Walter D. Mignolo
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691156095
- eISBN:
- 9781400845064
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691156095.003.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
This introductory chapter aims to move subjugated knowledge to the limits of the colonial difference where subjugated become subaltern knowledges in the structure of coloniality of power. It ...
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This introductory chapter aims to move subjugated knowledge to the limits of the colonial difference where subjugated become subaltern knowledges in the structure of coloniality of power. It conceives subaltern knowledges in tandem with Occidentalism as the overarching imaginary of the modern/colonial world system: Occidentalism is the visible face in the building of the modern world, whereas subaltern knowledges are its darker side, the colonial side of modernity. This very notion of subaltern knowledges makes visible the colonial difference between anthropologists in the First World “studying” the Third World and “anthropologians” in the Third World reflecting on their own geohistorical and colonial conditions.Less
This introductory chapter aims to move subjugated knowledge to the limits of the colonial difference where subjugated become subaltern knowledges in the structure of coloniality of power. It conceives subaltern knowledges in tandem with Occidentalism as the overarching imaginary of the modern/colonial world system: Occidentalism is the visible face in the building of the modern world, whereas subaltern knowledges are its darker side, the colonial side of modernity. This very notion of subaltern knowledges makes visible the colonial difference between anthropologists in the First World “studying” the Third World and “anthropologians” in the Third World reflecting on their own geohistorical and colonial conditions.
Walter D. Mignolo
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691156095
- eISBN:
- 9781400845064
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691156095.003.0009
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
This afterword extends the observations from previous chapters, which distinguished postmodern from post-Occidental thinking as a critique of modernity from the interior borders (postmodernism) and ...
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This afterword extends the observations from previous chapters, which distinguished postmodern from post-Occidental thinking as a critique of modernity from the interior borders (postmodernism) and from the exterior borders of the modern/colonial world (post-Occidentalism), to deconstruction and to world system analysis. Postmodern criticism of modernity as well as world system analysis is generated from the interior borders of the system—that is, they provide a Eurocentric critique of Eurocentrism. The colonial epistemic difference is located some place else, not in the interiority of modernity defined by its imperial conflicts and self-critiqued from a postmodern perspective. On the contrary, the epistemic colonial difference emerges in the exteriority of the modern/colonial world, and in that particular form of exteriority that comprises the Chicano/as and Latino/as in United States—a consequence of the national conflicts between Mexico and the United States in 1848 and of the imperial conflicts between the United States and Spain in 1898.Less
This afterword extends the observations from previous chapters, which distinguished postmodern from post-Occidental thinking as a critique of modernity from the interior borders (postmodernism) and from the exterior borders of the modern/colonial world (post-Occidentalism), to deconstruction and to world system analysis. Postmodern criticism of modernity as well as world system analysis is generated from the interior borders of the system—that is, they provide a Eurocentric critique of Eurocentrism. The colonial epistemic difference is located some place else, not in the interiority of modernity defined by its imperial conflicts and self-critiqued from a postmodern perspective. On the contrary, the epistemic colonial difference emerges in the exteriority of the modern/colonial world, and in that particular form of exteriority that comprises the Chicano/as and Latino/as in United States—a consequence of the national conflicts between Mexico and the United States in 1848 and of the imperial conflicts between the United States and Spain in 1898.
Walter D. Mignolo
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691156095
- eISBN:
- 9781400845064
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691156095.003.0004
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
This chapter outlines a map of the border of the empires whose tensions contributed to the fabrication of a homogeneous notion of Latin America in the colonial horizon of modernity. These conflicting ...
