Difference between revisions of "Comprador"

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|description=Term for the natives of a colonized land that are "bought" by the colonizers; a relatively privileged, wealthy and educated elite, who derive their position and status from connection to foreign [[corporations]], and who may therefore be less inclined to struggle for local cultural and political independence.
A '''comprador''' or '''compradore''' is a "person who acts as an agent for foreign organizations engaged in investment, trade, or economic or political exploitation".<ref> name="Oxford">cite web|title=comprador|url=https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/comprador|website=oxforddictionaries.com|publisher=OXford University Press|access-date=28 January 2017</ref> A comprador is a [[Indigenous peoples|native]] manager for a [[Europe]]an business house in [[East Asia|East]] and [[South East Asia]], and, by extension, social groups that play broadly similar roles in other parts of the world.
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}}''See also [[globalism]], [[transnational deep state]]''
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A '''comprador class''' is a term for the natives of a colonized land that are "bought" by the colonizers. The comprador class are the members of a national business class of senior [[corporate managers]], a relatively privileged, wealthy and educated elite, who derive their position and status from connection to foreign [[corporations]] of stronger nations, and who may therefore be less inclined to struggle for local cultural and political independence.<ref>https://www.eajournals.org/wp-content/uploads/An-Analysis-of-the-Role-of-Comprador-Class-A-Neo-Colonial-Study-of-a-Case-of-Exploding-Mangoes-by-Hanif.pdf</ref>
  
In [[Marxism]], the term <i>comprador [[bourgeoisie]]</i><ref>[[Mao Zedong]]; Michael Y. M. Kau, John K. Leung (eds.) [https://books.google.com/books?id=ftv7ks-Ehq0C&pg=PA136 ''The Writings of Mao Zedong - Volume II 1949-1976: January 1956-December 1957'']. M.E. Sharpe, 1992, p. 136</ref><ref>[[Mao Zedong]]. [https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-1/mswv1_1.htm "Analysis if the classes in Chinese Society"]. [[Marxists.org]].</ref><ref>[[Slobodan Antonić]]: [http://www.nspm.rs/politicki-zivot/kompradori.html Компрадори]</ref><ref>Cite book |title=History of the Russian Revolution|author=Trotsky, Leon|author-link=Leon Trotsky|url=https://www.marxists.org/ebooks/trotsky/history-of-the-russian-revolution/ebook-history-of-the-russian-revolution-v1.pdf|isbn=978-1931859-45-5|year=2008|pages=13–14</ref> usually refers to the segment of the bourgeoisie of an oppressed nation that has material interests in common with the [[imperialism|imperialist bourgeoisie]]. This is in contrast to the <i>[[national bourgeoisie]]</i>, who can at times play a progressive role in national liberation. These class divisions speak to the inconsistent nature of the bourgeoisie of an oppressed nation: in some instances, material interests align with the imperialists and continued colonial/neocolonial relations, while in other instances, material interests align with that o the proletariat, petty bourgeoisie, and peasants, i.e. independence, national liberation and a break from an imperialist relation.
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A '''comprador''' is a "person who acts as an agent for foreign organizations engaged in investment, trade, or economic or political exploitation".<ref name="Oxford">https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/comprador</ref>
  
==Etymology==
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==History==
The term ''comprador'', a [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] word that means ''buyer'', derives  from the [[Latin]] ''comprare'', which means ''to procure''.<ref> name=1911brit>Cite EB1911|wstitle=Comprador|volume=6</ref> The original usage of the word in East Asia meant a native servant in European households in [[Guangzhou]] in southern [[China]] or the neighboring [[Portugal|Portuguese]] [[colony]] at [[Macao]] that went to market to [[barter]] their employers' wares.<ref> name=1911brit</ref><ref> name=Bergere>cite book |last= Bergere |first= Marie-Clarie |title= The Golden Age of the Chinese Bourgeoisie 1911-1937 |year= 1989 |publisher= [[Cambridge University Press]] |location= [[Cambridge]] |id= 0521320542 |pages= [https://archive.org/details/goldenageofchine0000berg/page/38 38–39] |isbn= 978-0521320542 |url= https://archive.org/details/goldenageofchine0000berg/page/38 </ref>  The term then evolved to mean the native contract suppliers who worked for foreign companies in East Asia or the native managers of firms in East Asia.<ref>name=1911brit</ref><ref> name=Bergere/> Compradors held important positions in southern China buying and selling tea, silk, cotton and [[yarn]] for foreign corporations and working in foreign-owned [[bank]]s.</ref><ref> name=Bergere/> [[Robert Hotung]], a late-nineteenth-century compradore of the British-owned [[Hong (business)|trading conglomerate]] [[History of Jardine, Matheson & Co.|Jardine, Matheson & Co.]] was believed to be the richest man in Hong Kong by the age of 35.</ref><ref>Cite book |title=A Modern History of Hong Kong|first1=Steve|last1=Tsang|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7JC856mG72EC&q=Tsang%2C+Steve+%282007%29.+A+Modern+History+of+Hong+Kong.|publisher=I. B. Taurus & Company|isbn=978-1-84511-419-0|year=2007</ref> [[Li & Fung]] partly functioned as a Canton comprador in its early stages.
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The original usage of the word in East Asia meant a native servant in European households in [[Guangzhou]] in southern [[China]] or the neighboring [[Portuguese]] colony at Macao that went to market to barter their employers' wares. The term then evolved to mean the native contract suppliers who worked for foreign companies in [[East Asia]] or the native managers of firms in East Asia.  
  
