The description of decolonization by Cesaire in his work Discourse on Colonialism - Research Paper Example

Decolonization Cesaire in his work “Dis on Colonialism” criticizes the European civilization arguing that it has proven incapable of solving the problems it has created as it has ignored the most crucial problems that came with it. He argues that the so called Western civilization brought about by the Europeans lacks any reason or conscience as it has just entrenched the bourgeois rule of the proletariat (Cesaire 31). Therefore colonization by the Europeans was not for the usually discussed common good such as evangelization or improving the welfare of the colonized, but was about obtaining materials and resources for the colonialists’ economies (Cesaire 33). Cesaire in his argument thinks that colonization did not improve the value to those who were colonized in terms of civilization. The capitalism associated with the colonization did not establish any concept of assuring those who were colonized of their rights nor did it impart a system of individual ethics in them as thought (Cesaire 37). These were the ideals that bourgeois following Hitler teachings of, tried to pass onto people colonized in the guise of civilization. Colonization therefore never happened out of innocence and all efforts were used to subdue the locals in some instances through butcheries and massacres. For example, the French through the leadership of Colonel de Montagnac justified invading and capturing Algeria through massacring and maiming a large number of the population resident there. Similarly, General Gerard captured Ambike by shooting all the inhabitants of the particular town and razing it (Cesaire 40). The effect of colonization on the colonized has been minimal, as .none of the nations that were colonized has appreciated the civilizations. The colonized do not feel that the colonialists brought any form of security or the rule of law but see some form of cruelty and sadism in the way the civilization was introduced (Cesaire 42). Imperialism through the colonialist played a key role in destroying the societies they found in place by making the citizens they found there undergo a lot of suffering and torture. This is contrary to how they found the societies in the sense that the societies that were colonized had lived communally and was not capitalist in nature; neither were the societies run in an autocratic way as they have developed afterwards and in the course of the colonization (Cesaire 44). Mohandas Gandhi in “The Practice of Satyagraha” advocated for self-rule by the Indians through a concept known as which would bring a society free of exploitation and void of civilization based on mechanization that the Europeans had used to enslave most parts of Asia and Africa. Since 1919, emboldened by the Wilsonian doctrine of self determination, Gandhi had always wanted independence from the British colonial rule (Gandhi 227) but they strongly opposed it as they desperately wanted to hold onto the Indian sub-continent due to its strategic location and resources. Gandhi had realized that the British government played a trick of divide and rule as a way of colonizing India by playing the differences of the Hindu with the Muslims and therefore he added for their cooperation to defeat the British colonial rule through non-violent protest. In 1997 the Congress Party of India won the elections attributed to the efforts of Gandhi and later India was able to get her independence from Britain in 1946 (Gandhi 228). Satyagraha excludes the use of force or violence for any form of resistance but relies on the people exercising restraint by being humble and seeking the guidance of God in the struggle (Gandhi 230). This means that there is resistance but the non-cooperationist strives to translate ideas into action relying on the correctness of his position. Though there were Indians both of Hindu and Muslim religion who advocated for violence as a means of the struggle, Gandhi strongly opposed it as it was not justified in the teachings of the Mahabharata and the Koran unless necessary (Gandhi 230). The non-violent protest as proposed by Gandhi needed not to be strong but truthful in the sense that all Indians were called nit to attempt to harm the English or fellow citizens in the non-violent protest in any way but to try and cooperate in the quest to receive independence. This policy means that the Indians were only excluded from revenging in future if they were granted the independence that they wanted (Gandhi 233). The Satyagraha as a means of agitating for the right to independence can only be classified as a civil disobedience and not criminal disobedience as some people have argued (Gandhi 236). Hitler in the work “Mein Kampf” believes that all the creations that dictate the culture of humans in the world is a creation of the Aryan, be it art, science or technology (Hitler 129). Therefore, according to Hitler, the Aryan culture is the founder of the human culture and creation and it does not matter the outward characteristic of a person as everything is dictated by the Aryan influence. His argument is that even the superiority of the science in Europe and America or even Asia is due to the supremacy of the Aryan culture, and that if the Aryan culture were to fall, it would be felt across to Japan as it would fall back to its primitive industrialization that existed before the Aryan influence (Hitler 130). Contrary to the creation of culture as argued by Hitler to have been created by the Aryans, there are also those known as culture bearing whereby a people receive external influence and is assimilated or adapted to the culture of others. Hitler posits that the Aryan people though forming a small population as compared to the rest have subjected foreign nations to their influence partly driven by their desire to appropriate the good resources in those nations coupled with the availability of labor to be provided by the lowly natives in those areas. This has enabled the Aryan culture to improve the intellectual and organizational capacities lacking in them. Over time, the superior Aryans and their culture have been assimilated and through relationships have come up with beings that are less superior marking the genesis of the fall of the Aryan as a superior being (Hitler 131). The result of this is that those who had been conquered through force later come to accept being lorded over willingly. Through this argument that Hitler states that the first cultures came about in places where persons of the “Aryan” culture especially Europeans encountered inferior beings that he vanquished them and made them follow his will and command by regulating their activities for his own aims and benefits. This is precisely the colonial approach practiced in Africa and Asia in the course of the colonization age. The Aryan remained only superior to the inferior beings as long as it maintained his purity of blood but the moment he submerged himself in the culture of the subjects, they would cause an uprising partly due to the mixture of races brought about by breeding that eventually made the Aryan lose the battle. Hitler’s opinion of the Jews is that though they thought about themselves as a chosen group with higher intellectual capacity, their intellect was acquired through influence by their surrounding areas and culture (Hitler 134). The Jewish people are all about self-preservation and that explains their collective solidarity in order to preserve them only when it affects them as a group and not as a group. The Jews therefore do not possess any form of culture of their own nor are they culturally blessed or creative, but have been influenced by other culture (Hitler 135). Comparison Both Cesaire and Gandhi are strongly opposed to the colonial rule carried out by the colonial powers as to them it did not bring any meaningful civilization to those involved. Cesaire argues that the colonialism was about the bourgeois capitalist colonialists taking advantage of the proletariat Africa and Asia by misappropriation of resources contrary to what has been thought as a good idea to improve the economic well being of the colonized. Instead, the imperialists committed far much crime in the areas that they attempted to bring about their colonization through the brutality met on the local population. Gandhi on the other hand opposed the western civilization that the British attempted to bring to India, which in real sense was a form of colonialism. He therefore proposed a form of protest to the colonial rule that focused on fighting for independence through non-violent protests and civil disobedience. The ideologies of Cesaire and Gandhi of opposition to the imperialism is quite contrary to the ideas of Hitler who believed that the “Aryan” line and culture was superior to all other cultures and therefore should play the role of creating culture that should be followed by any other person in the world. This means that all descendants of the “Aryan” race had the right to dictate civilization in the world; therefore, it was not a great deal to subject whom he considered inferior to some form of colonization. To Hitler, it was the inherent right of persons of “Aryan” lineage to go into any other place in the world and impart some form of its culture and civilization as was done by the colonialists. This could be achieved through colonization as the Aryan had a right to expropriate the resources present in these colonies such as fertile soils, good climate and a right to the abundant free or cheap labor in these colonies. Hitler’s view was that any other person that was not of the “Aryan” descent must submit to the command and the will of the “Aryan” as the creator of all cultures. Works Cited Ce?saire, Aime?. Discourse on Colonialism. New York: MR, 1972. Print. Hitler, Adolf. Mein Kampf. Mu?nchen: Eher, 1938. Print. Mohandas Gandhi, The Practice of Satyagraha. Harijan. 1938. print Read More