Postcolonial Countries Research Articles

Partha Chatterjee’s concepts of civil society and ‘uncivil’ political society: Is the distinction valid?

ABSTRACT Partha Chatterjee's distinction between civil society and 'political society' in post-colonial countries has provoked much debate and discussion. This has remained controversial in the current literature on post-colonialism in respect of democracy, development and politics. In this article I contest his distinction by pointing out, first that his conception of civil society is limited and abstract (and universalist) that leaves out the vast rural life in India. Second, I question the conceptual and empirical validity of his concept of political society, and argue that his original concept of political society was an urban space of illegality and criminality, but his subsequent shift to cover rural India does not explain how original conception works out in rural India. The empirical evidence available suggests that his so-called political society in rural India is actually part of civil society such as rural clubs, NGOs and other associations that operates in the interface of state, politics and society. In conclusion I seek to restore the political society as the space of the nation-state based on, following Locke, the right to life, liberty and property; trust (contract), definite and codified laws, impartial judiciary, separation of powers, limited government by popular consent and the people's right to revolt.

Becoming an English Teacher in Postcolonial Pakistan and Australian Classrooms: Negotiating Difference in Postcolonial Settings

ABSTRACT One of the consequences of globalisation in recent years has been the unprecedented spread of English as the world’s lingua franca. This has particular resonance in postcolonial countries, such as Pakistan and Australia, whose histories have been strongly shaped by English colonisers in contrasting ways. Written from the perspective of someone who has taught English in Pakistan and Australia, this essay presents my own personal stories of learning as an English language student in Pakistan and Australia. As a student of English, I felt my own voice and identity were often suppressed in the service of a curriculum that valued compliance with external standards over meeting the needs of learners. I explore how my own stories of becoming have shaped my current practices and identity as an English educator in Australian and Pakistani classrooms.

Glocalization of Media Education in Post-Colonial Countries: Challenges andProspects

The term ‘glocalization’ mediates with the concepts of ‘global’ and ‘local’ by suggesting how macro and micro interact with each other and sometimes merge and mingle up in the form of glocalization. This study explores the challenges and opportunities of post-colonial countries for getting glocal in media education which means simultaneously getting global while addressing the needs of the local. The major challenges for glocalization of media education from Pakistani perspectives are; westofixation, de-westernization, political economy of knowledge and research, language imperialism, intellectual dependency, geopolitics of emotions, colonial legacy, ethnocentrism of the west, hegemony in published research, and technological determinism..

Intertwined Destinies: Colonization of Indigenious Peoples and Environment in V. S. Naipaul’s in a Free State

Postcolonial ecologies direct our attention to the specially environmental dimensions of literary works by focusing on the often overlooked nonhuman elements, ecological disasters and the inequitable distribution of resources and waste in developing nations. Decolonization has not solved the problems of poverty, corruption, pollution, disorder, and other vices that characterized colonial countries and has brought about little or no significant difference to the predicament of the environment and the masses in postcolonial countries. This situation is vividly demonstrated in Trinidadian-British writer V. S. Naipual’s In a Free State in which environmental problems as well as social issues continue to directly bear on the destiny of indigenous peoples. In this respect, this study discusses how the fate of the environment and indigenous peoples are intertwined, particularly in postcolonial societies with reference to the work of V.S. Naipaul’s novel. The paper engages with the subject of postcolonial ecologies in discussing the relationship between indigenous peoples and the forms of colonization and its impacts that Naipaul describes in the novel. The paper establishes the centrality of indigenous peoples to the modern colonial context while underscoring the continuity of its resulting environmental degradation in the postcolonial context.

SOUTH AFRICA’S ENDURING COLONIAL NATURE AND UNIVERSITIES

This article focuses on the question of South African decolonisation with particular reference to the Afrikaners as both the colonised and the coloniser. It is argued that Afrikaners winning state power in 1948 became something of an ironicblueprint for African post-colonial countries — nominally independent and free, but in reality still colonies. The enduring colonial characteristics of South Africa are briefly discussed, and how Afrikaner- and African nationalists in power turnedout to be variations of a post-colonial pattern. Language is discussed as a focal point of this pattern since 1948, also with regards to the 2015 student revolts at South African universities. In conclusion some proposals are offered about whatdecolonisation should be, and what universities can contribute to it.