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This chapter outlines a map of the border of the empires whose tensions contributed to the fabrication of a homogeneous notion of Latin America in the colonial horizon of modernity. These conflicting homogeneous entities are part of the imaginary of the modern/colonial world system. They are the grounding of a system of geopolitical values, of racial configurations, and of hierarchical structures of meaning and knowledge. To think “Latin America” otherwise, in its heterogeneity rather than in its homogeneity, in the local histories of changing global designs is not to question a particular form of identification but all national/colonial forms of identification in the modern/colonial world system. These are precisely the forms of identification that contribute to the reproduction of the imaginary of the modern/colonial world system and the coloniality of power and knowledge implicit in the geopolitical articulation of the world.Less
This chapter outlines a map of the border of the empires whose tensions contributed to the fabrication of a homogeneous notion of Latin America in the colonial horizon of modernity. These conflicting homogeneous entities are part of the imaginary of the modern/colonial world system. They are the grounding of a system of geopolitical values, of racial configurations, and of hierarchical structures of meaning and knowledge. To think “Latin America” otherwise, in its heterogeneity rather than in its homogeneity, in the local histories of changing global designs is not to question a particular form of identification but all national/colonial forms of identification in the modern/colonial world system. These are precisely the forms of identification that contribute to the reproduction of the imaginary of the modern/colonial world system and the coloniality of power and knowledge implicit in the geopolitical articulation of the world.
Walter D. Mignolo
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691156095
- eISBN:
- 9781400845064
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691156095.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
This book is an extended argument about the “coloniality” of power. In a shrinking world where sharp dichotomies, such as East/West and developing/developed, blur and shift, this book points to the ...
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This book is an extended argument about the “coloniality” of power. In a shrinking world where sharp dichotomies, such as East/West and developing/developed, blur and shift, this book points to the inadequacy of current practices in the social sciences and area studies. It explores the crucial notion of “colonial difference” in the study of the modern colonial world and traces the emergence of an epistemic shift, which the book calls “border thinking.” Further, the book expands the horizons of those debates already under way in postcolonial studies of Asia and Africa by dwelling on the genealogy of thoughts of South/Central America, the Caribbean, and Latino/as in the United States. The book's concept of “border gnosis,” or sensing and knowing by dwelling in imperial/colonial borderlands, counters the tendency of occidentalist perspectives to manage, and thus limit, understanding. A new preface discusses this book as a dialogue with Hegel's Philosophy of History.Less
This book is an extended argument about the “coloniality” of power. In a shrinking world where sharp dichotomies, such as East/West and developing/developed, blur and shift, this book points to the inadequacy of current practices in the social sciences and area studies. It explores the crucial notion of “colonial difference” in the study of the modern colonial world and traces the emergence of an epistemic shift, which the book calls “border thinking.” Further, the book expands the horizons of those debates already under way in postcolonial studies of Asia and Africa by dwelling on the genealogy of thoughts of South/Central America, the Caribbean, and Latino/as in the United States. The book's concept of “border gnosis,” or sensing and knowing by dwelling in imperial/colonial borderlands, counters the tendency of occidentalist perspectives to manage, and thus limit, understanding. A new preface discusses this book as a dialogue with Hegel's Philosophy of History.
Luise White
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520205406
- eISBN:
- 9780520918085
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520205406.003.0014
- Subject:
- Anthropology, European Cultural Anthropology
This chapter focuses on the issues of technology and labor in colonial East and Central Africa, examining imaginary events relevant to the colonization of East and Central Africa, focusing on the ...
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This chapter focuses on the issues of technology and labor in colonial East and Central Africa, examining imaginary events relevant to the colonization of East and Central Africa, focusing on the vampire metaphor. It explains that these vampires were the firemen in East Africa and game rangers in Central Africa. The chapter suggests that the study of colonial vampires is authentic because it involved writing about the colonial world with the images and idioms produced by the subjects themselves. It argues that these vampires are not simply generalized metaphor extraction and oppression, but that these images were told at specific times to specific people for specific reasons.Less
This chapter focuses on the issues of technology and labor in colonial East and Central Africa, examining imaginary events relevant to the colonization of East and Central Africa, focusing on the vampire metaphor. It explains that these vampires were the firemen in East Africa and game rangers in Central Africa. The chapter suggests that the study of colonial vampires is authentic because it involved writing about the colonial world with the images and idioms produced by the subjects themselves. It argues that these vampires are not simply generalized metaphor extraction and oppression, but that these images were told at specific times to specific people for specific reasons.
