ThAct : Future of postcolonial studies : Globalisation and Environmentalism

This activity is a part of my academic writing.

 1. Summeries of both the articles.

What is meant by postcolonialism?

Postcolonialism, the historical period or state of affairs representing the aftermath of Western colonialism; the term can also be used to describe the concurrent project to reclaim and rethink the history and agency of people subordinated under various forms of imperialism.

⚫Globalisation :

There is a complex relationship between globalization and postcolonialism. It argues that the contemporary processes of globalization are often described in ahistorical terms, whereas much of recent literature on postcolonialism is reduced largely to apolitical analyses of literary texts, disconnected from issues of current and shifting configurations of power. 

"Globalisation is just another name of submission and domination"

The author argues for the need to understand global processes in education historically and suggests that intellectual postcolonial resources of postcolonialism can be most helpful, but only if postcolonialism is viewed as a political intervention.

"Nicanoe Apaza, an unemployed miner said, watching Indian womens carried banners denouncing the Internationsl Monetary Fund and demanding the president's resignation, we have had to live with that here for 500 years and now we want to be our own masters"

Globalization from a postcolonial perspective’ explores the impact of globalization and multi- and transnational companies in the world economy. Few people outside the world of business and economics regard globalization as a particularly positive phenomenon; odium is frequently heaped on the institutions that facilitate it.

Example :

However, at least some of the poverty, or at least suffering, of the people of the non-western world is also the direct result of actions by their own governments. Poverty and starvation are often not the mark of an absolute lack of resources, but arise from a failure to distribute them equitably.

⚫Environmentalism :

Environmental Postcolonialism is an investigation of the environmental repercussions of colonial destruction. This volume addresses the complex interplay between postcolonialism and environmental discourse through literature produced in the ex-colonies. This literature is read from the standpoint of ex-colonies within their human and non-human context. The primary objective of this volume is to scrutinize environmental concerns in the light of postcolonial theory, and so it examines works of art from the twin perspective of eco-criticism and postcolonialism which illuminates and underscores how colonizers destroyed and interfered with both nature and culture. Through discussing the intersecting layers of ecocriticism and postcolonial criticism, the volume gestures to new directions and generates a hopeful vision of a decolonized world.

"Capitalism’s central dynamic, the constant search for markets,resources and labour, thus involves the ongoing need to draw in whatever still remains open of the non-capitalist environment."

Environmental Postcolonialism is a must read for those interested to know more about the intersection and intermeshing of ecocriticism and postcolonial studies. Drawing on a wide range of insights from across the world, the book delves into how colonialism devastated nature and environment as much as it destroyed the human component of former colonies. 

"Climate change, refracted through global capital, will no doubt accentuate the logic of inequality that runs through the rule of capital;some people will no doubt gain temporarily at the expense of others. But the whole crisis cannot be reduced to a story of capitalism. Unlike in the crises of capitalism, there are no lifeboats here for the rich and the privileged (witness the drought in Australia or recent fires in the wealthy neighborhoods of California)."

- Chakrabarty

This is a much-needed critical intervention that investigates the epistemes of colonial legacy that became synonymous with the destruction of the world around us. A thought-provoking collection!

Thank you...