Postcolonial Conflict Research Articles

Redefining a global Cosmopolitanism: An attempt towards openness as a central concept in postcolonial conflict resolution

AbstractThe paper deals with the question whether cosmopolitanism is still a relevant concept for conflict resolution and peacebuilding. First, three common criticisms of cosmopolitanism are addressed, namely that it is Eurocentric, elitist and hegemonic. The paper concludes that these criticisms tend to focus on a limited liberal understanding of cosmopolitanism that does not do justice to the diversity of the concept. A redefinition and renarration of cosmopolitanism from a postcolonial standpoint is therefore necessary. Such a definition can only be an open minimal definition that leaves room for appropriation and localisation. This new, global perspective on cosmopolitanism is then evaluated against the background of conflict resolution in practice. The relevance of the concept becomes apparent when looking at the presence of elitist cosmopolitanism in the field.

Disagreement in Post-Colonial Conflicts: between Repression and Resistance in Osiris Rising and KMT: in The House of Life

This article examines the disagreement between individuals that resort to physical repression and the activists that wage moral resistance, in postcolonial conflicts which in effect, turn the protagonists’ relationship into permanent encounters in Osiris Rising and KMT: in The House of Life by Ayi Kwei Armah. It also assesses the complex issues of conflicts and liberation movements’ strategies in independent Ghana that come up with encounters of different natures. Besides, the rise of capitalists’ theories and socio-cultural and political changes place material ownership and egocentrism at the centre of society’s concerns. Yet, it argues that the success of the liberation struggle will be possible if Africans take advantage of exploring specific strategies that are culturally and socio-politically in line with the concept of “the way” which includes effective pan-Africanist ideologies, and cooperation. To examine the nature of conflicts in the novels, this study uses anti-colonialist, Marxist and Afro-centrists approaches to provide an effective method of struggle which is the foundation of Armah’s ideologists. Ultimately, moral resistance seems to be the most appropriate weapon against Western cultural hegemony, because of its ability to meet the demands for Africa’s cultural liberation, and political strategies for progress and social cohesion.

A transcultural approach: mapping cosmopolitanism in Zadie Smith’s White Teeth (2000)

This paper aims to probe into the transcultural aspect of White Teeth by Zadie Smith. Under transculturalism, cosmopolitanism is pivotal in transcending ethnographic and cultural borders. Zadie Smith’s avant-garde effort to acknowledge people around the globe about the perks of a communal society is phenomenal. Her novel addresses thematic concerns of immigration, postcolonial conflicts, globalization, multiculturalism, and identity. Previously, her novel was read and discussed as a postcolonial text. However, this research paves the way to re-read it through a liberal lens and delineates the cosmopolitan approach proposed by Kwame Anthony Appiah. The novel invites readers to consider the complexities of living in a world where cultures intersect, clash, and coexist. This article explains the relationship between the main characters in addition to the bildungsroman of the second generation. The generational differences within families highlight the evolving nature of cosmopolitanism as the characters attempt to reconcile their heritage with their present circumstances. Zadie Smith’s technique of inter-narrativity rekindles hope in global citizens to build a transcultural society together. The article directs the audience to see beyond the postcolonial intrusions and accept intercultural changes as challenges needed to move and grow in this era of globalization.

What Does Art History Have to Say About a Lebanese Sasquatch? The Body of Decolonial Struggle in Amanda Boulos's Art

Abstract This paper focuses on several works by the Palestinian-Canadian painter Amanda Boulos that communicate the shared desire of both Palestinians in the diaspora and Indigenous peoples of Canada to move beyond the normative identities of settler colonialism. Through co-ordinated social historical, formalist and iconographical readings of Boulos's work, I propose a shift in the discourse on global contemporary art, from postcolonial figures of the oriental, the subaltern and the hybrid to strategies of representation such as transformation, ambiguity and queering – a shift intended to foster alliances amongst members of BIPOC communities, against the divisive politics of settler colonialism in Palestine, Canada and elsewhere. To this end, the artworks are set in two interrelated contexts: one art historical and one more strictly political. Boulos's work is read in relation to that of contemporary artists dealing with postcolonial conflict zones, and Modern and contemporary Palestinian artists both in Palestine and its diaspora. Relevant political contexts for her work include Palestinian LGBTQ activism after the Second Intifada and the 2014 Israeli War on Gaza called Operation Protective Edge.

