Colonialism Research Articles

Corruption in the Nigerian Public Sector: Causes, Consequences and Sustainable Solutions

Corruption in Nigeria's public sector has long hindered the nation's development, stability, and prosperity. It permeates various facets of governance and society, leading to detrimental consequences, including economic stagnation, social injustice, and the erosion of public trust. Historical factors, such as the legacy of colonial exploitation and successive post-independence governments' mismanagement, have entrenched a culture of corruption. Despite efforts to combat it, including the establishment of anti-corruption agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), corruption remains pervasive. This study adopts a qualitative research design to explore the complex dynamics of corruption in Nigeria's public sector. Using Albert Bandura's social learning theory as the theoretical framework, and it explores how corrupt behaviors are observed, imitated, and reinforced within the public administration. The research identifies multiple causes of corruption, including institutional weaknesses, economic pressures, and cultural norms, which create an environment conducive to corrupt practices. The consequences of corruption are enormous: It undermines economic growth and development, deters foreign direct investment, exacerbates poverty and inequality, erodes public trust in government, and fuels political unrest and instability. Addressing corruption requires a comprehensive approach involving the strengthening of institutional frameworks, promoting transparency and accountability, improving public sector management, and fostering a culture of ethical leadership. Sustainable solutions to combat corruption include; enhancing the capacities of anti-corruption agencies, to be independent of the executive body, implementing public procurement reforms, ensuring budget transparency, and enforcing stringent anti-corruption measures.

Hurricanes, reconstruction, and resistance: thinking through vulnerability in the Caribbean.

This paper critically analyses events that surrounded the reconstruction of the Colombian archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia, and Santa Catalina islands after Hurricane Iota struck in 2020. Discussing the historical-structural and conjunctural dimensions within which the archipelago's history, various hurricanes, and reconstructions must be set, this paper draws on two theoretical conversations from Latin American and Caribbean critical thought and the critical humanitarian field that understand humanitarian governance as an 'arena of dispute'. Through mainly archival research of different sources, this paper assesses reconstruction and what it laid bare: structural vulnerability largely produced by the long lasting coloniality of power. In addition, it describes the active mediations and negotiations and the plethora of actions and repertoires in response to these centralised plans. Ultimately, we offer a vision whereby what is negotiated concerns not only the priorities and directions of the reconstruction, but also the design of a different future for the islands.

Developing critical consciousness of epistemic (in)justice

Societies and economies are, in part, structured and organised epistemically. However, who has the power to shape key territorial decisions and policies, and based on whose/which knowledges? Whose and which voices, practices, methods, problems, problem definitions and solutions matter in the process? Whose/which knowledge systems are legitimised or delegitimised? These are some of the questions that are raised in this paper on epistemic (in)justice. The discussion contributes to reflections on the development of action research pedagogies and methodologies, in particular on facilitating approaches and processes that are respectful and conducive to the central human capability of different people and groups to produce and receive knowledge. The genesis of the argument is rooted in a critical understanding of the on-going damages caused by epistemological hegemony and coloniality of power, and consciously working towards integrating perspectives of epistemic justice in our praxes. By stimulating the inclusion and participation of those who are marginalised, we contribute to countering dominant narratives and bringing forth nuanced perspectives of the lesser heard, and visible. With those in mind, I highlight the importance of epistemic governance, epistemic freedom, epistemic humility, and inter- and intra-territorial connectivity for enabling the co-creation of transformative relations, visions, spaces, dialogues, and actions in responding to climate change and the associated challenges.

Из истории развития табаководства как важнейшей отрасли торгового земледелия в губер-ниях Южного Кавказа во второй половине XIX – начале XX века

The article focuses on the evolution of tobacco cultivation in the South Caucasus over the research period. The author investigates the spread of this technological culture throughout all provinces in the specified region. Information is provided on the quantity of land occupied for tobacco cultiva-tion, tobacco types, industrial firms and their owners, tobacco products produced, and tobacco sales locations. The author examines the many causes of the shift in demand for tobacco products over this historical time, as well as the unequal level of tobacco production. The essay discusses the excellent conditions for the growth of tobacco production in the South Caucasus, which eventually became commodities. The report also underlined the Russian government’s interest in spreading this crop, which was the primary raw material for the tobacco sector. The government, which contributed to the region’s colonial exploitation by the Russian and foreign bourgeoisie, benefited financially from the expansion of the cultivation of technologi-cal and precious crops. The author finds that the tobacco business in the South Caucasus evolved, improved, and gradually adopted the characteristics of commercial agriculture, which included commodity rela-tions. It is emphasized that the quick expansion of commercial agriculture is closely tied to the emergence of capitalist relationships in agriculture.