МІГРАЦІЙНА ПОЛІТИКА СПОЛУЧЕНОГО КОРОЛІВСТВА ТА МІГРАЦІЯ З УКРАЇНИ (1990–2020 рр.)

The article is devoted to the formation and evolution of migration policy of British governments at the present stage. It is noted that migration processes are one of the main features of globalization. It is also claimed that the UK has always attracted migrants from different parts of the world, especially from the post-colonial countries and Eastern Europe. As a migration project, it has always been characterized by a high standard of living and a high level of wages in the European Union. However, as a member of the European Community until 2019, Britain has always differed from its European partners in its autonomy and separateness, particularly in the field of immigration policy. The author analyzes the current migration laws passed by the British governments from 1990 to 2020. The active development of migration legislation began during the premiership of the conservative John Major (1990–1997). Therefore, the Conservative government has taken steps only in the direction of quota migration flows. It was determined that the basic purpose of the migration legislation of the United Kingdom was the governments’ ability to comprehensively address the migration problem as a threat to national security. It was officially recognized during the reign of Gordon Brown (2007–2010). It has been proven that the priorities in the UK’s migration policy have been the issues of restraining and controlling the flow of immigrants, in particular their consequences for immigrants from Ukraine. Special attention is paid to the migration component of the Labor government of Tony Blair (1997–2007) and the Conservative government of Theresa May (2016–2019) as the most loyal and hostile cabinet ministers on immigration. The competition between the party principles of controlled (Labor) and rigid (Conservative) migration under their rule has led to the adoption of new laws. In essence and content, they were designed to cope with the growing migration crisis in the country. The importance of the media and information propaganda in the reflection of immigration as a trend of British domestic policy and a key cause of Brexit (2016–2019) is emphasized.

Prospects for and factors that militate against decolonising education in social work in South Africa

The effects of both colonialism and the apartheid that succeeded it resulted in the indigenous peoples of South Africa being displaced, marginalised, excluded and exploited. For many generations, indigenous population groups were disenfranchised, their destinies were taken out of their hands and their socio-economic status was predetermined. As colonisers tended to perceive the knowledge systems of indigenous peoples as being inferior to their own, colonised countries inherited most of their infrastructure and administrations from their colonisers, and their influence continues to be felt in many post-colonial countries even today. The discipline of social work has often been criticised for being dominated by white, Western and middle-class discourses. Although education in social work in South Africa needs to be sensitive to African world views, attempts to decolonise it and to replace Western modes of thinking, being and feeling with modes that are relevant to African cultural experiences have yielded some undesirable consequences.

Debunking Protestant Celticism: Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s Language Appropriation in ‘The Quare Gander’ and ‘An Account of Some Strange Disturbances in Aungier Street’

ABSTRACT Colonial domination has been exercised by many means, exhibiting varied forms and expressions, one of the most prominent ones being language. Postcolonial countries and writers usually have to contend with the dilemma of which language to use, whether to employ their own native tongues, thus fostering national invigoration and a demise of colonial past, or whether the language of the coloniser is a valid tool for national, postcolonial expression. The Irish case is paradoxical: while Ireland possesses a language different to the tongue of the colonisers, by the time literacy was widespread, it had lost its vantage point among the majority of the population, especially the educated elites. In Ireland the question was how to best adapt the language to employ it as a decolonising tool. While many critics place such abrogation movement in the early twentieth century, in the context of the Irish Revival, this paper demonstrates that such language deployments had its origins in the nineteenth century, invigorated by Celticism and Protrestant Cultural Nationalism. By examining two narratives by Dublin-born writer Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, the present study unveils how language was employed to break the well-established paradigms associated to Catholic classes and the Irish national identity.

