This is not to say that revolutionary politics boil down to identity alone. Theory, praxis, and class stand often matter more than one's individual class background. However, to say that co-optation of decolonization movements by settlers isn't a recurring problem in leftist movements is naive to say the least.
I very recently read "Decolonization is Not a Metaphor" and was struck by how fundamentally right-wing and ethnonationalist it is. The authors call for the imposition of minority rule based on a nation's (or group of nations') claim to an intricate and mystical relationship with the land. It's filled with bogus, anti-materialist ideas about who is and is not an oppressor based solely on ethnicity and not class - they clearly can't conceive of, say, an indigenous entrepreneur exploiting the labour of "settlers," like the Haudenosaunee who manufacture cheap cigarettes.
And this is what passes for "progressive" in the West today.
The article was circulated by a group of indigenous students in my department's graduate student association. Surprise, surprise. I'm compelled to respond to it in some way, because as a father I find it deeply offensive that I should be asked not to consider the future of my children in the country in which I, my parents, and two of my grandparents were born simply because they don't belong to the right race/ethnicity. But as I'm still a graduate student, I fear for my career. I'm studying Eastern European Cold War history, so it really doesn't have much to do with my research, but this is the kind of thing that could get someone blacklisted in the current campus climate.
Such as the Algerian War of Independence. How was their status as a veteran of that conflict received in your country? Was it seen as similar to the Vietnam veterans in the US?
Do you support decolonization in the US?
I assume MLs do , but how does that work? Is it still possible in 2022?
I think most would agree that afrika what ever way the timeline of KR swings is eventual gone be decolonized. If not for moral reasons then for economic once as the continent start lumbering its way on into self determination. Now with the Exception of northern Africa, The free Ethiopa, Somalia and Liberia. And one can argue over South Africa and Rhodesia. How do you see this go down.
Victory International:
What would be the socialist or even specifically syndicalist mode for breaking up the gaint byzantine blob of protectorates, colonies and workstations. Would an Continental workers state of Africa be created? Or would the respect the many diverse worker cultures of Africa and work to liberate them from imperialist constructs
Imperial Victory (fill in Entente-ReichPact as needed)
No there is a of course the crazy Von Goering to take care off. Does he maybe stay in power long into the 70s what would this monster even be like as king of near all afrika. How much does the lion king industrialize the continent. What does he favor and what can the madman do with this much power over all the world.
Not to even speak of the reformers a brighter slow decolonization of africa with care to manage local relations. a whole continent full of German allies no doubt. Or will some of them turn each other much like we IRL have seen.
I recently read Decolonization is Not a Metaphor (2012) by Tuck & Yang and was struck by their characterization of the Occupy movement. Link to paper: https://clas.osu.edu/sites/clas.osu.edu/files/Tuck%20and%20Yang%202012%20Decolonization%20is%20not%20a%20metaphor.pdf, pages 23-28
>For many Indigenous people, Occupy is another settler re-occupation on stolen land...a prime example of the incommensurability between “re/occupy” and “decolonize” as political agendas. The pursuit of worker rights (and rights to work) and minoritized people’s rights in a settler colonial context can appear to be anti-capitalist, but this pursuit is nonetheless largely pro-colonial. That is, the ideal of “redistribution of wealth” camouflages how much of that wealth is land, Native land.... For social justice movements, like Occupy, to truly aspire to decolonization nonmetaphorically, they would impoverish, not enrich, the 99%+ settler population of United States. Decolonization eliminates settler property rights and settler sovereignty. It requires the abolition of land as property and upholds the sovereignty of Native land and people... Decolonizing the Americas means all land is repatriated and all settlers become landless. It is incommensurable with the redistribution of Native land/life as common-wealth.
Occupy was slightly before my political consciousness, but I would hazard a guess that it was not a full-fledged radical left movement, and watered down by capitalist liberalism/'socialism'. Regardless, I feel much of their critique could hold up for even a radical worker's movement in the US. While such a movement may abolish private property and land ownership, the standard conception of a post-revolutionary landscape, to my knowledge, still ignores ignores indigenous sovereignty when it does not place post-revolutionary power in the hands of Native Americans. In other words, an American communist state is still a colonialist state.
I'm still kind of wrapping my head around this and how to move forward from here. I'd love to hear other thoughts on this paper as well as any related works (whether focused on the US or other settler nations) that argue similar claims.
I wanted to talk to you about an aspect of Solarpunk, which is so far rarely talked about.
If you look into the Solarpunk Manifesto you will find this sentence:
> The “punk” in Solarpunk is about rebellion, counterculture, post-capitalism, decolonialism and enthusiasm.
And there is this word there: Decolonialism. It is the only time in the entire manifesto, that the word is used. But I still think, it is actually a very important topic, that we should talk more about. For one, because Indigenous people are at the forefront of many fights to protect our planet, but also because I think that we, as a society, cannot heal before we at least start to make up for the harm caused by colonialism.