Myriam Arcangeli
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780813060422
- eISBN:
- 9780813050652
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813060422.001.0001
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Historical Archaeology
In historical archaeology, the concept of “ceramic culture” is a new approach to the analysis of material culture and the exploration of the past. By focusing on the users that handled archaeological ...
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In historical archaeology, the concept of “ceramic culture” is a new approach to the analysis of material culture and the exploration of the past. By focusing on the users that handled archaeological objects, this concept yields original insights into the functions of ceramics, in particular, but not exclusively, during the early modern period. In the case of Guadeloupe, it helps us to characterize domestic life in this part of the French colonial world as well as to trace important facets of the local Creole culture. In doing so, it brings to light topics that had not been explored previously in the traditional historiography of the French West Indies. This book demonstrates how easily this concept can be applied to an array of archaeological collections and provides, through its results, striking and original examples of what ceramics can reveal about the past.Less
In historical archaeology, the concept of “ceramic culture” is a new approach to the analysis of material culture and the exploration of the past. By focusing on the users that handled archaeological objects, this concept yields original insights into the functions of ceramics, in particular, but not exclusively, during the early modern period. In the case of Guadeloupe, it helps us to characterize domestic life in this part of the French colonial world as well as to trace important facets of the local Creole culture. In doing so, it brings to light topics that had not been explored previously in the traditional historiography of the French West Indies. This book demonstrates how easily this concept can be applied to an array of archaeological collections and provides, through its results, striking and original examples of what ceramics can reveal about the past.
Gaurav Desai
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231164542
- eISBN:
- 9780231535595
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231164542.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
This chapter first considers Franz Fanon's account of the workings of colonialism. He refers to the colonial world as a “Manichean world” where the settler does not only delimit physically the place ...
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This chapter first considers Franz Fanon's account of the workings of colonialism. He refers to the colonial world as a “Manichean world” where the settler does not only delimit physically the place of the native, but paints the native as a sort of quintessence of evil. This vision resonated with the experiences of a number of colonized intellectuals and writers who, in the Africa of the fifties and early sixties, fought against the oppressive restrictions of colonial society in the hopes of creating a socially just, independent future. Of the many literary critics that Fanon inspired, perhaps the most influential was Abdul Jan Mohamed, whose 1983 study Manichean Aesthetics: The Politics of Literature in Colonial Africa sought to articulate a sociopolitical theory of literary production that took into account the binary divisions of the colonial world that Fanon had previously laid out. The remainder of the chapter traces the genealogy of Asian-African creative production in the twentieth century, accounting for some of the silences and self-censorship undertaken by the community.Less
This chapter first considers Franz Fanon's account of the workings of colonialism. He refers to the colonial world as a “Manichean world” where the settler does not only delimit physically the place of the native, but paints the native as a sort of quintessence of evil. This vision resonated with the experiences of a number of colonized intellectuals and writers who, in the Africa of the fifties and early sixties, fought against the oppressive restrictions of colonial society in the hopes of creating a socially just, independent future. Of the many literary critics that Fanon inspired, perhaps the most influential was Abdul Jan Mohamed, whose 1983 study Manichean Aesthetics: The Politics of Literature in Colonial Africa sought to articulate a sociopolitical theory of literary production that took into account the binary divisions of the colonial world that Fanon had previously laid out. The remainder of the chapter traces the genealogy of Asian-African creative production in the twentieth century, accounting for some of the silences and self-censorship undertaken by the community.
Vijaya Ramadas Mandala
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- February 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780199489381
- eISBN:
- 9780199096619
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780199489381.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, Indian History
The introductory chapter opens the debate on why there is a need to write a book on shikar in South Asia. It makes a compelling case for taking the symbolism and practice of big-game hunting as ...
