Post-Colonialism International Relation Theory - Essay Example

? Post-Colonialism International Relation Theory College: Introduction The world today is more interconnected than in the past making activities in one place posing effect on another place. In essence, political, economic and social policies in one country has become quite impossible due to the presence of the internet, global environmental decisions thus posing impacts to I wider scope of the population. The international relations (IR) study focuses on the different political aspects of the world majorly issues that relates to peace and war among and within societies. IR in the political economy is concerned with the political dimensions of development, trade, poverty and investment and these contribute to globalization. Post colonialism has played a big role in creating dynamics in the contemporary political and cultural practices (Dunne et al, 2010, p.72). The post-colonialism theory emphasizes the need of a political agency that fights against dominant oppressive power while promoting political, economic, social and cultural transformations within the post colonial nations. The post-colonial theory focuses on the African, south Asian, and the Caribbean literature, in places that were colonized during the colonization era. By 1921, almost 84% of the world had been colonized since the 16th century after the establishment of the League of Nations which was mandated over formerly the Ottoman and German territories in Africa, Pacific and Middle East contributing to over 168 colonies worldwide. Most colonies however became independent in the 1960s and within that duration of colonization, the impact of colonization still looms most of these colonies to date. According to Hall in Slater work, the fact that countries post colonial world are not under colonization does not mean that these former colonies are free from the power of colonization since colonization established strong grounds all over especially in the developing countries (Slater, 2006, p.246). Most of the developing countries in the world are characterized by political diversity whose legacy of colonialism carries both forces of pre-colonial and post-colonial experiences. These traits defines the contemporary politics of the developing countries explaining the fact that colonialism pose a great impact on the post-colonial political development, political agencies after independence and attention to the longue duree leading to the development of the varied perceptions of politics, both rounded and nuanced, found across the developing world. In essence, the shape of the new politics is in line with the past legacies left by colonies as well as the present political climate in the country. Thus, post-colonial studies help to understand the differences in formerly colonial societies so as to effectively bring to light the contemporary states of the developing world. With the colonial background, it is evident that geopolitical power has been unable to do away with this force. For instance, there has been remarkable of resilience in the racial debates when it comes to issues of migration and development (Cooper, 2002, p.139). The post-colonial theory came in force to address the socio-cultural issues in order to ensure a new world free from the forces of colonization. The theory was brought forward by post-modernists and post-structuralist aiming at liberating the world from forces of colonization that had hindered political independence. The theory of post-colonial follows closely the work of Edward Said’s on Orientalism in 1978 and 1993 seminal work that focuses on imperial intent than on colonial consequences; thus pointing out the problems facing governance of post-colonial societies is a result of colonialism. The focus of post-colonial theorists was majorly on the nature of colonial legacy has become difficult to discard after almost 60 years of formal independence in most countries. Some of the durable legacies left by the British Empire for instance include the statist and military characteristics, lasting geographical, cultural and financial legacies especially in Africa. This implies that the impact of colonialism has undergone several transformations and this explains the reason as to why most of the developing countries are living under the yoke of colonization today (Dunne et al, 2010, p.103). The different trajectories in development of post-colonial matter results to path dependence that is focused on the importance of historical choices in determining the current political situations in colonized countries as well as strategic considerations, political agency and geopolitical considerations. In essence, colonialism played a big role in transforming the way the elites in the society came to view the world and its continual impact on the current post colonial climate. Post-colonialism is characterized with clash of cultures which is violent in nature resulting from the relationship exhibited during the colonial times existing between the formerly colonized country, its population and culture with those of the former colonial power. The force of the two clashing cultures forms the major theme of post-colonization. Given that the colonial powers used to enforce its civilized values in the minds of the natives, after gaining of independence, it became hard to do away with deeply integrated values. This made the process of breaking loose from the yolks of colonial power and regain lost power faced the challenge of dealing with the idea of former suppressor and suppressed. The colonial policy was highly criticized as being arrogant, brutal, naive and arrogant calling for a tense and emotional decolonization process thus complicating the relationship developed by the former colonial powers on their Eurocentric perception. Secondly is the aspect of cultural belonging and identity conflicts (Dunne et al, 2010, p.122). During colonization, the political powers used to destroy the main parts of local tradition and cultures while replacing them with theirs. This led to conflicts and challenges particularly after independence when the countries were propagating for self-confidence and a nationwide identity. Most of the colonized communities had adopted Western tradition and culture, this made