Hello Readers! This blog is written in response to the thinking activity assigned by Dr.Dilip Barad sir on the topic of Conclusion 2nd and 3rd edition of Globalisation and Colonialism/Postcolonialism by Ania Loomba.
What is Postcolonialism?
Postcolonialism is a field of study that examines the impact of colonialism on societies, focusing on power dynamics, identity, and resistance. It explores how the legacy of colonial rule continues to influence social, cultural, and political structures in formerly colonized regions. Postcolonial theory has been applied to various disciplines, including literature, anthropology, sociology, history, and cultural studies. It encourages a reevaluation of historical narratives, challenges Eurocentric perspectives, and seeks to understand the diverse experiences of formerly colonized peoples.
Globalization:
Globalization is the word used to describe the growing interdependence of the world’s economies, cultures, and populations, brought about by cross-border trade in goods and services, technology, and flows of investment, people, and information. Countries have built economic partnerships to facilitate these movements over many centuries. In simple Words ;
"Globalization is a term used to describe how trade and technology have made the world into a more Connected and interdependent Place."
The 21st century has witnessed the profound impact of globalization on the world stage.However, this process is far from being a one-dimensional phenomenon. It intertwines with various aspects of international relations, economics, and culture, presenting both opportunities and challenges. This article explores the intricate relationship between globalization and postcolonial studies, unraveling the complexities through a series of interconnected themes and perspectives.
Conclusion : Globalization and the future of Post Colonial Studies
This Particular article talks about the relationship between Globalization and the Future of Post Colonial Studies. She examines the impact of Globalization on Post Colonial Studies. She argues that Globalization has led to a more interconnected and transnational world, which has both challenged and expanded the Scope of Postcolonial Studies. Ania Loomba identifies several key areas in which Globalization is transforming Postcolonial Studies. This article also talks about the Perspectives of different Scholars like Thomas Friedman, Hardt and Negri, Joseph E.Stiglitz and P.sainath.
The 9/11 Phenomenon:
The events of September 11, 2001, marked a significant turning point in contemporary history. The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center not only had immediate and devastating consequences but also set in motion a series of events that reshaped global politics. This tragedy served as a catalyst for the emergence of the New American Empire and the subsequent Global War on Terror. Ania Loomba has rightly observed:
“Since the events of 11 September 2001, the so-called global war on terror, and the US invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, it is harder than ever to see our world as simply postcolonial. As the New American Empire develops, openly and shrilly advocated by policy-makers, politicians, and academics within the US and elsewhere, it is more urgent than ever to think about the questions of dominations and resistance that have been raised by anti-colonial movements and postcolonial studies worldwide.”
Market Fundamentalism :
Market Fundamentalism Sheds light on the role of global institutions like the World Bank and the IMF in shaping the global economic landscape. Joseph E. Stiglitz' s, Nobel laureate and once Chief Economist at the World Bank, critique of globalization, particularly his use of the term "Market Fundamentalism," sheds light on the role of global institutions like the World Bank and the IMF in shaping the global economic landscape.
“The international financial institutions have pushed a particular ideology – market fundamentalism – that is both basic economics and bad politics; it is based on premise concerning how markets work that do not hold even for developed countries, much less for developing countries. The IMF has pushed these economic policies without a broader vision of society or the role of economics within society. And it has pushed these policies in ways that have undermined emerging democracies. More generally, globalization itself has been disadvantageous to developing countries, especially the poor within those countries.”
P.Sainath further explores the destructive impact of Market Fundamentalism. In seminar Paper and Then There was the Market, he makes this Particular Observation:
“Market Fundamentalism destroys more human lives than any other simply because it cuts across all national, cultural, geographic, religious, and other boundaries. It’s as much at home in Moscow as in Mumbai or Minnesota. A South Africa whose advances in the early 1990s thrilled the world —moved swiftly from apartheid to neoliberalism. It sits as easily in Hindu, Islamic or Christian societies. And it contributes angry, despairing recruits to the armies of all religious fundamentalisms.Based on the premise that the market is the solution to all the problems of the human race, it is, too, a very religious fundamentalism. It has its own Gospel: The Gospel of St. Growth, of St. Choice."
The impact of Market Fundamentalism on Globalization is a contentious issue, as Some argue that the actual measures taken under Globalization resulted in the Process of imposition and underdevelopment. Moreover, Some critics also claim that new Global Powers apply a theory that , while facilitating global Connections and creating new Opportunities, it also entrenches divisions.
The New American Empire and the Global War on Terror:
In the wake of 9/11, the United States assumed a dominant global role, often referred to as the New American Empire. This shift in power dynamics led to the Global War on Terror, a military campaign with far-reaching implications for global politics and security. It is within this context that the concept of "Global War" intertwines with globalization, raising questions about the role of violence in the process of globalization.
Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri are theorists of Globalization, who take the Contemporary world to function in a way that is distinct from its Modern Past. According to them, "Empire as a Universal Order that accepts no boundaries or limits."
It shows how this emerging empire is fundamentally different from the Imperialism of European dominance and Capitalist expansions in Previous eras. Hardt and Negri open their case in Empire by arguing that nation state based systems of Power are rapidly unraveling under the onslaught of world capitalism. Globalization cannot be understood as a simple Process of de - regulating world markets. The old conformist ideas of empire are that of the existence of a statist world of ruling class and Proletariat of a dominant core and a Subject Periphery. This statist world is breaking down and is being replaced by a less dichotomous and more intricate and Complicated Pattern of inequality. It is generally thought that if the Contemporary world system can be described as an empire, it is because of the overwhelming concentration of financial, diplomatic and military Power in American hands. Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri argued that, "Globalization is transforming individual nation states into a System of diffuse national and global institutions of Power, in other words a new type of Empire which raises the Possibility for a multitude of people to fight it."