“Conservation, Tradition and Popular Iconoclasm in North America”

ABSTRACT Throughout North America, contentious debates and protests are occurring over the existence of historic monuments that represent racial hatred. As post-colonial countries, the United States and Canada, are only now grappling with managing historic statues, buildings, and landscapes associated with African American racism and cultural genocide among aboriginal people. The “negative heritage” embedded in these monuments was created by acts of tradition. In this context, tradition is a series of acts and rituals intended to embed cultural values on a place or an object. As North Americans acknowledge the injustice that was done to African Americans and aboriginal people, an iconoclastic movement is underway, resulting in the removal of monuments and buildings. This paper proposes that the role of tradition and iconography should be re-examined in conserving and managing North American built patrimony. Tradition, by its nature, is an intangible heritage and new traditions can transform people’s perceptions of historic monuments. Using the “Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red” installation at the Tower of London as a case study, this article will explore how using tradition can redefine a historic monument within the context of contemporary time and place.

Natural hair chronicles of black female vloggers: Influences on their psychological well-being

This study explored how hair texture chronicles in a post-colonial country is influenced by psychological well-being and a sense of self in women. Our informants were 10 female, black, South African YouTube vloggers, with Afro-textured, frizzy, natural hair. The participants completed qualitative descriptions of their hair chronicles with vlogging. Thematic analysis of the data yielded the following themes: (i) untangling the politics of hair, identity, and race through transitioning hair stories; (ii) hair chronicles for psychological well-being; and (iii) empowerment from wearing natural hair. The results suggest that the reconstruction of society’s norms of beauty through alternative hair narratives for social change has the potential to improve the psychological well-being of black South African women with Afro-textured, frizzy, natural hair. The findings suggest that YouTubers who chronicle their natural hair journeys improve their psychological well-being and sense of identity from social support by similar others.

From Colonialism to Globalisation How History Has Shaped Unequal Power Relations Between Post-Colonial Countries

This paper examines the ways globalising initiatives have been used to mirror neo-colonial practices and foster unequal power relationships between countries in the Global North and Global South. By taking a historical perspective, this paper points to the ways inequality is structured over time and highlights how many globalising mechanisms such as the spread of free markets, foreign lending, and the myth of development theory have favoured growing inequalities. To clarify how globalisation creates neo-colonial relations in modernity, two examples shall be used: the Green Revolution in India and the effects of the Newmont mining corporation in Peru.

Nkrumah’s Elite: Ghanaian students in the Soviet Union in the Cold War

ABSTRACT From the independence of Ghana in 1957 to the ouster of the socialist President Kwame Nkrumah in 1966 more than 600 Ghanaians studied at universities and professional-technical schools in the Soviet Union. For both Ghana and the USSR these students were expected to become the socialist-minded elite that would build up postcolonial Ghana and reinforce the country’s relations with the socialist camp. This paper retraces the history of this student migration which, by that time, was the biggest one from a postcolonial African country to the Soviet Union. It surveys the premises, visions, and policies of the Soviet–Ghanaian cooperation, and investigates the students’ aspirations, before shedding light on their disappointing experiences and subsequent mobilisations in several cities around the USSR. This disillusionment, however, soon gave place to another one. With the ouster of Nkrumah, students studying in the Eastern Bloc came under attack. Back in Ghana, they were depicted as second-class specialists and often saw their ambitions shattered. Under those circumstances, Nkrumah’s students sought support from the Soviet Union and mobilised to defend their degrees and professional rights. In some respects, the post-1966 disillusionment rekindled their relationship with the Soviet Union.