it hard to get rid of the Western way of life and create a new one that will identify the society in a different manner. The former colonial powers had to change their self-assessment in the identification process. To achieve this, language plays a big role in bringing about change and liberty. Most of the post-colonial communication and reflection took place via the influence of language as the colonial powers had integrated their language in foreign societies as a way of civilizing them. Today, most of the books in former British Empire colonies attached to the era of post-colonialism are written in English (Slater, 2006). Furthermore, most of the cross border though exchange among the colonized and former colonial powers concerning the conflict of post-colonial are shared in the context of a common language, English. Consecutively, the end of colonial era gave birth to colonial legacy that presents cultural, social, economic and political consequences that are evident in modern age. The issues of gender, migration, suppression and resistance are well grounded in post-colonialism. The independence of most of the colonized countries was expected to bring with it positive fruits, however, this failed to materialize thus increasing the sense of urgency especially in the 1980s calling for effective scholarship to solving the crisis and this made the theory of post-colonialism to be considered ineffective. In addition, post-colonialism seems to have little to offer in solving African crisis, its passiveness posses little relevance in developing countries as it is being perceived as a cultural product of the West (Dunne et al, 2010). The success of India and Mozambique colonization resulted from their proximity to the ocean coast thus making the European countries to invade them with ease before expanding to other interior countries. Portugal was the first country to colonize together with Spain but they were later displaced by England and France in the 16th and 17th century and later Germany, Italy and Belgium in the nineteenth century thus giving rise to varied colonization patterns. In India, the British Empire made the state to be coercive and extractive within the local collaborators thus forming indispensable element. To enhance their rule, the British Empire exercised their symbolic powers which were punitive. In essence, during the British rule in India and Mozambique, the countries reported no increase in their per capita income for over 190 years that they were under the British colony. This implies that, the colonial states had no or little investment record overseas during the era of Victorian, given that the colonial regime operating during the time of colonization was characterized by a policy of deliberate neglect in terms of development (Cooper, 2002). Most African leaders considers that the West were and will not have the interest of African countries at heart so there is no way they will be concerned with developing the African resources out of pure philanthropy unless they are intending to benefit a great deal from the same. Decolonization of the African, Asian, Pacific, Caribbean and Middle East after the Second World War which covered most of the sub-Saharan Africa and other British colonies were a result of rapid transformation due to geopolitical factors. The geopolitical factors resulted from weakening of the European powers during the two wars, emergence of the Soviet Union and United States all of which were competing over the anti-colonial nationalists with the aim of increasing and strengthening the pivot of the post-war bipolar world. In India, the increased pressure from the anti-nationalism forced the pace of change leading to the Indian independence in 1947. Post colonization’s is therefore concerned with the change brought about by the power of decolonization. The post-colonialism theorists such as Fanon contrast the ideology of the imperial paternalism of the colonial officials like Phillip Mitchell who was the British Governor of Kenya in 1945 who said “the choice of remaining a savage or of adapting our civilization, language, religion and culture, the Africans are doing the latter as fast as they can” (quoted in Cooper, 2002, p.73). The hope of Fanon and Mitchell belief facilitated the growth of post-colonialism. The anti-colonialists while facilitating the transformation of colonies into independence national states held firmly on their cultural and political autonomy in order to ensure that they African, Asian and Arabs dreams are unrealized. Irrespective of how the country received its independence, whether through war of liberation or negotiated constitutional transition, the colonial legacy poses a lasting influence on the country (Dunne et al, 2010). In Africa for instance, the development of post colonial territories such as Mozambique, a once Portuguese colony, through armed struggles; the inertial forces favored the retention of bureaucratic and colonial legal legacies. As the post-colonial societies carried with it the political systems of the heritage of colonialism which designed them, modeling a new political state was characterized by the basic forms of developed Western state that colonized it. This implies that the long impact of colonialism resulted to bitterness in the struggle for independence leading to subsequent civil wars in Mozambique. India accused the British Empire of stunting its growth and progress even after bringing the gift of science in the state thus showing that the drive towards anti-colonialism though helpful in bringing about liberation, it was to enable particular post colonial leaders to pursue their popular acclaim. To promote post-colonialism, the anti-colonialism led to a shift transformation from exploitative and preservationist colonialism to a new form of colonialism that was actively concerned with the investment progress and development of the once colonized states. Post-colonialism resulted to gatekeeper’s state for French or the centralized state for British colonies. The gatekeeper’s state lacked the external coercive capacity or the financial resources of its predecessors hence they depended on their former colonial power or one of the key protagonists in the cold war including the United States or the USSR for military presence