Identity Conflicts in Post-Colonial Northern Nigeria: An Example of E. E. Sule’s Sterile Sky

Ethnicity and religion have continued to play significant roles in preventing the attainment of national identity in post-colonial Nigeria. Within the ambit of the post-colonial theory, this study examines the concepts of identity and hybridity in the inter-ethnic and inter-religious relations that result in the recurring Northern Nigeria’s violent crises as expounded in E.E. Sule’s novel, Sterile Sky. This study shows that the north of Nigeria has, to a great extent, been unable to achieve a hybridized identity with the rest of the nation. Ethnic and, especially, religious identity remain the preferred identity as well as the primary cause of conflicts in Northern Nigeria. In Sterile Sky, ethnic, and especially religious identity are identified as the preferred identity in the cosmopolitan city of Kano, and the primary cause of conflict in Northern Nigeria. This work is a contribution in providing an understanding of the post-colonial conflicts in Nigeria through literary evaluation.

Why peacebuilding is condemned to fail if it ignores ethnicization. The case of Colombia

ABSTRACT Recent criticism of the liberal peace paradigm has raised awareness about racial silence and coloniality in peacebuilding and research. Drawing on ethnographic research in Colombia, this article argues that the interaction between ethnicization, armed conflict, and peacebuilding is relevant not only to so-called ethnic conflicts but to postcolonial conflict settings more generally. To demonstrate this, I first show that ethnicization is a key driver of armed conflict and its territorial expansion. I then discuss how two peacebuilding attempts, the constitution of 1991 and the peace agreement of 2016, dealt with ethnicization. Findings demonstrate that overlooking the interaction between ethnicization and conflict diminished their success. In contrast, embracing ethnic(ized) agency in peacebuilding made visible postcolonial violence, delegitimized its use, and enabled conflict transformation. The Colombian case is indicative of other contexts because it shows that peace cannot be achieved if the colonial fundaments of conflict transformation and democracy remain unaddressed.

Race, Nation, and Diaspora in the Southern Caribbean: Unsettling the Ethnic Conflict Model

AbstractIn much of the southern Caribbean (i.e., Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana), ethno‐political tensions between numerically commensurable populations of South Asian and African diasporic populations have structured narratives of postcolonial conflict between an “African” and an “Indian” political party, setting the limits of national narratives. This article challenges this narrative on a number of points, drawing on oral histories and ethnographic research. I look at how the assumption of homogenous African and Indian groupings ignores important differences of class and political ideology that disrupt racial essentialism and create what I have called “altered solidarities.” I argue that dominant postcolonial frameworks of creole nationalism, state multiculturalism, and securitization in the Anglophone Caribbean have been unable to recognize these alternate solidarities in the region. [race, nationalism, diaspora, Caribbean, ethnic conflict]

High-Risk Contexts for Violence Against Women: Using Latent Class Analysis to Understand Structural and Contextual Drivers of Intimate Partner Violence at the National Level.

Introduction: Intimate partner violence (IPV) affects 1 in 3 women and poses a major human rights threat and public health burden, yet there is great variation in risk globally. Whilst individual risk factors are well-studied, less research has focussed on the structural and contextual drivers of IPV and how these co-occur to create contexts of high risk. Methods: We compiled IPV drivers from freely-accessible global country-level data sources and combined gender inequality, natural disasters, conflict, colonialism, socioeconomic development and inequality, homicide and social discrimination in a latent class analysis, and identified underlying 'risk contexts' based on fit statistics and theoretical plausibility (N=5,732 country-years; 190 countries). We used multinomial regression to compare risk contexts according to: proportion of population with disability, HIV/AIDS, refugee status, and mental health disorders; proportion of men with drug use disorders; men's alcohol consumption; and population median age (N=1,654-5,725 country-years). Finally, we compared prevalence of physical and/or sexual IPV experienced by women in the past 12 months across risk contexts (N=3,175 country-years). Results: Three distinct risk contexts were identified: 1) non-patriarchal egalitarian, low rates of homicide; 2) patriarchal post-colonial, high rates of homicide; 3) patriarchal post-colonial conflict and disaster-affected. Compared to non-patriarchal egalitarian contexts, patriarchal post-colonial contexts had a younger age distribution and a higher prevalence of drug use disorders, but a lower prevalence of mental health disorders and a smaller refugee population. IPV risk was highest in the two patriarchal post-colonial contexts and associated with country income classification. Conclusions: Whilst our findings support the importance of gender norms in shaping women's risk of experiencing IPV, they also point towards an association with a history of colonialism. To effectively address IPV for women in high prevalence contexts, structural interventions and policies are needed that address not only gender norms, but also broader structural inequalities arising from colonialism.

