John A. Hobson - Criticism

Criticism

Later historians would attack Hobson, and the Marxist theories of imperialism he influenced. Notably, John Gallagher and Ronald Robinson in their 1953 article The Imperialism of Free Trade would argue that Hobson placed too much emphasis on the role of formal empire and directly ruled colonial possessions, not taking into account the significance of trading power, political influence and informal imperialism. They also argued that the difference in British foreign policy that Hobson observed between the mid-Victorian indifference to empire that accompanied free market economics, and the later high imperialism seen after 1870, was not a reality.

P.J. Cain and A.G.Hopkins, writing in the 1980s attacked Hobson's focus on industrial capitalism as the driving force of imperialism. They advanced the theory of 'gentlemanly capitalism', arguing that the traditional landed aristocracy was responsible for the growth of the early, mercantilist empire, and controlled later imperialism with their domination of capital and through financial institutions in the City of London. In their view, Hobson placed too much emphasis on the industrial revolution in relation to Imperialism, failing to explain earlier European expansion.