OK The earliest such revolution I could dig up was Wales in the 1280s, under Llewellyn and Rhys Ap Maredudd, then Scotland in the early 1300s, then the 1739, slave revolt in Jamaica, or the Stono slave rebellion in South Carolina also in 1739, then the 1763 Berbice slave rebellion in Guyana, which became so widespread it took the arrival of European gunboats to quell it. Then we have the 1729 and 1763 Amerindian uprisings against the British (1763 was an interesting year, it seems). For a moment I thought you meant the 1773 Boston Tea Party, but of course that is only number 8 in chronological order here. The Irish Jacobites rebelled against the British Protestant rule in 1689 but I'm not quite sure we can count that in this context, as they would have been happy with another British ruler, just a Catholic one.
Dr Hillary J. Shaw
Director and Senior Research Consultant
Shaw Food Solutions
Newport
Shropshire
TF10 8QE
www.fooddeserts.org
-----Original Message-----
From: Judith Watson <[log in to unmask]>
To: hillshaw <[log in to unmask]>
Cc: CRIT-GEOG-FORUM <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tue, Sep 12, 2017 8:27 pm
Subject: Re: "The case for colonialism" Thank you
Remind me now, which was the first country to have a violent revolution against British colonialism? How is it doing now?
JudithHaving just read the artidle, its main thrust seems to be 'governance was much better in the colonial era (when Europeans ran things) than post colonial (when the indigenous people run things. Kind of ignores two factors, 1) The (admittedly chaotic) governance pf some former colonies now independent often results from the crude boundaries of such colonies, sometimes hacking across ethnic boundaries and sometimes lumping different indigenous groups together, 2) The article compares colonial and post-colonial but fails to compare colonial and pre-colonial. Africa had many advanced cultures before the Europeans arrived, too numerous to list here but well known to historians of Africa. Ditto the Asian colonised countries and indeed south / central America of course.
So let's compare Europe, as the author does with the 'colonisation of Britain by Romans and Normans', without which, he asserts, 'Britain would be a backward Druid country'. Not sure the Druids were so backward compared to e.g. some of the barbarisms inflicted on the indigenous population, e.g the Welsh, by the Normans, not to mention on the Irish by the British a few centuries later (2). But anyway, isn't (1) comparable to the creation of Czechoslovakia,a country carved out of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire after WW 1. That country also failed to endure, and has now split, albeit peacefully (the 'Velvet Divorce', but we also have the Irish split from Britain, the attempted split of Scotland, the possible split of catalonia and attempted split of the Basques, and of Brittany in France. Several of these have been attended by violance. Then what about Yugoslavia, another creation of the post WW1 order, how peaceful was their split into various smaller states? So Europe too isn't immune to violence when state borders transcend ethnic boundaries.
Maybe the author could continue his Britain was colonised theme, go on to the rest of Europe, and compare. Maybe our governnace, he'd find, isn;t so special or so good or so benevolent (is there poverty in south Wales, Detroit, Newcastle on Tyne, the Paris Banlieux) after all. Oh hang on, Detroit, now what about the colonisation of the North Americas Plains in the 1800s, and Hawaii, hmmm, interesting.
Dr Hillary J. Shaw
Director and Senior Research Consultant
Shaw Food Solutions
Newport
Shropshire
TF10 8QE
www.fooddeserts.org
-----Original Message-----
From: Farhana Sultana <[log in to unmask]>
To: CRIT-GEOG-FORUM <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tue, Sep 12, 2017 5:33 pm
Subject: Re: "The case for colonialism" Thank you
Dear Critters,
I thought I would share my two cents on this:
As a descendant of those who lived through the brutalities of colonialism and continue to suffer its consequences, and as someone from the so-called ‘third world’, I found this article highly offensive and insulting as a person, as a scholar of development, and as an author who has published in the same journal (a well-respected one for critical development studies). The article is utterly reprehensible, historically inaccurate, poor written, conceptually weak, and morally disgusting, for a million different reasons. This article has caused a lot of stir among various disciplines, groups, and organizations in the last couple of days. Some members of the editorial board (e.g. Vijay Prashad) have publicly threatened to resign if the article is not retracted. How it made through the peer-review process or the managing editor is surprising and suspect, as far more robust articles are routinely rejected. Many folks are writing letters of complaint to the journal about the piece, calling for a retraction and an apology. Even more are tweeting about it [If you’d like to see some of the tweet thread on this, here’s one example among many circulating now: https://twitter.com/Farhana_H2O/status/907440614144462848]. The article seems like a faux ‘shock’ piece to manufacture controversy and very much conforms to click-bait practices. Perhaps the journal wanted ‘debate’ but it’s facing a lot of heat instead. Either way, it’s disgusting in my opinion.
The author in question (a political scientist at Portland State University) has published white supremacist drivel in the past (e.g. supporting ethnic cleansing), and has made a name for himself in doing so. We all know there are plenty of colonial apologists in academia as well as overt and closeted white supremacists who enable/promote/encourage such success; many more support it through silence and enabling such behavior to go unchecked. Perhaps that is why there is an urge amongst many to write a response. However, a well-known postcolonial scholar has recommended *not* downloading it (as that will only increase its stats & popularity; obtaining it elsewhere like on this list is great), or citing it (unless you have to demonstrate it’s ludicrousness, as again that will increase its citation metrics), or responding to the author directly, as these will take away the power since the author thrives on controversy. Perhaps writing to the journal to retract it is better. There are many other sites where meaningful interventions can be made about decolonizing, postcolonial critique, etc. (e.g. recent TIBG special issue on this, etc.). Nonetheless, the fury that many of us feel, given current state of the world where white supremacy reigns, does seem to warrant some sort of collective response to such ideologies. I don’t know what shape or form that would be, but I thought I’d throw it out there in case folks want to do so. I’m too weary to write something but would gladly support and join in such an effort.
Apologies for the rant, it’s been a very long and hard year.
Best,Farhana
*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*
Farhana Sultana, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Geography&
Research Director for Environmental Conflicts and Collaborations, Program for the Advancement of Research on Conflict and Collaboration (PARCC)
Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
Syracuse University
144 Eggers Hall, Syracuse, NY, 13244, USA
Email: [log in to unmask]
Web: www.farhanasultana.com
Web: http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/faculty/sultana.aspx
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Farhana_Sultana
Twitter: @Farhana_H2O
Books:
Eating, Drinking: Surviving http://www.springer.com/us/book/9783319424675
The Right to Water: Politics, Governance and Social Struggles https://www.routledge.com/products/9781849713597
On Sep 12, 2017, at 10:09 AM, Pamela Shurmer-Smith <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Thank you - I have it now (what a wonderfully quick response)Pam Shurmer-Smith
From: Breffní Lennon <[log in to unmask]>
To: Pamela Shurmer-Smith <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, 12 September 2017, 15:05
Subject: Re: "The case for colonialism"
BreffníKind regards,Hi Pamela,Here's a copy. I share Simone's sentiment about whether to laugh or cry...
On 12 September 2017 at 14:52, Pamela Shurmer-Smith <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
I've seen several mentions of this article recently and the suggestion that the man will rake in the citations. I've no desire to pay £28 to read it (or any other for that matter) but I have no library access now I'm retired. Anyone willing to send me a copy?Pam
Pamela Shurmer-SmithPortsmouthUK
From: simone tulumello <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Tuesday, 12 September 2017, 14:28
Subject: "The case for colonialism"
Hi Critters,just to let y'all know that while we discuss on post-colonialisms and de-colonialisms, people out there make the case for colonialism, in a journal titled Third World.I ain't sure whether to laugh or cry...
Solidarity,Simone
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