With the emergence or the re-emergence of [[globalization]], the term "comprador" has reentered the lexicon to denote trading groups and classes in the [[developing world]] in subordinate but mutually-advantageous relationships with metropolitan capital. The Egyptian Marxist [[Samir Amin]] has discussed the role of compradors in the contemporary global economy in his recent work.<ref>Amin, Samir (2011). [https://unu.edu/publications/books/maldevelopment-anatomy-of-a-global-failure.html ''Maldevelopment: Anatomy of a Global Failure''], Pambazuka Press, Oxford. ISBN|1906387796.</ref> In addition, the Indian economist [[Ashok Mitra]] has accused the owners and managers of firms attached to the [[information technology in India|Indian software industry]] of being compradors.<ref>Mitra, Ashok. [http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070427/asp/opinion/story_7700976.asp " Hour of the Comprador'']. ''The Telegraph'', Kolkata, 27 April 2007.</ref> Growing identification of the software industry in India with comprador "qualities" has led to the labeling of certain persons associated with the industry as "dot.compradors."<ref>Saraswati, Jyoti (2012). [https://www.amazon.com/Dot-compradors-Development-Software-Political-Paperback/dp/074533265X ''Dot.compradors: Power and Policy in the Development of the Indian Software Industry''], Pluto Press, London. ISBN|9780745332659.</ref><ref>Cite book|title=The Emergence Of A Chinese Elite In Hong Kong|author=Carl Smith|author-link=Carl T. Smith|url=https://www.hkupress.hku.hk/pro/con/107.pdf|isbn=978-962-209-688-2|year=2005|pages=1|access-date=2018-09-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180911081841/https://www.hkupress.hku.hk/pro/con/107.pdf|archive-date=2018-09-11|url-status=dead</ref>
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[[Robert Hotung]], a late-nineteenth-century comprador of the trading conglomerate [[Jardine, Matheson & Co]]. was believed to be the richest man in [[Hong Kong]] by the age of 35.<ref>sang, Steve (2007). A Modern History of Hong Kong. I. B. Taurus & Company. ISBN 978-1-84511-419-0</ref>
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==Latin America==
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In [[Latin America]], the US deep state has worked hard to co-opt these people, whether they be businessmen, academics, military, security services or the judiciary. Together these represent a [[parallel power structure]] to the official state structures that remains in place across democratically elected administrations.<ref>https://rogerboyd.substack.com/p/the-latin-american-comprador-ruling</ref>  
  
 
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==References==
 
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Latest revision as of 02:24, 22 April 2023

Concept.png Comprador Rdf-entity.pngRdf-icon.png
Term for the natives of a colonized land that are "bought" by the colonizers; a relatively privileged, wealthy and educated elite, who derive their position and status from connection to foreign corporations, and who may therefore be less inclined to struggle for local cultural and political independence.

See also globalism, transnational deep state

A comprador class is a term for the natives of a colonized land that are "bought" by the colonizers. The comprador class are the members of a national business class of senior corporate managers, a relatively privileged, wealthy and educated elite, who derive their position and status from connection to foreign corporations of stronger nations, and who may therefore be less inclined to struggle for local cultural and political independence.[1]

A comprador is a "person who acts as an agent for foreign organizations engaged in investment, trade, or economic or political exploitation".[2]

History

The original usage of the word in East Asia meant a native servant in European households in Guangzhou in southern China or the neighboring Portuguese colony at Macao that went to market to barter their employers' wares. The term then evolved to mean the native contract suppliers who worked for foreign companies in East Asia or the native managers of firms in East Asia.

Robert Hotung, a late-nineteenth-century comprador of the trading conglomerate Jardine, Matheson & Co. was believed to be the richest man in Hong Kong by the age of 35.[3]

Latin America

In Latin America, the US deep state has worked hard to co-opt these people, whether they be businessmen, academics, military, security services or the judiciary. Together these represent a parallel power structure to the official state structures that remains in place across democratically elected administrations.[4]


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