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The introductory chapter opens the debate on why there is a need to write a book on shikar in South Asia. It makes a compelling case for taking the symbolism and practice of big-game hunting as central to the expression of rule and making of authority in colonial India. The reader would learn about the historical developments of hunting as a political practice, and an enactment of ritual authority and masculine identity from ancient societies down to medieval and modern ones. In discussing these developments, the chapter charts out the framework of big-game hunting and conservation in relation to the historical literature in the field, often drawing comparisons and juxtaposing the same with Britain and other parts of the colonial world.Less
The introductory chapter opens the debate on why there is a need to write a book on shikar in South Asia. It makes a compelling case for taking the symbolism and practice of big-game hunting as central to the expression of rule and making of authority in colonial India. The reader would learn about the historical developments of hunting as a political practice, and an enactment of ritual authority and masculine identity from ancient societies down to medieval and modern ones. In discussing these developments, the chapter charts out the framework of big-game hunting and conservation in relation to the historical literature in the field, often drawing comparisons and juxtaposing the same with Britain and other parts of the colonial world.
Ramin Jahanbegloo
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195689440
- eISBN:
- 9780199080342
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195689440.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Indian Politics
In this interview, Partha Chatterjee discusses the concepts of modernity and Indian nationalism. The author of Nationalist Thought and the Colonial World, Chatterjee shares his views on the evolution ...
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In this interview, Partha Chatterjee discusses the concepts of modernity and Indian nationalism. The author of Nationalist Thought and the Colonial World, Chatterjee shares his views on the evolution of Indian nationalism and discourse in the evolution of the nationalist discourse. He also discusses Indian modernity and provides an analysis of the failure of Indian élites and the rise of popular politics.Less
In this interview, Partha Chatterjee discusses the concepts of modernity and Indian nationalism. The author of Nationalist Thought and the Colonial World, Chatterjee shares his views on the evolution of Indian nationalism and discourse in the evolution of the nationalist discourse. He also discusses Indian modernity and provides an analysis of the failure of Indian élites and the rise of popular politics.
Colin A. Palmer
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- July 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781469611693
- eISBN:
- 9781469615301
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469611693.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, Latin American History
This chapter defines the existing Jamaican constitution as an anachronism at a time when many peoples in the colonial worlds were beginning to demand a greater degree of control over their affairs. ...
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This chapter defines the existing Jamaican constitution as an anachronism at a time when many peoples in the colonial worlds were beginning to demand a greater degree of control over their affairs. This was the case in India, Malaya, Indonesia, and elsewhere. Although the 1938 Moyne Commission was not empowered to address issues of constitutional change specifically, it was generally expected that such matters could not be ignored in the much-anticipated report. Appointed in mid-1938, Governor Arthur Richards was sensitive to the rumblings for constitutional change and began to solicit the opinions of the elected members of the legislature on the issue shortly after he assumed his duties. Richards made his request on September 7, 1938, but, as he reported to the Colonial Office, no legislator had responded by February 24, 1939.Less
This chapter defines the existing Jamaican constitution as an anachronism at a time when many peoples in the colonial worlds were beginning to demand a greater degree of control over their affairs. This was the case in India, Malaya, Indonesia, and elsewhere. Although the 1938 Moyne Commission was not empowered to address issues of constitutional change specifically, it was generally expected that such matters could not be ignored in the much-anticipated report. Appointed in mid-1938, Governor Arthur Richards was sensitive to the rumblings for constitutional change and began to solicit the opinions of the elected members of the legislature on the issue shortly after he assumed his duties. Richards made his request on September 7, 1938, but, as he reported to the Colonial Office, no legislator had responded by February 24, 1939.
Kate Flint
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- January 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780691203188
- eISBN:
- 9780691210254
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691203188.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
This book takes a fascinating look at the iconic figure of the Native American in the British cultural imagination from the Revolutionary War to the early twentieth century, and examining how Native ...