Colonial Exploitation and Beyond: Revisiting Indian Environmental History and Historiography

Colonial Exploitation and Beyond: Revisiting Indian Environmental History and Historiography

Contrasting Democratic Trajectories: A Comparative Analysis of Costa Rica and Nicaragua

The main focus of this paper is the democracy process in Central America. It is a case study focuses on Costa Rica and Nicaragua and its respective trajectories towards democracy. Despite their shared historical backgrounds, culture, similar size, and geographical location, Costa Rica has one of the most peaceful and enduring democracies, while Nicaragua has been a tumultuous country with internal conflicts that have directly impacted its democratization. The historical context of colonial exploitation, socio-economic disparities, and political unrest has significantly shaped the contemporary political landscape of the region. This research uses Costa Rica and Nicaragua as examples to highlight the diverse paths of democratic development in Central America. Since 1948, Costa Rica has been a democratic country, while Nicaragua has undergone a dual transition, one through revolution (1984) and the other through democratic elections in 1990. By emphasizing the unique historical peculiarities of the region, valuable insights into the democratization processes are provided. The study uses a historical method to analyze the democratization processes in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. It examines the impact of the conquest period, the role of key factors such as landed oligarchies and military forces, the influence of international economic crises, and the current democratic quality in both countries. The study shows that historical legacies have lasting effects on democracy.

Contending with coloniality: Unsettling migration narratives of Venezuelans in Peru

This article explores how Venezuelan migrants in Peru negotiate sometimes-contradictory notions of identity, solidarity and modernity. Building from decolonial scholarship, it argues for the importance of situated racialized accounts of migrants’ experiences. I found that a common identity as Latin Americans facilitated migration, with an emphasis on solidarity and ‘brotherhood’. Yet, Venezuelans’ narratives also reinforced hierarchical notions of development that position whiter populations as more advanced than indigenous populations. Their stories reveal a constant negotiation between discourses of shared identity and hierarchical understandings of development and modernity that are constantly perpetuated under the coloniality of power. My findings reiterate a need to not only consider multiple intersecting components of migrant identities but also the ways in which identities shift and take on different meanings in different spatial contexts. Based on 18 migrant narratives, the article addresses a lacuna of analyses examining how migrants themselves re-theorize race and development. By centering coloniality and racialization in migration, I challenge linear narratives of migration from less developed to more developed countries and show how some migrants grapple with vulnerability while also reinforcing uneven power dynamics of racialized othering.

Normalistas-Teachers and Coloniality of Power in Mexico

This paper examines how the work of normalista-teachers in Mexico illuminates what Lucio Cabañas Barrientos termed the ‘new colonial system’ in 1972. There exists an ideological hegemony which asserts that colonialism ended in most Latin American nations, including Mexico, by the first decade of the nineteenth century. However, as this paper argues, the experiences of normalista-teachers demonstrate that colonialism is far from a relic of the past. Drawing upon the concepts of hegemony and coloniality of power, this study explores how normalista-teachers challenge the notion of ‘modernity’ and the myth of a bygone colonial era. It focuses primarily on the specific cases of teachers Margarita Chávez, Salvador Hernández, Antonio Gaytán, María Mendoza, José Lundez Martínez, Hernández, Ibarra, Elena Torres, Del Palacio, and Montiel. Additionally, it examines the social movements and guerrilla groups led by Genaro Vásquez Rojas and Lucio Cabañas Barrientos. This holds significant weight for critical pedagogy. If, through their lives and work, normalista-teachers are able to reveal how material and symbolic inequalities rooted in colonialism continue to shape Mexico, then this suggests they are not merely educators, but rather epistemic providers of critical pedagogy from a Latin American perspective.

Becoming both: “students” and “experts” of race in Australian higher education contexts

PurposeThis paper aims to highlight how Black African academics who live and work under coloniality are systematically seen as “out of place” and how this positioning compounds their experiences of interpersonal and systemic marginalisation within predominantly white universities.Design/methodology/approachThis is a conceptual paper that theorises the experiences of two Black African academics in Australian higher education. It takes a form of autoethnography, to demonstrate the intersectional barriers and setbacks within white academia that interact with gender, class and migranthood, potentially undermining their academic progression and/or professional well-being.FindingsBlack African academics in white-majority workplaces repeatedly report experiences of microaggressions, hyper-surveillance and epistemic Othering. This is characterised by research alienation, funding gaps and being passed over for promotion leading to feelings of exclusion and fractured belonging within academia.Originality/valueThe paper argues that while the Coloniality of Power within institutions of higher learning continues to racialise Black African academics as Other, the Coloniality of Knowledge marginalises their intellectual, theoretical and experiential perspectives and contributions. The power of Coloniality and white supremacy are implicated in the epistemic impositions, erasures and negations of the ontological legitimacy and contributions of Black academics in higher education institutions.