Hardt and Negri suggest that the new Empire is better compared to the Roman Empire rather than to European colonialism, since imperial Rome also loosely incorporated its subject states rather than controlling them directly.
The Conclusion that Hardt and Negri draw in Empire , is that Contemporary Globalization, though it certainty introduces new forms of capitalist command and exploitation, to be welcomed because it is capital 's latest concession to the force of insurgent subjectivity. It contains the seeds of another Globalization , the counter empire of global Communism.
Role of Universities:
The notion of the New Imperialism extends its Influence into the realm of educational institutions, Where it raises critical questions about the Preparation of the best and brightest students for Imperial missions. Nilall Ferguson suggest that,
“The United States should Consider sending its most talented students, often hailing from its leading Universities , to fulfill this mission."
It seems that the Critique of Globalization is not accepted and hence, using the crisis of 9/11 and global war on terror, the Post Colonial studies is also attacked. Ania Loomba Observed that disciplines of history and literature are also not exempt from this Politics of Patriotism and hyper nationalism. "Those who do not teach western history and literature are not exempt from Critique, In an earlier report ACTA ( Anti Counterfeiting Trade Agreement) had complained not only that Shakespeare was being dropped from required courses but that Shakespeare and Renaissance were being Polluted by a Focus on Social issues such as Poverty and Sexuality. "
One of Edward Said's most valuable achievements in Orientalism was not simply to establish the Connections between Scholarship and state - Power in the Colonial Period, but to indicate its afterlife in a Post - Colonial global formation with the US as its Epicenter. This Article ends with the lines that ;
Now let's see Example:
Reluctant Fundamentalist :
This film is directed by Mira Nair and it is about the Conflict of Market and religious Fundamentalism in the aftermath of 9/ 11 Attacks. This movie is adapted from Mohsin Hamid 's novel with the same title.
The Future of Postcolonial Study:- (3rd edition of article by Ania Loomba)
Ecology is a new concern for many intellectuals and activists concerned with the Contemporary legacies of colonialism. Climate change is coming as a big threat.
Vandana Shiva, an environmental activist. She exposed the Connection between Colonialism and the destruction of environmental diversity. She argues that the growth of capitalism , and now of trans - national Corporations, excerbated the dynamic begun under Colonialism which has destroyed Sustainable local cultures ; these cultures were also more women friendly , Partly because women's work was so crucially tied to Producing food and fodder. “Ecology and human culture are intricately linked with each other."
Ramchandra Guha and Juan Martinez Alier (1997), Critics Point out is evident in America environmentalism and its obsession with the wilderness. Rob Nixon further notes that this wilderness obsession is celebrated in American literature as well as in natural history. Nixon suggests such 'Spatial amnesia' is one reason why PostColonial Criticism has been suspicious of earth - first green Criticism and therefore has not engaged with questions relating to the environment.
Ken Saro Wiwa, - environment activist from Nigeria led MOSOP or the Movement for the survival of the Ogoni People , an indigenous group in southeast Nigeria, whose Oil - rich homelands were targeted for drilling by multinationals, leading to their large scale displacement and to wide scale environmental destruction. Ken Saro viwa was executed after criticizing the activities of the multinational Oil Companies in Nigeria.
In India , the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) led widespread Protests against a Project , funded by multinational as well as indigenous capital, to build scores of large dams across central India. The Protests highlighted not just the ecological damage but also the displacement of thousands of tribal Peoples all across the Narmada Valley.
Arundhati Roy in one interview says that 'They fought against the destruction, not just of themselves and their communities, but of soil, water, forests, fish, and wildlife – a whole ecosystem, an entire riparian civilization'. And what in return of losing everything they got, nothing.
Further, Karl Marx explained that,
“The enclosure of the commons was crucial to the birth of capitalism. He describes the Process in England : beginning at the end of the fifteenth century, the forcible usurpation of Communal Poverty occurred first by means of individual acts of violence and later through the Parliamentary acts for Enclosures of the commons. Along with Slavery and colonialism, the takeover of the commons and the conversation of various forms of collective Property rights into Private Property involved dispossessing large Sections of the Population, both in the Colonising and Colonized countries, So that wealth would be accumulated by a few. It also turned those dispossessed People into landless labourers and forced them into a cash economy; their work was thus Commodified. In short it give us the idea that, “How One can Protect Commoners."
Rosa Luxemburg's Work :
"The Accumulation of capital." She is not agreed what Karl Marx has Said. She suggested the need to revise Marx. Karl Marx visualised capitalism as a closed system. She argued that for capitalism to thrive it constantly needs new markets for its goods, which cannot be consumed entirely within the system. Luxemburg 's ideas remain important today for two reasons, - Firstly, she alerts us to the deep historical Connections between trade and colonialism. Secondly, she reminds us that accumulation is a Constant Process rather than a Past event.
Sherni:
Sherni is a 2021 film about a Female forest officer assigned a task with capturing and containing a man eating tigress in a remote village. This Film depicts the Wildlife Conversation.
Don't Look Up :
Don't Look up 2021 film about two low - level astronomers must go on a giant media tour to warn mankind of an approaching comet that will destroy Planet Earth.
Words - 2,150
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