of to pegged their currency to. The gatekeeper’s states relied on external agencies for international aid and recognition (Cooper, 2002, p.200). On the other hand, decentralized despotism was characterized by the introduction of multiparty system in the country such as in Kenya or the radical centralized despotisms which succeeded in dismantling of the local authority even when democracy was not realized in the larger setting of the country. These political developments reflect an adaptation of the Western colonial template which is Eurocentric in focusing on development and progress in facilitating modernization. The local appropriation of alien institutions in Africa result to tribalism and instability in the continent all of which is rooted in the institutions of post colonial states. Hence, the post-colonial value is conceived as being part of the larger historical continuum, however, it poses much impact on the globalization of capitalism and the new political regimes brought about by the European colonialism. According to Marxists, the structure presented by the capitalist world economy makes it hard for over two-thirds of the world population to enjoy the fruits of a liberal state (Chowdhry and Nair, 2002, p.164). The idea of a mono cultural state brought b the European resulted to a post-colonial misery as decolonized countries struggle to ensure that it reconciles the ethnically, religious and culturally plural societies, and this has led to never ceasing civil wars in most countries. In India and Mozambique (Oman State), their stable post independence political and economic developments are grounded on their relative immunity from most of the Western ideologies (Gray 2003, p.18). The politics of the two states run deep in the non-modern political cultural realm. The metaphor of a sanctified and patriarchal extended family and Gandhi which is the saintly idiom of Indian politics are the fundamental elements of Indian nationalism culture. The caste phenomenon associated with Hinduism that was more regulated and institutionalized during colonization facilitated adaptation to the colonial institutions. Furthermore, the political agency which is one of the oldest anti-colonial nationalist organizations in the world, which spearheaded the independence campaigns played significant role in reinforcing a more liberal democratic institutional framework. The liberal democratic institution was able to accommodate the dominant classes, linguistic, religious, regional identities and castes through the party agency and the government structures (Cooper, 2002, p.7). With these developments in place, India when it experienced civil wars it was able to diffuse them successful unlike other countries such as Sri-Lanka and Pakistan. Similarly, the Oman in Mozambique which arose from the Portuguese proved to be difficult to do away with thus making it hard for the country to adopt the modern ideologies. India initiated mechanisms of removing over two-thirds of the Muslim population in order to make the issue of national identity to be less problematic by employing the divide and rule strategy to curb the ethnic and religious plurality in the country. Thus, the Indian culture is embedded around the proliferation of differences despite the Hindu chauvinism political salience. The success of post-colonial states thus lies on the geopolitical situation, political agency and history of a country. As countries celebrated that they are independent, in the real sense, most of them were still under bondage as the economic and political policies of these countries were being directed from their former colonizers thus fostering a modern form of colonization. The political and economic crisis faced by most of the African and Middle East post colonial states has necessitated the need for actual restoration of formal empires to enhance liberal imperialism. The European colonialism hindered the sense of civilization superiority and the logic of domination as it promoted exploitation. Fashioning a sustainable state has become a challenge as most of the post-colonial especially in Africa is collapsing thus exacting high cost to human in the absence of a state with the presence of a globalized world states (Chowdhry and Nair, 2002, p.52). This is a result of the challenges of the colonial legacy impacted on the post-colonial states in respect to political identity. The forces of linguistic, feminism , geopolitical, history, architecture, post-colonial literature, sociology, Marxist theory, religion, political science and anthropology helps in defining the concept of post-colonialism. With these issues in play, the representation of race, ethnicity, human identity and culture in the modern society is defined. The vast postcolonial literature reflects on the interaction of the European countries and people whom they colonized. As the countries once colonized gained independence from European colonizers, literature and art was produced which became the subject of post-colonial studies. On the other hand, racism is one of the post-colonial discourses that are being experienced in modern age. The white Europeans insist and emphasize consistently on their superiority over the dark skinned Caribbean and African people. Most laws prohibited mixed marriages and sexual intercourse between white people and the blacks like in the apartheid South Africa thus limiting the blacks from accessing areas reserved for whites (Cooper, 2002, p.23). Critics of post-colonialism theory view it as being theoretical in nature by pointing out that it is disconnected from the main world of key politics and economics given that it overlooks the social and political issues in textual representation. India even after being among the first countries to gain independence and experiencing significant economic progress, the country today faces most of its old problems including overpopulation, ethnic and religious conflicts between Hindus and Muslims in Kashmir, poverty and environmental pollution. The Indian post-colonialism literature by Edward Said’s in his book “Orientalism” which was published in 1978 focuses on the beginning of post-colonial studies. Said’s examines the way European states initiated colonialism through their own racial superiority. More literature on the