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There was a really good comment by Zoe Todd on twitter that I think it's useful to share, as I've not seen this discussed on here - but it touches on the right's tactics in the current US context:
'That colonialism article is a trap. It is designed to outrage and enable its supporters to rail on about academic freedom of speech'.
Everything about the article - the way the abstract is written etc - feels like it's designed to generate outrage. How to respond without falling into that trap? I don't know the answer to that. Partly as calling out and response is absolutely necessary, including outrage!, but also feels like exactly what the author would want in the context of the politics around 'free speech' in the US at the moment (and what the various right wing networks he's embedded in would want).
As Farhana and others have said on twitter, I think it's really important that, if the article is read, it's done so in a way that doesn't increase the metrics of the journal or the author. So we don't click on it, don't circulate it.
That we pay attention to it, or rather to the white supremacist views it expresses and the right's tactics of outrage generation it performs, without allowing that attention to be turned into some sort of value to journal or author (or for the article to gain legitimacy through the act of giving it attention).
Again, I really don't know the answers here, I'm interested in what people think, just some worries about response in the current conjuncture!
Ben
From: A forum for critical and radical geographers <[log in to unmask]UK> on behalf of Toby Applegate <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: 13 September 2017 00:29:03
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: "The case for colonialism" Thank youWow. That was quite the read and reminds me that, possibly, I was educated by minds like this in my undergraduate days 30 years ago. Anyhow, a healthy retort issue of articles from a geography journal seems to be in order. It doesn’t give this sort of thinking credence, because 15 articles of 7000 words each means that this article can be rendered into beyond 100,000 pieces of confetti that we can all toss into the air at an appropriate direct action against this sort of ideology.
Toby Martin Applegate, PhD
Lecturer in Human Geography
Department of Geosciences
The University of Massachusetts-Amherst
[log in to unmask]
+1.413.545.1535
On Sep 12, 2017, at 6:25 PM, Judith Watson <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Thank you. This is really important and I hope everyone will respond. Taking my the mickey out of the article's failure even to understand internal contradictions in Europe might help a bit but the general attack against everything outside Europe is clear.
Judith
Sent from my iPhoneHello again colleagues,
I have received many emails of support and solidarity in response to my earlier post on this list. Thank you to all. Here is a petition I helped to create to ask editors of TWQ to retract the piece and issue an apology. Please sign and share widely. https://www.change.org/p/editors-of-the-third- world-quarterly-retract-the- case-for-colonialism? recruiter=409526319&utm_ source=share_petition&utm_ medium=twitter&utm_campaign= share_petition
Thank you.
Best,Farhana
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/ ]. 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.907440614144462848
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 <00000d8a0cee4734-dmarc-[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 <00000d8a0cee4734-dmarc-[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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