Postcolonial Conflict: Colonising and Decolonising Violence in Helon Habila's Oil on Water

Postcolonial Conflict: Colonising and Decolonising Violence in Helon Habila's Oil on Water

Postcolonial social dramas in European provincial towns: Frank Westerman’s literary journalism

ABSTRACT This article focuses on two literary reportages by Dutch writer Frank Westerman: El Negro en ik (2004; El Negro and me) and Een woord een woord (2017; A word a word), addressing postcolonial conflicts within provincial areas of Europe, seemingly alien to tensions about racism or the colonial past. In El Negro and me, the stuffed body of a 19th-century black man exhibited in a museum in a Catalan town becomes the centre of a controversy over his removal from display. In A word a word, a series of Dutch towns reveals a postcolonial presence in the form of South Moluccan terrorism. Using Victor Turner’s concept of social drama – a public crisis that unveils the conflicts at work within a community – the article discusses Westerman’s reframing of these provincial spaces within (post)colonial history. Both works, while discussing conflicts that are distant, geographically or temporally, from present-day Netherlands, intervene in contemporary Dutch debates on multiculturalism and inclusion.

Coexistent ruins: Exploring Iraq’s Mesopotamian past through contemporary art

The project will initiate and conduct interdisciplinary, expanded media, collaborative research at four ancient sites in Iraq, Mesopotamia: Ur, Babylon, Nippur and Nimrud as well as, through a series of workshops, talks, exhibitions and online coverage with the specific aim of exploring the critical question of how contemporary collaborative art projects conducted at these key archaeological sites can enable a re-engagement with this ancient heritage and history, facilitating a greater engagement with that past and thereby contribute to the local tourism and knowledge economies at these locations. A female lead artist at each of the sites will facilitate a socially engaged programme that will utilize creative responses at these repeatedly colonized sites with participation from local residents, visitors to the sites and female art students; the programme aims to generate a renewed interest in the significance of this ancient heritage. The main aim is for this project to enable the small museums at these sites, which have been neglected for many years, to become more responsive to the needs of the local community. It intends to help with issues of post-conflict healing and reconciliation addressing issues of postcolonial conflict and survival.

The Socio-Economic Consequences of Protracted Conflicts in Post Colonial Nigeria

The justification of this paper is that since after independence, and especially from the 1980’s to the present time, this great nation, Nigeria, has witnessed a series of communal conflicts. These conflicts sometimes assume the character of religious conflicts, but often take the shape of economic crisis. It is the contention of this paper that most youths who provide the ready militia for these conflicts are unaware of both the immediate and long term consequences of the conflicts, hence they continue indulging in an exercise that spells doom for the entire nation. The focus of this paper therefore is to identify some post-colonial conflicts that have some devastating effect on the socio-economic life of the people. It is not the interest of this paper to determine the validity of the perspectives of the conflicting parties which is responsible for the causation and escalation of the conflict. What is our concern is to reveal and expose the consequences of conflict, in order to let our readers, and indeed, the youths to know that conflict is an ill-wind that does not do well to anybody. At the end of this paper, our readers would realize that peace should be considered supreme among humanity’s highest values. This work relied much on secondary source materials.

Beyond the spectacle of ‘refugee crisis’: Multi-directional memories of migration in contemporary essay film

This article examines contemporary essay films that concern refugee im/mobilities across the Mediterranean Sea. In the last few decades, the Mediterranean has been transformed into a fatal space for those attempting to cross the sea without documents. The dominant Eurocentric perspective reductively views these refugee and migrant crossings as violations of European borders. Such limited frameworks feed into the category of ‘crisis’, which demands immediate intervention and top-down governmental solutions, such as the militarization of borders. In this article, I explore essay films that counter and disrupt the ‘crisis’ framework and the sense of urgency and tragedy it evokes: Havarie (2016), a slow-form documentary by Philip Scheffner, and The Leopard (2007), a dance film by Isaac Julien. Drawing on recent theories of multi-directional memory, I investigate the ways in which these films establish mnemonic connections across diverse experiences of displacement, including those produced by European colonialism, transatlantic slavery and postcolonial conflict.