While I do not wish to peddle the harmful stereotype of the “noble savage”, it is a fact that many Indigenous cultures were good caretakers of their land and found ways to cultivate food on it, that were less harmful to the earth then our modern, western ways, which rob the earth of its nutrients. For reference see for example the three sisters or the way the aboriginal people of Australia managed to have thriving agriculture on land the European colonizers found nearly impossible to cultivate. There is also the way many Indigenous cultures around the world lay controlled wildfires to help the forests strive, a practice later forbidden by colonizers leading to worse and worse uncontrolled wildfires.
Right now many Indigenous people around the world fight for the right to their own land which was forcefully taken from them. I think the solarpunk thing to do is to help them out where we can. Be it through donations, amplifying their voices or helping out protests (for example the many protests against oil- and gaspipelines on Indigenous lands in the US and Canada), be it through protesting or through mutual aid.
I also think there is a lot of things we can learn from Indigenous people. Just be aware that we can only learn by a respectful exchange of knowledge, instead of considering ourselves entitled to this knowledge.
Be also aware that there are Indigenous people all around the world, not only in the US and Canada. There are Indigenous people in central and South America, in Africa, in Asia, in Australia, in Polynesia and, yes, even in Europe. And no matter where, in most areas the Indigenous people are discriminated against. It is part of our
... keep reading on reddit ➡
http://ckraju.net/papers/Reading-list-Bengaluru.html
Dr. C. K. Raju is a highly accomplished Indian scientist responsible for creating the first supercomputer Param for India. This is a highly recommended reading list to understand the false history of science propagated by the west.
im looking for any kind of article, pdf or book recommendations for decolonization, please and thank you. im not sure where else to post this but since its a leftist topic i figured this subreddit will be ok
Is anyone else irked on how the Avatar franchise tackled decolonization?
Promise Comics:
The Promise comics tackles the issue on what to do with the eldest Fire Nation colonies. The protagonists initial solution for the colonies is a campaign called the "Harmony Restoration Movement" which aimed to dismantle the colonies by sending Fire Nation colonials back home. This is thankfully shown as a bad idea as there are many FN families who have likely lived in the area for generations and there are many mixed race families that would be torn apart if the campaign were to continue. The comic does an adequate job explaining why the EK can't exactly go back to the way it was before the war.
However the primary issue with the comics is that it is largely dismissive of the large segment of the colonies population that is purely EK. For example, when Katara comments on the obvious wealth gap between those of FN descent and EK descent, Zuko simply dismisses Katara by saying things aren't as bad as they were a century ago.
The comic itself focuses almost entirely on the perspectives that would be held by pure blooded FN families that have been there for generations and the mixed families. The comic never really delves into the perspectives of the pure-blooded indigenous families that managed or strived to maintain their cultural identity. We are never faced with the serious dilemma of these families wanting their culture to be the dominant culture of the land and wanting to rejoin with their "motherland". The unique struggles and trauma this segment of the population faced due the FN regime they lived under for centuries are swept under the rug. The comic also ignores that the EK realistically wouldn't be in any position to wage war to reclaim the colonies due to the Fire Nation and the royal family. The EK was in absolute shambles by the end of the war while the FN was more than able to go another round.
The comics overall give off this idea that the colonialism and imperialism committed by the FN was a good thing since it resulted in a diverse multicultural society even though it came at the expense of the displacement, suffering, and near-destruction of the indigenous culture. The new dominant culture is more valued than the dying indigenous culture.
Lok:
Lok is just as problematic if not more so than the comics. In Book 1, we learn that the colonies were turned into a semi-independent country instead of being returned to the EK as a permanent solution f
... keep reading on reddit ➡
I am planning on doing a Sansepolcrismo Italy game and I was wondering if it makes sense to hold on to the colonies like Greece, Egypt, IEA, eta. I was thinking they would probably want to hold onto somethings like Dubai, Suez, and favor a co-led Algeria with Spain while abandoning unstable colonies like Greece. What makes the most sense within that ideology and the context of Italian decolonization, militarism, and conquest?
Let's say that the Whites win the Russian Revolution and there is no Red Scare. Let's also say that Hitler dies in the Beer Hall Putsch and the Nazi Party never achieves the popularity needed to obtain power in Germany. As a result of no war in Europe, Japan never goes after the European colonies in Asia but Japan still occupies China.
With no 2nd World War, the Europeans never suffer the devastation that a World War brings; the world also never turns against eugenics and racial superiority plus their is no USSR to instigate and fund independence movements. In such a world, how would decolonization work? I can maybe see India, Philippines, and Israel still becoming independent due to the fact that there were plans for those nations to be independent prior to WW2 and they were independent immediately afterwards. Decolonization of Africa is probably going to be a lot different now that the Europeans are stronger; I expect a delayed but more stable decolonization for Africa with many parts of Africa like some islands still being European colonies. Something similar can occur for the Asian colonies and the Oceanian countries could still be colonies to this day.
Spain and Portugal never intended to let go of its colonies so I can see wars of independence for those colonies being a lot more bloodier with the colonists winning. If Imperial Japan is still around in the late 1900s, I don't see them giving up colonies like Korea and Manchuria and Taiwan any time soon unless international intervention forces them to.
