rivals capable of matching it. However, once faced with challenges, a more universal narrative under the guise of manifest destiny had to be invented to prove that Britain was more capable of carrying out the expansion of global leadership for the progress of human civilization than other challengers.

Prof. Yin Zhiguang took Kingsley’s two expeditions to the Congo River as an example to explore the appearance and essence of liberal imperialism. Mary Kingsley emphasized that the British Empire was more benevolent and egalitarian, which she said was reflected in the fact that, besides promoting commercial colonization, the British Empire also “respected” the “freedom” of Africa. However, its essence remained a painful, exploitative imperialist and colonial system, with its core objective being the gradual assimilation of Africa into the British Empire. Per Yin Zhiguang, the so-called liberal imperialism was a colonial and exploitative system coordinated by the British government and British merchants, with its capital accumulation model relying on structural inequality, and the underlying logic being a zero-sum game that only benefited the colonial metropolis. In the latter half of the 19th century, as exploitation of the domestic labor force in Britain approached saturation, the focus shifted to exporting exploitation and inequality abroad.

The story of Kingsley’s exploration of Africa is part of the overall history of the partition of Africa in the late 19th century. Another issue addressed in Prof. Yin Zhiguang’s lecture was why the partition of Africa became a reality at this historical moment. In fact, this question can also be linked to the changes in the imperial rationale in the late 19th century. Starting from the 1870s, Britain began to face internal economic crises. At the same time, other European countries, such as France and Prussia, also embarked on industrialization and, in the process, pursued the construction of modern nation-states. The urgent need for industrialization and nation-building led these countries to compete for global space. Their needs, combined with the conditions brought about by technological advancements, made it possible in the 1880s for European nations to partition Africa. Accompanying this process was the construction of an imperial rationale centered around nation and race—that is, the civilizing mission.

The narrative of imperial rationale based on the superiority of nation and race suffered a tremendous blow after the Boer War. The Boer War was a war between British colonizers and the descendants of Dutch and French colonists in South Africa, and the origin of the war was conflict over the region’s mineral resources. Prof. Yin Zhiguang referred to this war as the first modern industrial “global” war. At the same time, this war between white people, due to the rapid progress in communication technology, allowed Europeans thousands of miles away to see and read news about the war in a timely way. This close connection, in turn, influenced the understanding of imperial violence within Europe, which further prompted critics such as John A. Hobson to critique imperialism from a liberal-left perspective and seek to pursue a “rational imperialism.” A series of subsequent events led to a transformation in imperial policies globally after World War I, with regions such as Asia, Africa, and the Americas being profoundly affected by the formal implementation of the “mandate” system.

Associate Professor Zhang Yongle briefly commented on Prof. Yin Zhiguang’s lecture and discussed the influence of the hierarchical order of colonialism in modern China, as well as the significance of World War I. Associate Professor Wang Weijia discussed the “dual mission” of the British in African colonies, the significance of 1880 and Britain’s economic development and nationalism, and the differences in investment between China and the British Empire in Africa. Prof. Song Nianshen started from the 500 years of the history of European colonization and analyzed why Britain chose to colonize Africa during this period. Furthermore, per Prof. Song Nianshen, European colonizers established a discourse of civilization-barbarism, which extended to the present-day dichotomy between democracy and autocracy. Associate Professor Lei Shaohua shared insights from his own research and talked about the dominance of democratic peace theory and liberal discourse after the end of the Cold War, the essence of which is still the global expansion of the capitalist production system. He stated his belief that building a community with a shared future for humanity could be a remedy for overcoming imperialism, colonialism, and capitalist hierarchy. Students attending the lecture asked questions about the relationship between international competition and the establishment of a common community, and Prof. Yin Zhiguang provided detailed answers.

The Youth Salon not only broadens the horizons of the attending students but also integrates the showcasing of research, academic discussion, and interactive Q&A sessions, reflecting its open and inclusive nature. This salon provided the teachers and students in the audience with a deeper and more comprehensive and multi-dimensional understanding of the Boer War, liberal imperialism, and British colonial history.