IR 002 Lecture 13

Question 1

What is postcolonialism in International Relations?

Answer 1

-A theoretical approach that explores how empire and imperialism continue to structure the practice and study of international relations
-Imperialism = domination of other countries
-Colonialism = “the policy…of acquiring…political control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically”
-Global South = developing countries in the post-Cold war era

Question 2

What are 2 foundational moments in postcolonialism?

Answer 2

-Bandung Conference (1955 between 25 newly independent states talked about expanding the decolonizations process, peace, and the creation of the Non-Aligned Movement)
-Post 9/11 The Global War on Terror (negatively effected the Global South and hurt people of color in the United States)

Question 3

When was the Non-Aligned Movement created?

Answer 3

1961 at the Bandung Conference

Question 4

Who are the 3 foundational theorists of postcolonialism?

Answer 4

-Frantz Fanon (1925-1961)
-Edward B. Said (1935-2003)
-Gayatri Spivak (I1942-…)

Question 5

Who is Frantz Fanon and which of his ideas influenced postcolonialism?

Answer 5

-Experienced colonial racism in the French army during WWII
-Wrote “The Wretched of the Earth”
-Focused on the generative character of violence: “colonialism is violence in its natural state, and it will only yield when confronted with greater violence”
-Psychological damage of colonialism on the victims and on the perpetrators)

Question 6

Who was Edward B. Said and which of his ideas influenced postcolonialism?

Answer 6

-Palestinian-American
-Wrote “Orientalism”
-Orientalism: To define itself as civilized/progressive/raitonal, the west defines “The East” (or Orient) as barbaric/lazy/irrational (Western leaders see themselves as superior so they think they have the right to repress/oppress/reform the east)

Question 7

Who was Gayatri Spivak and how have his ideas influence postcolonialism

Answer 7

-Indian
-Wrote “Can the Subaltern Speak”
-Subalterns: communities who fall outside of hegemonic discourse (ex. the “untouchables” in India) suffer from silencing/erasure/writing out
-The West ignores “subalterns” but also uses them as a pretext to justify Western interventions (ex. Afghan women in the Global War on Terror)

Question 8

What are critiques against International Relations as an academic by postcolonial scholars?

Answer 8

1) The discipline of International Relations has racist origins (Late 1800s to early 1900s international relations studied race and colonial administration)
-Assumption that states “increase their resources… through the absorption or exploitation of undeveloped regions and inferior races”
2) The top 5 international relations journals (1945-1993) only have 1 article with race in the title
3) Excessive reliance on racist white thinkers (ex. Immanuel Kant, Woodrow Wilson)
4) Historical marginalization of African American international relations scholars (only 9% of today’s scholars are Black or Latino)
5) Persistent amnesia on some racial questions (ex. Textbooks ignore the role of slavery in the West’s economic development)
6) International relations suffers from Eurocentrism (The West is at the center of spatialization and periodization of history and is considered as the end point of development)
7) International relations neglects the mutual constitution of great powers and colonies (Europe is presented as separate, superior and exporting its model but Western powers were always dependent upon their empire)

Question 9

What are examples of the biased coverage of World War II?

Answer 9

-World War III was presented as the “good war”
-The use of nukes against Japan was partly rooted in racism by the United States
-We ignored how the West’s colonialism inspired the holocaust (colonialism = the progenitor for the Holocaust)