Global Inequality Challenge: An Analysis of the Disparities in Wealth and Power

Global inequality is central to the explanation of the disparity between the global North and global South in terms of level of development. World systems theorists have pointed to colonial exploitation of the South by countries in the North as the cause of the disparities in wealth and power between regions. This paper examines global inequality challenges to identify the disparities in wealth and power between the North and the South. The study relied essentially on qualitative data predicated on secondary data. The paper adopted world systems theory as its framework of analysis. The paper showed that the unequal relationship between the global North and the global South was made possible by the colonial exploitation of the South by the North. By adopting the world system theory, the paper revealed how unequal division of labour, terms of trade imbalance, and Bretton Woods Institutions (IMF and World Bank) reinforced global inequality. The study recommended, amongst other things, that the South address internal conditions impeding their development; IMF and World Bank-assisted projects should not be attached with strict conditions.

Coloniality of Power: A short story of a concept

Coloniality of Power: A short story of a concept

A competition for re-presentation: Elizabeth I in contemporary art

In the last few decades, a small but notable number of contemporary artists have embraced an unlikely muse: Elizabeth I, one of England’s first and most famous queens. This article focuses on how three artists – The Singh Twins, Chan-Hyo Bae and Mat Collishaw – have used her image to explore the ongoing effects of empire, trade and colonial exploitation; the relationship between gender, race and power; and the role that art can play in revealing, or blurring, the line between artifice and reality.

The coloniality of power in Uganda's Nakivale Refugee Settlement: struggling for humanitarian authority amidst the 2018 corruption scandal.

This paper addresses the complexity of studying the coloniality of humanitarianism and present-day relationships of power and authority in refugee settings. Building on 13 months of fieldwork, it presents an ethnographic account of the 2018 refugee corruption scandal in Uganda and the Nakivale Refugee Settlement. The core of this paper's argument is based on a grounded analysis of how 'the saga' not only exposed corruptive practices in the country's refugee programme, but also the meanings of being 'human' and what this implies for making claims to humanitarian authority. The paper asserts that the way in which the scandal unravelled in the (inter)national media, and how it affected sociopolitical tensions in the camp, revealed a deeply fraught conception of both human and humanitarian duality, embedded in a coloniality of power. Ultimately, power imbalances, frictions, and conflicts between national, international, and refugee actors highlighted a deep-rooted and historical struggle for humanity and legitimate humanitarian authority.

Ethnocentric Solipsism and Rhetoric of Dehumanization: A Postcolonial Reading of Imperial Hubris in Selected Colonial Novels

Supremacist projections of the Self and reductive representations of the Other have been among the foremost colonial discursive practices. The same skewed representational predilection is manifest also in colonial fictional works. The article aims to unpack the colonial discursive pattern apropos characterization that is pervasive in the selected novels: James Grant’s First Love and Last Love (1868/ 2007), Louis Tracy's The Red Year (1907/ 2020), and E.M Foster’s A Passage to India (1924/ 2021). Two of the features of colonial rhetoric are focused in the study: the creation of uncanny characters and the concoction of eerie ambiance. To regulate the argument of the study, Michael Clarke’s (2013) identification of ethnocentric solipsism and imperialism has been invoked. His ideas guide the textual analysis, facilitate interpretation, and scaffold the argument. The analysis evidences that all three novels offer uncanny portrayals of the native characters, whereas the English are glorified. Moreover, an eerie ambiance has been discursively created to invoke a sense of exoticism and mystery. Both racial and civilizational fallacies have been used in these fictional narratives to depict the desired personae and setting. The article, therefore, posits that the peculiar art of characterization is marked by the imperial hubris and unwarranted solipsism.

Refleksi Eksistensi Petani dalam Panggung Sejarah Indonesia

This article raises issues related to the overall exploitation of farmers in various regions in Indonesia. This paper uses historical methods. The existence of farmers was underestimated because they were merely extras, or more precisely, material for Dutch and Japanese colonial exploitation, both for economic and political interests. This fate then suddenly changed because farmers had joined political party groups and become organizations, such as Pertanu, STTI, BTI, and so on. Unfortunately, the euphoria to support the peasants did not run smoothly because there were clashes with civil society and with those who did not share the same ideology. The result is bloodshed between members of the nation; this is truly ironic. Until then, the New Order was born, and all forms of organizations related to farmers were communized.

