ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the role imperialism can play in the integration of excluded status groups, particularly cultural minorities, into the national society. It is evident that imperialism might appeal to lower status groups in the metropolis on basically two different grounds. A concern for economic advantage may lead to favorable attitudes towards imperialism among those groups directly benefiting from such policies. This would include individuals in certain export sectors, as well as those who might take advantage of employment opportunities in the colonial civil service or military establishment. Secondly, imperialism may serve indirectly to expiate some of the inferiority associated with peripheral social origins; it may give individuals from disadvantaged groups the first opportunity to escape from a self-assessment as victim to one as conqueror. The chapter illustrates the themes in the Celtic territories using the data for the years 1885–1924 supplemented by materials from secondary sources.
