Massachusetts' Imperialist Landscape

Date published: June 3, 2022

"I have come to the conclusion that imperialism and exploitation are forms of cannibalism and, in fact, are precisely those forms of cannibalism which are most diabolical or evil."
–Jack Forbes, Columbus and Other Cannibals

"Cannibalism," as writer Jack Forbes (Powhatan-Renapé/Delaware-Lenápe) defined it, "is the consuming of another's life for one’s own private purpose or profit."

As Forbes writes, European colonization brought this form of cannibalism to Turtle Island, and American imperialism has continued to cannibalize lives ever since.

This cannibalistic enterprise requires land. On the colonized land known as "Massachusetts," we find a dense network of centers that support US imperialism.

As part of the Mapping Project, we developed maps to visualize some elements of this imperialist landscape.

Massachusetts is home to weapons developers and US military bases

Map of weapons developers, weapons research laboratories, and US military bases in Massachusetts. — Map of weapons developers and weapons research laboratories (light green) and US military bases (light blue) in Massachusetts.

Massachusetts is filled with entities doing the work of US empire

The red dots show entities that received funding from US Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as of 2021. The larger, darker red dots indicate entities that received very large sums from DoD and/or DHS.

Map of entities funded by US Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS), with active funding as of 2021, shown in red dots. The larger, darker red dots indicate entities that received very large sums (over $1M and in larger size, over $1B) from DoD and/or DHS. — Entities funded by US Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which have active contracts/awards in 2021, shown in red dots. The larger, darker red dots indicate entities that received very large sums (over $1M and in larger size, over $1B) from DoD and/or DHS.

Some entities have received staggering amounts of money:

Raytheon: >$41 billion
MIT: >$8.7 billion
Moderna: >$8.1 billion
General Dynamics Mission Systems: >$6.2 billion
General Electric: >$5.2 billion
Draper Laboratory: >$3.3 billion
MITRE Corporation: >$2.6 billion

(These figures are underestimates since they do not include funding received by subsidiaries of the above entities.)

Universities are major service providers to US empire

Universities are major service provider to US empire: MIT, for instance, has partnerships with weapons developer Raytheon, leases spaces to weapons developer Boeing, and has a joint laboratory with IBM, a major developer of policing and surveillance tools.

We can see the broad pattern by overlaying the universities' land parcels and locations with addresses that have received funding from DoD/DHS. As expected, universities are hubs for this kind of work: they're surrounded by other entities that have also received funding from DoD and DHS.

Map of universities (yellow dots), entities being funded by DoD/DHS (red dots), and university land parcels (Harvard University in brown, MIT in green, Boston University in orange, Northeastern University in red, Boston College in yellow). The two overlap. — Map of universities (yellow dots), entities being funded by DoD/DHS (red dots), and university land parcels (Harvard University in brown, MIT in green, Boston University in orange, Northeastern University in red, Boston College in yellow).

Kendall Square: "the most innovative imperialist square mile on the planet"

Map of Kendall Square area,where many of MIT's buildings and startups are located, showing recipients of DoD/DHS funding (red dots) and university land parcels (MIT in green) along with police and weapons developers. — Map of Kendall Square area, where many of MIT's buildings and startups are located, showing recipients of DoD/DHS funding (red dots) and university land parcels (MIT in green) along with police and weapons developers.

Police are everywhere

A truly American landscape, Massachusetts is dotted with police stations (blue dots) and prisons (orange dots).

Map of police stations (blue dots) and prisons (orange dots) in Massachusetts.

Working for empire amidst displacement and ethnic cleansing

In the Boston area, there are entities getting major funds from US empire, and creating private wealth through "entrepreneurship," while surrounding working-class and poor communities – especially Black and other people of color – are being evicted and displaced.

Those entities working for empire fuel displacement by colonizing new areas, bringing in a wealthier and whiter workforce, and driving increases in rent prices and property values.

We can visualize how the centers working for empire are surrounded by displacement by overlaying eviction filings on top of our map.