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This book takes a fascinating look at the iconic figure of the Native American in the British cultural imagination from the Revolutionary War to the early twentieth century, and examining how Native Americans regarded the British, as well as how they challenged their own cultural image in Britain during this period. The book shows how the image of the Indian was used in English literature and culture for a host of ideological purposes, and reveals its crucial role as symbol, cultural myth, and stereotype that helped to define British identity and its attitude toward the colonial world. Through close readings of writers such as Charles Dickens, Elizabeth Gaskell, and D. H. Lawrence, the book traces how the figure of the Indian was received, represented, and transformed in British fiction and poetry, travelogues, sketches, and journalism, as well as theater, paintings, and cinema. It describes the experiences of the Ojibwa and Ioway who toured Britain with George Catlin in the 1840s; the testimonies of the Indians in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show; and the performances and polemics of the Iroquois poet Pauline Johnson in London. The book explores transatlantic conceptions of race, the role of gender in writings by and about Indians, and the complex political and economic relationships between Britain and America. The book argues that native perspectives are essential to our understanding of transatlantic relations in this period and the development of transnational modernity.Less
This book takes a fascinating look at the iconic figure of the Native American in the British cultural imagination from the Revolutionary War to the early twentieth century, and examining how Native Americans regarded the British, as well as how they challenged their own cultural image in Britain during this period. The book shows how the image of the Indian was used in English literature and culture for a host of ideological purposes, and reveals its crucial role as symbol, cultural myth, and stereotype that helped to define British identity and its attitude toward the colonial world. Through close readings of writers such as Charles Dickens, Elizabeth Gaskell, and D. H. Lawrence, the book traces how the figure of the Indian was received, represented, and transformed in British fiction and poetry, travelogues, sketches, and journalism, as well as theater, paintings, and cinema. It describes the experiences of the Ojibwa and Ioway who toured Britain with George Catlin in the 1840s; the testimonies of the Indians in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show; and the performances and polemics of the Iroquois poet Pauline Johnson in London. The book explores transatlantic conceptions of race, the role of gender in writings by and about Indians, and the complex political and economic relationships between Britain and America. The book argues that native perspectives are essential to our understanding of transatlantic relations in this period and the development of transnational modernity.
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226554198
- eISBN:
- 9780226554228
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226554228.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History
This chapter addresses the problem of African education in western Kenya. Education continued to preoccupy Maragoli leaders in the 1930s and 1940s. The leaders looked to education as the only way for ...
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This chapter addresses the problem of African education in western Kenya. Education continued to preoccupy Maragoli leaders in the 1930s and 1940s. The leaders looked to education as the only way for their sons to advance in the colonial world. The Africans' demand for improved education was not isolated to western Kenya. Throughout the 1930s, members of the North Kavirondo Local Native Council (LNC) debated for their sons' education with uninhibited enthusiasm. Improvements in African education, driven largely by African initiatives, occurred in other parts of western Kenya. The new schools required much more capital for maintenance, and the costs were naturally passed on to the students and their families. It is noted in this chapter that widows wanted their sons to secure lucrative jobs and eventually they wanted this to help them meet their financial needs.Less
This chapter addresses the problem of African education in western Kenya. Education continued to preoccupy Maragoli leaders in the 1930s and 1940s. The leaders looked to education as the only way for their sons to advance in the colonial world. The Africans' demand for improved education was not isolated to western Kenya. Throughout the 1930s, members of the North Kavirondo Local Native Council (LNC) debated for their sons' education with uninhibited enthusiasm. Improvements in African education, driven largely by African initiatives, occurred in other parts of western Kenya. The new schools required much more capital for maintenance, and the costs were naturally passed on to the students and their families. It is noted in this chapter that widows wanted their sons to secure lucrative jobs and eventually they wanted this to help them meet their financial needs.