Harmonious entrepreneurship: a sustainable model for addressing global inequality

Purpose This study aims to develop an entrepreneurial business model capable of addressing and preventing the exploitation and inequality that traditionally have resulted from entrepreneurship, particularly in emerging economies. Design/methodology/approach The research uses systems thinking, the first law of cybernetics, and the principles of harmony to formulate a systemic solution to the problem, which it exemplifies via six purposefully selected short cases drawn from diverse industry sectors and economies. Findings This paper demonstrates how the conventional model of entrepreneurship, often associated with colonial exploitation and resultant inequalities, can be transformed into a triple bottom line model—harmonious entrepreneurship – that integrates the traditional economic, eco-, humane, and social approaches and creates a synergy where profit, planet, and people are in harmony. The model challenges the profit maximisation/shareholder value doctrine of business success. Research limitations/implications Only six cases are presented here, and there is a need for further research in different political-economic contexts and industry sectors. Also, the way entrepreneurship is taught needs to change so that it addresses the sustainability challenge in general and the problem of inequality in particular. Practical implications There needs to be a change in the entrepreneurial mindset and the way entrepreneurship is taught and potential entrepreneurs are trained if entrepreneurship is to address the sustainability challenge in general and the problem of inequality in particular. Originality/value This is a novel approach to the study of entrepreneurship and its impact on inequality that shows how it can ameliorate and/or prevent inequality, particularly in emerging economies, by adopting a more holistic approach to business success and supplanting “having and needing” with “being and caring”.

Proyectos para la abolición de la esclavitud en Brasil: las perspectivas de Joaquim Nabuco y Luís Gama

Aiming to contribute to the study of Afro-Brazilian history and culture and, therefore, to stand against the coloniality of power and knowledge, this article aims to compare Joaquim Nabuco’s and Luís Gama’ abolition projects, carrying out a partial survey of their respective characteristics and assumptions. Thus, we verify differences and similarities between their proposals and their political and ideological positions to achieve them. It is argued that the abolition project assumed by Nabuco, understood here as a representative of the ruling elites of that historical context, is diametrically opposed to Luis Gama’s project, a formerly enslaved man who succeeded in becoming an anti-slavery poet and advocate. Both act as organic intellectuals of their classes of origin. The first argued that abolition should be conducted by white free men, but deliberate in Parliament; therefore, without the participation of the enslaved ones and with the ultimate objective of whitening Brazil. The second argued that the conquest of freedom should have effective participation of the enslaved, including the use of violence, such as the murder of the lords by the enslaved.

Dispatches from a body on fire: slow death at the intersections of race, gender, and disability

ABSTRACT While contemporary fascisms operate in ways both obvious and covert, this piece focuses on the gradual harms that remain unintelligible in everyday rhetorics. I join scholars such as E Cram, who have tracked how white supremacy erodes our energies and time. Considering inflammation as a record of such harm, I examine how many chronic diseases inscribe systemic abuse onto trans, disabled, and Black and brown bodyminds. Drawing from the narrative traditions of cultural rhetorics, critical race counterstory, and crip and trans of color critique, I story the injured body back into our profession, asking our disciplines to consider how our choices can enforce, expose, or resist the slow burn of colonial exploitation.

Reading for Friday in The Female American (1767)

While styled on Robinson Crusoe (1719), The Female American (1767) differs considerably from Defoe’s text. In the novel, Unca Eliza, a mixed-race heroine, finds safety in an Indigenous tribe using an ‘othered’ body. While marooned, the protagonist climbs inside an oracle, a statue of a sun god. Through it, she speaks with the tribe, thereby converting them to Christianity, or at least a version of it. ‘Friday’ exists in multiple configurations across The Female American, in terms of indigenous groups and individuals who are converted, violently oppressed and threatened, and, as will be demonstrated in this essay, as an extension of the narrator’s identity. This article contends that the combination of the castaway Unca Eliza and the idol of the sun god explores the ambivalence of colonial rhetoric and represents a new configuration of the Friday/Crusoe relationship.

Migration as Reparation for Colonialism

AbstractIt is commonly accepted that former European colonising states ought to make reparations for the many harmful legacies of colonialism. I defend an undertheorised case for migration as reparation for one harmful legacy of colonialism in particular, that of exploitation. Making reparations for the harmful legacy of colonial exploitation requires, among other measures, a redistribution of wealth from former colonising states to their former colonies, and for former colonising states to make symbolic reparations, acknowledging the wrong of exploitation. Often it is assumed that the reparative redistribution can occur through in situ monetary transfers, and that symbolic reparations can involve measures such as apologies. But I highlight an overlooked additional option that should be added to the reparative package: migration rights. Firstly, migration would constitute material reparations, as it is well established that migration from poorer to richer states is an effective mechanism of redistributing wealth, both to the individuals who migrate, but also to those who choose not to migrate through remittances. Secondly, offering postcolonial migrants not only the right to work in their former colonising states, but substantive rights, including immediate access to public funds, would be a powerful means of making symbolic reparations, of former colonising states acknowledging that their key institutions are funded with colonially extracted wealth.