Premium
MICHAEL HECHTER'S INTERNAL COLONIAL THESIS: SOME THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL PROBLEMS *
Author(s) -
PAGE EDWARD
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
european journal of political research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.267
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1475-6765
pISSN - 0304-4130
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-6765.1978.tb01262.x
Subject(s) - colonialism , construct (python library) , positive economics , epistemology , inequality , contrast (vision) , sociology , political science , law , economics , philosophy , mathematics , computer science , artificial intelligence , programming language , mathematical analysis
Hechter's model of internal colonialism provides a new and refreshing insight into the development of the United Kingdom. It is to be hoped that Hechter's analysis will prompt further studies of the nature of regional inequalities not only in the British Isles but also in other developed polities. There are, however, certain criticisms which must be met before the model can be accepted as giving an adequate account of regional differences within the United Kingdom and as providing a basis for comparative research. These criticisms are related to the ability of internal colonialism as a theoretical construct to relate diverse forms of regional differences to an underlying pattern of inequality; internal colonialism as a contrast to prevailing explanations of development; the methods used to test the theory; and the problem of how far the internal colonial approach is able to explain the apparently high degree of regional homogeneity in terms of electoral support in the 1950s and early 1960s.