Colonise! Decolonise!

Dear friends,
May I join the debate on decolonisation? The planet was colonised by
humans. We are lucky that the present Coronavirus is not strong enough
to decolonise it entirely. But who knows? Perhaps the next virus will
reach a fuller success. Meanwhile I would call on anthropologists to
define the meaning of colonisation and decolonisation. Homo sapiens,
out of Africa, colonised five continents; Near Eastern Neolithic
farmers colonised the hunter-gatherers of Europe; Phoenicians
colonised half of the Mediterranean shores; Europeans colonised
America and Australia; Polynesians colonised thousands of islands in
the Pacific; Islam colonised 1/4th of humanity; Christianity colonised
another 1/4th. The history of humanity is a history of colonisation.
And history cannot take us back. What would happen if Australia and
America would be decolonised and returned to the native people? And
what would happen if Europe would be returned to the hunter-gatherer’s
clans of prehistory? And what would happen if the planet would be
decolonised of the human colonisation? Yes, human nature is that of
coloniser. Should this create a guilt complex? Without colonisation
history would not exist, culture would not evolve, the bipedal ape
would have remained in an enclave of the central African bush and
perhaps disappeared long ago. Colonisation is the alternative to
extinction: for viruses as for humans.  Can a virus decolonise the
planet from humans? Do not be so sure that it would be impossible. The
main point is how to decolonise the virus: its colonisation is
disturbing human colonisation. Of course, it is vital, for the
survival of the human heritage, for the wisdom of all, to preserve,
not only, also learn, know and understand, as much as possible, of
traditions, customs and beliefs of cultural patterns that risk to
disappear. It is vital also to avoid that traditional knowledge is not
forgotten. But could an African or Inuit or Khoi colonised Christian
go back to totemic cults? Eliminating the eternal natural human trend
of colonisation does not seem possible: it would mean stopping culture
and evolution. It could be a utopic dream.
No doubts: you will give your course an open-minded broad overview.
Best wishes and cordial regards,
Emmanuel






Il giorno gio 23 apr 2020 alle ore 00:42 Olivia Barnett-Naghshineh
<[log in to unmask]> ha scritto:
>
> Dear all,
>
> Just to let you know that the 10 week short course 'Decolonising Anthropology: Why and How it Matters" will be starting again next Wednesday and will be taught online (6.30pm-8.30pm). More info here: https://www.gold.ac.uk/short-courses/decolonising-anthropology/
>
> Please share widely amongst friends, students and colleagues who might be interested and feel free to get in touch with any questions or queries.
>
> Many thanks and take care,
>
> Olivia
>
> Olivia Barnett-Naghshineh, PhD
> Associate Lecturer and Short Course Convenor (Masters of Sex: Feminisms, Media Sexuality and the Archive; Decolonising Anthropology: Why and How it Matters)
> Goldsmiths, University of London
> @livsit
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