Post #7

Capitalism and the West
Reading
Colony and Empire: The Capitalist Transformation of the American West by William G. Robbins

In this reading, William Robbins presents yet another analytical framework through which one can view and analyze the development of the American West. Robbins presents the development of the West, past and present, upon a foundation of Capitalism. Though this was a particularly challenging read, I found that Robbins puts forward a view of the West as the colony of capital that is necessary, at some level, to completely understand the development of the West.

I believe that Robbins strength is his ability to present Capitalist exploitation of the West as a broad theme working throughout its history. In fact, as Dr. Petrik has pointed out, this is a theme that has largely been overlooked by Western historiography. Therefore on some level, I do agree with his statement that, “In essence, history written ‘from the bottom up’ is limited when it ignores larger constellations of power.” (Robbins 8) Social history can easily fall into the trap of focusing upon the minutia. However, I do not believe that it can be abandoned completely for simply a more grandiose vision that in turn focuses on the forest, or maybe more specifically the workings of nature that produce that forest, while forgetting there are individual trees.

That said, I believe that Robbins work is absolutely vital to understanding the development of the West. While I would hate to be labeled the resident Marxist historian, Robbins argument does present invaluable insight into the Capitalist system that clearly played a major role in the development of the West. To dismiss that based upon a bias against Marxist historiography would be a mistake. I doubt that many would argue that the economic and subsequent political systems of mercantilism and colonialism played an overarching role in the development of the American colonies and the resulting revolution. One clearly must understand the systems that those in power are using to interact, control, and govern those with less power. It seems to be a very similar situation with Capitalism in the development of the West. It clearly played a large role as Robbins demonstrates. This role should not be undermined just as it should not be imposed as the sole factor in Western development.

The West is not a simply defined subject, as we have learned throughout this class. Capitalist development is a major theme in defining the West, but it cannot stand alone. Robbins provides invaluable insights, but most importantly he reminds the reader to look at themes that run throughout the history of the West. He reminds us of the unquestionable influence of Capitalism as one of those themes.