darkest era of Indian history following the immense social consequences and uncountable tragedies faced by Indians during the Indian-Pakistan conflict, paving light to the religious-ethnic conflict in the state (Chowdhry and Nair, 2002, p.86). Several literatures have been written on the two perspectives of British and Indian concerning the intercultural exchange and today several efforts are being adopted in dealing with the changeful past in India. The persistent use of English language among the Indian population reflects the integration of Western values in the Indian society. Many Indians are conversant with the English language which is regarded as fundamental for further education following the British initiative of impacting their culture and values to Indians and the best way to do this was through teaching them their language. Unlike other post colonial states, India and Mozambique have managed to become independent states with own political system different from that of the United Kingdom. The focus is to find own unique identity that will instill self-confidence concerning the progress made in overcoming decolonization and British legacies (Cooper, 2002, p.92). The current world experiences a vast rate of migration from developing countries to the developed world. As people migrate, they usually go mostly to countries that colonize them either to connect with their relatives who were taken during the colonial era as slaves or laborers, to seek for employment opportunities or to seek education. This cultivates on the development of modern colonization. In addition, the former colonial instilled its governance system, education system, values and ideologies to their colonies which are being employed in this era thus reflecting the existence of a new transformed colonialism system. The Euro-centrism of International Relationship asserts that the Western Enlightenment is progressive, superior, and universally applicable whereas the former colonies are viewed as being irrational and backward. The theory of post-colonialism in international relations intends to expose the narrow-minded assertion in the construction of white versus black people so as to enlighten and liberate colored men and women from the yoke white men as well as offering protection to colored women from colored men through the postcolonial feminism. The postcolonial feminism analyzes the international relationship through the gender and culture perspective (Slater, 2006, p.115). In respect to feminism, post-colonialism has focused on marginalizing and constraining women. Since language and the ability to write and communicate is a reflection of power, there are few female authors who have published post-colonial articles. For instance, the role played by IMF’s in reformulation the Asian capitalism following the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997-1998 is considered the white man’s burden in saving their former colonies. Feminism to a great extent is an import of the Western that aims at damaging the needs of Indian men and women. The relationship between Oman and British is still special and this enabled Oman to be employed effectively by the West in mediating on issues of Iran through its economic and political autonomy. However, just like India, Oman state does not underpin today’s global politics as they stand on their own both economically and politically following their stable sovereignty. Hybridity concept explains the cross-fertilization of cultures, adaptation and assimilation of thus helping in breaking down the colonized cultures. Through integration of cultural signs and practices between the colonized and colonizers, structures were developed that enhanced understanding between the contradicting cultures (Slater, 2006, p.75). The post-colonial theory is built around resistance and opposition aimed at liberating a country and to ensure human freedom, identity and individuality has been attained. Thus, the attention of post-colonial theory in international relations is on issues concerning marginal populations, excluded population, women, issues of decolonization, the distance from the older forms of power and comparison of postcolonial societies and cultures. Apart from history on border, emigration and immigration issues of colonialism, capitalism plays an important role in determining the growth of globalization in respect to economic exploitation. Under various studies, the discipline of culture, particularly the minority immigrants who are non-European as well as the role of women and their marginalization as they air their voices within the post-colonialism context. In conclusion, the developments that took place after the colonialism not only define history, literature and political sciences but also the culture and identity of the colonized and former colonial powers countries. Decolonization first came in practice in 1947 when India became independent from the British Empire thus saving the Indian population from the oppression and old-fashioned attitudes of power that were being adopted during the colonialism time. The subject of post-colonialism was being integrated into the American and European university education system. In essence, the postcolonial literature has been effective in formulating the foreign policies, enhancing peace, developing emancipator politics as well as making peace while considering the cultural, identity, gender and ethnicity issues (Chowdhry and Nair, 2002, p.47). Lastly, colonialism is not a thing of the past even today. The politics, economics and cultural values of the developing world are controlled by the forces of colonial legacy. As a result, attainment of liberty of a nation has become a problem especially with the rapid growth in globalization which makes the world to be like one small village. References Chowdhry, G and Nair, S. (2002). Power, Post-Colonialism and International Relations: Reading Race, Gender and Class. London: Routledge. Cooper, F. (2002). Africa Since 1940. The Past of the Present. Cambridge: Cambridge University. Dunne, T., Kurki M. and Smith, S. (2010). International Relations Theories: Discipline and Diversity. Oxford: OUP. Slater, D. (2006). Geopolitics and the Post-Colonial. Rethinking North-South Relations. Oxford: Blackwell. Read More