GEOG 122 299
13/01/23
Varieties of imperialism:
- On Wednesday we learn abt the polycrisis- a bunch of accumulative crises’ like climate
change, the economy, liberal democracy issues, covid-19, etc.
- Brexit and right-wing phenomenon
- Viewing the effects of globalization on imperialism
- If you're rich enough, you can have more power than the people who colonized your
ancestors
- Goals today:
- Recognize some forms of imperialism in present moment of globalization
- Begin to understand how scholars of geog (and other disciplines) have grappled with
current forms of imperialism
- Reflect on relationships between imperialists and the imperialized
- Imperialism- power or ability to command and exert control over others. Point is to
achieve global dominance. Relates to practice of enacting power over pacific group or
territory. More state-centered
- Colonialism- the establishment and maintenance of rule, for extended period of time, by
sovereign power ovre a subordinate and alien people that is separate from ruling power.
- No single form of imperialism or colonialism, they take different forms over time and
space
- But at core of both vastly unequal relationships of power and exploitation, waged over
national economic imperative to reap political and economic advantage for one group at
expense of another. Who benefits and who loses?
- In the new imperialism, Harvey tried to think about oil as a spur for the US invasion of
Iraq in wake of 9/11, he sees imperialism as an economic mode of “accumulation by
dispossession”.
16/01/23
Colonialisms and contemporary struggles of decolonization:
- Settler colonialism: the colonizer’s structure stays, it is a structure that shapes the future
for future settlers, it is not an event
- Key points: Riley Yesno and Pamela Palmater: build community, LandBack is a positive
thing, it's a collaborative project with the government, return the “spirit” of the indigenous
people
- It is the demand to rightfully return colonized land to Indigenous Peoples. They want the
system to return to the spirit of the Indigenous.
- Examples of Indigenous-led LandBack projects: medicine gardens (mashkiki gitigaanan)
and Sogorea te’ land trust
- Land grab university; project where Indigenous land parcels were sold to raise
endowment for US unis
18/01/23
, The “Bandung Spirit” of Global Decolonization (Afro-Asian Conference):
- Bandung- held here as a symbolic gesture of departure from the international order and
towards the eastern powers
- It was born post-cold war challenges, grasping with legacies of European imperialism,
caught between US and soviet union
- Pankaj Mishra describes decolonziation is central event of the last century for the
majority of world’s popoulation. Namely the intecllectual and political awakening of Asia
and its emergence from ruins of both Asian and European empires
- Key figures who attended the conference: chou en lai, gamel abdul naser, jawalal nehru,
U Nu, sir john kotelawala,
Who was invited and who was left out?:
- Organized by the Colombo powers: india, pakistan, burma (myanmar), ceylon (sri lanka),
and indonesia
- Coming together of leaders of countries whose combined population made up roughly
two-thirds of the world’s people
- Invite list was selective and in its selective, was inescapably politically driven
- Language of the conference was formal, an invocation of international law, whose
architecture remained that of the western world order
- History takes place on past existing events
- All details of the conference, from furniture to outfits, had an objective
- The “spirit of bandung”- communique built on premise of cooperation among multiple
civilizations and religions, an aspirational document of new world order
- Asian and African leaders united by common project and common grievances, but riven
with economic development and interpersonal conflicts, foregrounds the complexities of
South-South cooperation- is a common enemy and purpose enough to unify these
states?
- Bandung didnt realize any formal new international institutions but… inspired follow-up
conferences and solidarity movements, and had symbolic importance: represented and
emboldened an emotional and psychological experience shared across the postcolonial
and non-white world
18/01/23
Discussion:
- Knowing this I’ve realized just how much bad is embedded in the good of others. We’re
really just hypocrites because we’re not trying to do something good because we’re
good, but because we’re trying to free ourselves of the guilt of the wrong. This way, once
we acknowledge this, we come to understand just how unjust some of our leaders were
and what their actions have done for Indigenous people today. LGU’s must announce
their awareness of the past to make this world and society more welcoming, empathetic,
understanding, and diplomatic. This is a path towards belonging and understanding each
other’s pain, which can, ultimately, be a stepping stone towards peace.
