Continuing the thoughts about imperialism and Conrad, we just added a new title by Valentine Chirol, a British high imperialist, meaning he was unequivocal in his belief that “advanced” societies could uplift “primitive” societies. These pro-imperial arguments often focus on the benefits to the colonized, as opposed to the benefits to the colonizers which are certainly more obvious.  It’s interesting to realize that the term “Imperialism” itself, now so negative, was in a different time simply a descriptive if not honorific term.

This is real imperialism - an intellectual justification for the enterprise that, on the ground, is described by Conrad in Heart of Darkness and other titles. Knowing that Chirol represented the state-of-the-art intellectual support for imperialism (and its by-product, racism), Conrad seems an overt, contemporary refutation.