Rereading Classics in East and West: Post-colonial Self-Reflection and Conflicts in Tragic Identity

Rereading Classics in East and West: Post-colonial Self-Reflection and Conflicts in Tragic Identity

Reading Discourses of Power and Violence in Emerging Kashmiri Literature in English: The Collaborator and Curfewed Night

This essay studies two literary texts on Kashmir, The Collaborator (2011) by Mirza Waheed and Curfewed Night (2010) by Basharat Peer and analyzes the discourses of power, overt forms of violence that the works present. It first contextualizes events from the last three years that have occurred in Kashmir to present forms of violence Kashmiri subjects undergo in the quotidian of life. The essay, thus, argues that the selected literary works represent Kashmir as a unique postcolonial conflict zone that defies an easy terminology to understand the onslaught of violence, and the varied forms of power. As analyzed in the article, one finds a curious merging of biopolitics and necropolitics that constructs the characters as “living dead” within this emergency zone. For this, the theoretical trajectory of the essay is mapped out to show the transition from Foucault and Agamben’s idea of biopolitics to Mbembe’s concept of necropolitics. Thereafter, essay concludes how the two texts illustrate Agamben’s notion of the bare life is not enough to understand subjects living in this unique postcoloniality. The presence of death and the dead bodies go beyond bare life and shows how that bodies become significant signifiers that construct a varied notion of agency.

“How Little Progress”? A Political Economy of Postcolonial Nutrition

“How Little Progress”? A Political Economy of Postcolonial Nutrition

The Struggle over the Representation of Armed Conflicts: Human Rights NGOs, Sovereign States, and Post-Colonial Conflicts

The Struggle over the Representation of Armed Conflicts: Human Rights NGOs, Sovereign States, and Post-Colonial Conflicts

Second Skin, white masks: Postcolonial reparation in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Melanie Klein’s theory of psychic reparation has been rightly criticized for colonial assumptions about which objects and populations are deemed worthy of political reparation. Yet this article cautions against dismissing Klein’s account of reparation altogether, and advocates reading Klein against herself. Illustrating this argument, I offer an against-the-grain reading of the psychic dynamics of postcolonial conflict in another text widely criticized for its colonial assumptions: Star Trek. I focus on the anticolonial revolutionary character Kira Nerys in spinoff Deep Space Nine, who never forgives her colonial oppressors, but does integrate love and hate in the context of radical anticolonial coalition-building.

Magical Materialism: On the Hidden Danger of Repatriation Disputes

Magical Materialism: On the Hidden Danger of Repatriation Disputes

From Small Streams to Pipe Dreams – The Hydro-Engineering of the Cyprus Conflict

A 2008 water crisis triggered collective fears of droughts and long-term scarcities both north and south of the buffer zone dividing the Mediterranean island of Cyprus since 1974. Tectonic shifts in the island’s water management were the result. Central to export oriented agricultural production since British colonial days, water has always been a policy priority throughout independence, conflict and division for all administrations on the island. With discourses of scarcity and impending doom on the rise, policy makers north and south of the buffer zone started investing heavily in non-conventional high capacity water resources. Since October 2015 an underwater pipeline from the Turkish mainland supplies the north of the island with freshwater while the Republic of Cyprus has commissioned desalination plants through public private partnerships. This article argues that both the construction of the motherland’s “umbilical water cord” in the north as well as the “desalination rush” in the south are not just reactions to issues of environmental scarcity. It shows that Malthusian narratives of water scarcity leading to conflict are just as mistaken as liberal notions of scarcity leading to cooperation. Instead, relationships of power, rooted in post-colonial state formation, development, conflict and division have motivated financially costly but politically expedient investments in excess capacities, rather than improvement of water management. Both the northern and southern water infrastructure boom is understood within its geopolitical context of creating water as political capital in the peace process. This geo-politically conditioned over-engineering of water resources, finally, provides ample grounds for rethinking the relations between water, conflict and division more generally.