After Colonialism

PART IV

In this section of our course, I will address the dilemmas of building Nation-states in the Post-Colonial World.

One of the major challenges I face is that it is so difficult to nail down that portion of the world that is not “liberal” (what we used to call the First World) or “Leninist” (old Second World).  There is a good reason why this is so.  What we often refer to as the “developing world” or the “Third World” is a vast array of different types of countries and civilizations.  On the one hand, Americans tend to forget that there are highly developed states outside of the western world.  On the other hand, there are fantastically poor states, such as Chad and Sudan.  In this sense, there is no unified entity we can call the “Third World.”

My solution to this challenge is to focus on a specific category of states that have at least one thing in common:  the experience of having been colonies of European powers.  This approach has a notable benefit.  Many of the major crises in the world today are at least partly due to the experience of European colonialism.  These countries include Iraq and Afghanistan—both places our government is desperate to leave.  We are now leaving Syria, and the consequences our former allies, the Kurds–another group once victimized by colonialism–will be severe.

27.  LECTURE:  Wednesday, October 7

Initial reflections on the contradictions between  two ideal types: tradition and modernity.

Today’s Assumption:  People in the West frequently denigrate the cultures of the inhabitants of traditional societies.  Yet, the norms and institutions of traditional society are as rational as those of modern society.

A good example of  liberal democracy’s problem with the expression of traditional ways of acting is the French practice of Laicité

Angelique Chrisafis, “France’s Headscarf Rule,” The Guardian,” July 2013  READ

Yet despite the West’s assumption that its societies are governed entirely by formal rules of order, traditional practices, like political corruption, play an undeniable part in liberal-democratic societies, too.

See Glen Thrush, “If I’m corrupt, it’s because I take care of my district”  READ (Until his death in 2010, John Murtha, the subject of this article, had been the longest serving representative in the House of Representatives.  Most likely, this was the result of taking care of a lot of people!  But whom in particular?  Ah…).

In preparation for my lecture on colonialism on Monday, please watch the wonderful film, “Mister Johnson,” on our on-line Hesburgh Reserves site  HERE

28. DISCUSSION  SECTION: Friday, October 9

29. LECTURE:  Monday, October 12

Reflections on the brutal and paradoxical consequences of colonial empires.

Today’s Assumption:  In this lecture, I will focus on colonialism’s role as an external instrument of change.  Whether we are talking about the realization of Napoleon’s imperial ambitions in Europe or Europe’s colonial conquests of most of Africa and Asia one century later, many fundamental changes in political identity are introduced from outside.  Even after colonial powers leave, their impact will be felt for decades and perhaps even centuries thereafter.  For example, contemporary conflicts in the Middle East are directly related to the experience of colonization.

Assignment:  As you read the following essays, ask yourself whether and in what way the politics of Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and Pakistan would have been different without the intrusion of western powers, such as Great Britain and France.

Would they be stable states today?  Or, in view of their fractured histories, is this question nonsensical?  Are they currently nation-states?  If not, can they be transformed into viable nation-states today?

What do these questions tell us about what one might call our “betrayal” of the Kurds, our principal allies in the fight against ISIS?

Readings:

Rudyard Kipling: “The White Man’s Burden” PRINT AND READ
Is this poem an example of satire or imperial pride?

S. V. R. Nasr, “European Colonialism and the Emergence of Modern Muslim States”  PRINT AND READ

Robin Wright, “How the Curse of Sykes-Picot still haunts the Middle East,” The New Yorker, April 30, 2016 PRINT AND READ

Bayar Mustafa, “Instability in the Middle East is not the Kurds’ fault” READ (This is a pro-Kurdish article.)

30. LECTURE:  Wednesday, October 14

Reflections on the sensible logic of peasant society.

Today’s Assumption:  There are more peasants in the world than any other social group.  The organization of peasant societies makes more sense than we might imagine.  It relies upon a conception of reality known as the “limited good.”  The “limited good” is neither good nor bad.  It is simple one way of looking at the world.

Assignment:  Read George Foster’s seminal article and the newspaper piece below and ask yourself what the advantages and disadvantages of peasant society would be.  Do you agree with all of Foster’s claims?

George Foster: “Peasant society and the image of the limited good” PRINT AND READ

Sara Sidner, “Brothers share wife to secure family land” READ

On the rational logic behind primogeniture:  READ

Then, read about the massive migration of peasants from the land into the cities, a quintessential example of the conflict between traditional and modern societies.

Eugene Linden, “The exploding cities of the developing world,” Jan-Feb;75(1), 1996:  52-65. Search through JSTOR and PRINT and READ

And why not immigrate permanently to South Bend? It will certainly help my home value.

D’Vera Cohn, “About a fifth of U.S. adults moved due to COVID-19 or know someone who did,” Pew Research Center, July 6, 2020  READ