Dynamics and geographical structure of inbound tourism in political transit countries: case of Ukraine

Ukraine is an important component of the world market for inbound tourism. From the beginning of the twentieth century in some years it was included in the list of the world leading tourist countries in terms of international tourist arrivals. To study modern trends in the development of inbound tourism in Ukraine, during the period of independence, the concept of tourist transit, developed by D. Hill, is applied. It is а part of the wider concept of political and economic transit, well known in the social sciences. The indicators of dynamics of tourist arrivals, incomes from incoming tourism and its geographical structure analyzed in the article indicate incompleteness of tourist transit in Ukraine. Tourist arrivals in Ukraine are more vulnerable to economic and political crises compared with developed countries. Incomes from foreign tourism are an order of magnitude lower. The share of several neighboring countries – Moldova, Belarus, Russia, Poland, Romania, and Hungary – in the geographical structure of the inbound tourists is too high. Accordingly, the index of geographical concentration of inbound tourism is considerably higher than the optimal one; that is the market of inbound tourism in Ukraine is not sufficiently diversified. The development of tourism is negatively affected by the unsettled military conflict in the eastern part of the country. Some indicators of the development of inbound tourism, in particular, its excessive dependence on Russia by 2014, too high share in the structure of arrivals of tourists from countries that were a part of the former USSR, bring Ukraine closer to post-colonial countries. For the sustainable development of inbound tourism in Ukraine, it is necessary to continue the democratic reforms in order to complete the political transit, to overcome finally the consequences of the domination of the communist authoritarian regime. Also, important tasks are the settlement of the political conflict in the East, the improvement of the tourism policy and the improvement of branding of the national tourism product, the creation of competitive niche tourism products, as well as the improvement of the quality of tourist services. If these tasks are not fulfilled, foreign tourism in Ukraine will enter the stage of stagnation.

Promoting tropical architecture by implementing design control in zoning regulation

Globalization has led to uniformity in the city images. The ubiquitous “modern” buildings have dissociated the local climate and cultural context. Frampton’s Critical Regionalism postulate saw this phenomenon as the destruction of the creative nucleus of a great civilization and great culture. Postcolonial countries, like Indonesia which inherit colonial cities, facing issues to define their identity, namely in terms of performing Tropical Architecture principles and enforcing it institutionally. The private building’s architectural design is seen as a private domain that cannot be regulated, thus the building owner’s need to present themselves as a “modern and progressive” party shall not be restricted. This paper tries to examine how urban planning can help modern tropical city image actualization by implement supporting regulations. A qualitative approach with stakeholder analysis is conducted to seek the design control implementation opportunity by the municipal government that met with private interest. A content analysis of Landscaping for Urban Spaces and High-Rises (LUSH) Programme from Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) also studied as a success story. The result is that a design control, to achieve a more contextual approach in architecture design practice, could be performed with incentive and bonus schemes in the building permit process and zoning regulations.

EXPANDING THE IMAGINATION: MEDIATING THE AESTHETIC-POLITICAL DIVIDE THROUGH THE THIRD SPACE OF ETHICS IN LITERATURE EDUCATION

ABSTRACT Recent debates among scholars in Literature education have led to polarizing views about the aims of the subject. The debate reignites ancient quarrels about the aesthetic and political values of literary study and relatedly, the different pedagogical approaches to teaching. In the first part of this paper, I explore the aesthetic-political divide in Literature education paying particular attention to how this was reinforced by New Criticism and Poststructuralist Criticism as these were key movements that have had a significant influence on the teaching of Literature in schools. More importantly, I argue that such a divide exemplified the different goals of the West, in which Literature education originated as a platform for the cultivation of taste, and Postcolonial countries, in which the subject was utilized as a political tool for colonization resulting in acts of mimicry and subversion among colonized subjects. In the second part of the paper, I apply third space theory to disrupt the aesthetic-political divide. I discuss the need to create third spaces in Literature classrooms that are critical, inclusive, negotiated and ethical allowing students to engage with aesthetic, political and ethical dimensions of literature.

The Struggle for Power in Post-Colonial Africa: Politics without Hegemony and the State.