20/01/23
- Imperialism always state-centered
13/01/23
Varieties of imperialism:
- On Wednesday we learn abt the polycrisis- a bunch of accumulative crises’ like climate
change, the economy, liberal democracy issues, covid-19, etc.
- Brexit and right-wing phenomenon
- Viewing the effects of globalization on imperialism
- If you're rich enough, you can have more power than the people who colonized your
ancestors
- Goals today:
- Recognize some forms of imperialism in present moment of globalization
- Begin to understand how scholars of geog (and other disciplines) have grappled with
current forms of imperialism
- Reflect on relationships between imperialists and the imperialized
- Imperialism- power or ability to command and exert control over others. Point is to
achieve global dominance. Relates to practice of enacting power over pacific group or
territory. More state-centered
- Colonialism- the establishment and maintenance of rule, for extended period of time, by
sovereign power ovre a subordinate and alien people that is separate from ruling power.
- No single form of imperialism or colonialism, they take different forms over time and
space
- But at core of both vastly unequal relationships of power and exploitation, waged over
national economic imperative to reap political and economic advantage for one group at
expense of another. Who benefits and who loses?
- In the new imperialism, Harvey tried to think about oil as a spur for the US invasion of
Iraq in wake of 9/11, he sees imperialism as an economic mode of “accumulation by
dispossession”.
16/01/23
Colonialisms and contemporary struggles of decolonization:
- Settler colonialism: the colonizer’s structure stays, it is a structure that shapes the future
for future settlers, it is not an event
- Key points: Riley Yesno and Pamela Palmater: build community, LandBack is a positive
thing, it's a collaborative project with the government, return the “spirit” of the indigenous
people
- It is the demand to rightfully return colonized land to Indigenous Peoples. They want the
system to return to the spirit of the Indigenous.
- Examples of Indigenous-led LandBack projects: medicine gardens (mashkiki gitigaanan)
and Sogorea te’ land trust
- Land grab university; project where Indigenous land parcels were sold to raise
endowment for US unis
18/01/23
, The “Bandung Spirit” of Global Decolonization (Afro-Asian Conference):
- Bandung- held here as a symbolic gesture of departure from the international order and
towards the eastern powers
- It was born post-cold war challenges, grasping with legacies of European imperialism,
caught between US and soviet union
- Pankaj Mishra describes decolonziation is central event of the last century for the
majority of world’s popoulation. Namely the intecllectual and political awakening of Asia
and its emergence from ruins of both Asian and European empires
- Key figures who attended the conference: chou en lai, gamel abdul naser, jawalal nehru,
U Nu, sir john kotelawala,
Who was invited and who was left out?:
- Organized by the Colombo powers: india, pakistan, burma (myanmar), ceylon (sri lanka),
and indonesia
- Coming together of leaders of countries whose combined population made up roughly
two-thirds of the world’s people
- Invite list was selective and in its selective, was inescapably politically driven
- Language of the conference was formal, an invocation of international law, whose
architecture remained that of the western world order
- History takes place on past existing events
- All details of the conference, from furniture to outfits, had an objective
- The “spirit of bandung”- communique built on premise of cooperation among multiple
civilizations and religions, an aspirational document of new world order
- Asian and African leaders united by common project and common grievances, but riven
with economic development and interpersonal conflicts, foregrounds the complexities of
South-South cooperation- is a common enemy and purpose enough to unify these
states?
- Bandung didnt realize any formal new international institutions but… inspired follow-up
conferences and solidarity movements, and had symbolic importance: represented and
emboldened an emotional and psychological experience shared across the postcolonial
and non-white world
18/01/23
Discussion:
- Knowing this I’ve realized just how much bad is embedded in the good of others. We’re
really just hypocrites because we’re not trying to do something good because we’re
good, but because we’re trying to free ourselves of the guilt of the wrong. This way, once
we acknowledge this, we come to understand just how unjust some of our leaders were
and what their actions have done for Indigenous people today. LGU’s must announce
their awareness of the past to make this world and society more welcoming, empathetic,
understanding, and diplomatic. This is a path towards belonging and understanding each
other’s pain, which can, ultimately, be a stepping stone towards peace.
20/01/23
- Imperialism always state-centered
