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Builders of Empire: Freemasons and British Imperialism, 1717-1927 (2012)
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| Size | Seeds | Peers | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 584.94 MiB | 1 | 0 | 432 |
They built some of the first communal structures on the empire's frontiers. The empire's most powerful proconsuls sought entrance into their lodges. Their public rituals drew dense crowds from Montreal to Madras. The Ancient Free and Accepted Masons were quintessential builders of empire, argues Jessica Harland-Jacobs. In this first study of the relationship between Freemasonry and British imperialism, Harland-Jacobs takes readers on a journey across two centuries and five continents, demonstrating that from the moment it left Britain's shores, Freemasonry proved central to the building and cohesion of the British Empire.
The organization formally emerged in 1717 as a fraternity identified with the ideals of Enlightenment cosmopolitanism, such as universal brotherhood, sociability, tolerance, and benevolence. As Freemasonry spread to Europe, the Americas, Asia, Australasia, and Africa, the group's claims of cosmopolitan brotherhood were put to the test. Harland-Jacobs examines the brotherhood's role in diverse colonial settings and the impact of the empire on the brotherhood; in the process, she addresses issues of globalization, supranational identities, imperial power, fraternalism, and masculinity. By tracking an important, identifiable institution across the wide chronological and geographical expanse of the British Empire, Builders of Empire makes a significant contribution to transnational history as well as the history of the Freemasons and imperial Britain.
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This looks really interesting
This looks really interesting, and I think contextualizes the issue more correctly than other theories which just say things like "Freemasons/illuminati run the world!". When you look at it from the perspective you are suggesting here, it gets closer to the re-appearing mythological motifs that Joseph Campbell studied:
(1) a small set of ideas
(2) invaded the minds (ie, captured the attention) of a small number of influential men
(3) through their natural drives and personalities (captains of industry, narcissism, will to power, etc.)
(4) the ideas are set into lasting works (architecture, primarily, but also visual symbolism more generally)
(5) the unique range of Britain's "empire building" efforts seed the ideas more systematically than perhaps any other nation in modern times (possibly comparable to the widespread ideas of Mithras/tauroctony in the ancient world thanks to the empire building efforts of Rome)
(6) the centrality and durability of the works among the various cities serve to perpetuate the ideas (still limited in number, but now spread around the world, and appearing with increasing visibility)
(6) overtime, the ideas themselves capture the attention (ie, invade the minds) of the masses through mass-marketable media such as film and television
This summary hinges on one of the tenets of Joseph Campbell: ideas have energy. He says this to explain how and why certain mythological motifs appear throughout the world, viz. through much of the same process as the above, but myths depend more on the narcissism of storytellers than the Freemason ideas which seem to appeal more to Roman-cum-empire building mindsets.
Not a bad argument. Will keep thinking on this.