"Developed/underdeveloped," "first world/third world," "modern/traditional" - although there is nothing inevitable, natural, or arguably even useful about such divisions, they are widely accepted as legitimate ways to categorize regions and peoples of the world. In Imperial Encounters, Roxanne Lynn Doty looks at the way these kinds of labels influence North-South relations, reflecting a history of colonialism and shaping the way national identity is constructed today.

Employing a critical, poststructuralist perspective, Doty examines two "imperial encounters" over time: between the United States and the Philippines and between Great Britain and Kenya. The history of these two relationships demonstrates that not only is the more powerful member allowed to construct "reality," but this construction of reality bears an important relationship to actual practice.

Doty considers the persistence of representational practices, particularly with regard to Northern views of human rights in the South and contemporary social science discourses on North-South relations. Important and timely, Imperial Encounters brings a fresh perspective to the debate over the past - and the future - of global politics.