Scholars have explained the implications of colonization on Africa, but none has explained the implications to include crisis of hegemony and crisis of state. That is the thrust of this paper, an explanation of how/why post-colonial Africa got enmeshed in violent struggle for power by factions of the dominant class soon after independence. In Africa, colonialism imposed capitalism and inverted the process of evolving a capitalist sate, which made the emerging dominant class, who were of different ethnic and tribal origins, to develop into factions. As a result, the dominant classes were made up of belligerent factions and therefore cannot institute hegemonic process which will be the way they will maintain a dominant culture through the use of social institutions to formalize power. Consequently, in post-colonial Africa, politics is without hegemony (leadership, domination and control) and a state (institution for order). And whenever people struggle for power without hegemony and the state, what emerges is chaos. Hence, post-colonial African countries boil each time there is competition for power. Thus, there is need to redefine state-society relations in post-colonial Africa, based on a new paradigm of state formation that will reflect their colonial experience.

Contending comically: Mahatma Gandhi’s cartoons in South Africa and its after effects

In a postcolonial country, colonial cartoons prove an indispensable source for voicing contemporary public opinion either for initiating resistance towards colonizer’s leadership or for suppressing the colonized who dared to launch resistance in the first place. Simultaneously, humour generated through these cartoons is valuable in identifying the iconicity of an individual as the extent of distortion employed in caricaturing them explains the level of popularity enjoyed by them. This implies that a cartoon can effectively increase/decrease the number of followers of a person who is either glorified or belittled through distortions. In this article, I argue that colonial cartoons despite of their attempts to ridicule Mahatma Gandhi for his rivalry with the British administrators paradoxically went on to glorify him. Cartoons converted him into a popular icon, the one who was easily recognized by masses. Their intention of generating humour by depicting Gandhi in cartoons made people visualise enormous trouble that he was creating for colonizers thus turning him into a celebratory figure against British in South Africa. This moral shaming created from visual depiction of inhuman British rule led to withdrawal of many horrendous acts and laws which were primarily meant for exploitation of Indian immigrants in South Africa.

The Transformation of the Indian Economy in the Contemporary Period: from the Colonial to the Post-Colonial

Abstract The paper contrasts the important economic parameters during the last few decades of colonialism in India with those during the first few decades after independence. In doing so it questions the colonial position that colonialism led to development in the colony and further argues that it was the breaks from colonialism, rather than the continuities, which explain the post-colonial developments. The paper also critiques the Orthodox Left and the Dependency school argument that all post-colonial developments in the colony would lead to further underdevelopment or dependency unless the post-colonial country broke away from the capitalist system into socialism. Finally, it is argued that the continuities with colonialism are not so much in the economic sphere but in the social and intellectual sphere. The longest lasting legacies of colonialism have been that it has left behind a divided people and a people who are yet to fully overcome the colonization of the mind.

РЕЦЕПЦИЯ ПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНОГО ЯЗЫКА И ТЕХНОЛОГИЙ ЗАРУБЕЖНОГО PR В ПОЗДНЕСОВЕТСКОЕ ВРЕМЯ

In the USSR, there was an apparatus of ideological work and propaganda, which was mounted in all state and public institutions. Since the late 1950s, interest in foreign methods of working with public opinion, including management, advertising and public relations (PR), had been growing, and a process of cultural transfer in pragmatic and ideological dimensions had been developing. The use of Western methods of influence (including advertising and PR) was necessary to advance the economic and political interests of the USSR in the capitalist and post-colonial countries. Western methods of influence became the object of analysis in the genre of quasi-academic criticism of bourgeois society, with the opportunity for the reader to understand the content of the main methods of influence (PR, commercial advertising, etc.). The article shows two areas of reception of Western PR language and technologies. The selected publications of Soviet experts on the criticism of Western PR are analyzed. Examples from the practice of Soviet experts of international influence (Vneshtorgizdat and the “Novosti” Press Agency) who worked in those organizations abroad and later, in the 1990s, became well-known PR specialists, are presented. The purpose of the article is to show the selective permeability of the Soviet influence system for foreign PR methods and commercial advertising techniques.

Editorial: A geo-context of corporate governance and law scholarly research

This new issue contains four contributions that geographically extend from Tunisia to Germany, China, and post-colonial countries like Kenya and Uganda. This witnesses the international scope of corporate law and governance and its scalable worldwide applicability, eased by local fine tuning. In spite of this geographical common denominator, the papers evidence spicy differences in their research targets.