American Colonies Research Articles

Derrida, Autoimmunity, and Islamic Medicine

Autoimmunity often refers to a medical condition, yet it was used by Jacques Derrida to theorize the conflict between religion and science as well as Islam and the West. Derrida’s use of the term autoimmunity became widespread after he used it to diagnose the “American Organism” in the aftermath of the attacks on the Twin Towers in New York City on September 11, 2001. Most commentary on Derrida’s political diagnosis have focused on his reading of Islam as an Other within the US body politic. This essay takes a different approach and reads Derrida’s diagnosis within the tradition of Islamic Medicine. If we are to truly rethink the othering of Islam as a viral autoimmune disease in the body politic of the US empire, we need to understand Islamic thought as forming the very basis of the West’s image of itself. I argue that Islam is far from a self-contained category opposing the West: a virus or a plague attacking it from the outside. Rather, Islam is the swallowed-within of the West itself, to which, the West continuously returns/reacts in an autoimmune fashion.

The Monroe Report, US colonialism and English language education in the Philippines

AbstractThis article focuses on a foundational text in the history of English in the Philippines, that is, the 1925 document, A Survey of the Educational System of the Philippine Islands, which came to be known as ‘The Monroe Report’. Although the Report has often been cited as an emblematic example of colonial control and hegemony, a close scrutiny of the text, as well as a consideration of the historical context, makes possible other more nuanced readings, which situate the Report in the educational progressivism of early 20th century United States, and simultaneously remind us of the continuing relevance of the Report today.

Addressing imperial evasion: toward an anti-imperialist pedagogy in teacher education

ABSTRACT Despite the pervasive impact of US imperialism, it is often ignored in US schools and teacher preparation programs. This paper introduces the concept of imperial evasion, which refers to the process of ignoring and denying imperialism and its effects. The authors argue that it is imperative that educators work to interrogate imperialist ideologies through curricula, and prepare future educators to disrupt such ideologies, policies, and practices in schools. Using a collaborative scholarly personal narrative approach, the authors discuss their experiences and approach to designing and teaching a course on migration and education at a US university. Ultimately, this paper responds to calls to disrupt imperial ideologies in education by (1) providing a framework for identifying and naming imperial evasion and how it operates through schooling; and (2) describing and reflecting on curricular and pedagogical approaches to disrupting such evasions in a teacher education course.

The Role of Trans Pinay Voices in the Case of Jennifer Laude vs. US Imperialism

Abstract PJ Raval’s Call Her Ganda (2018) tells the story of Jennifer Laude, a trans woman who was murdered by a United States (US) Marine and whose conviction was minimized by the Visiting Forces Agreement. The film contextualizes Jennifer Laude’s story with the history of US imperialism in the Philippines and the impact of the US military bases on the local communities and economies surrounding them. The structure of the film is Babaylan-informed, centering women, especially trans women in the movement for justice for Jennifer Laude. In so doing, the audience is presented with a pathway for how to seek justice for violence against trans women in neocolonial Philippines: by centering trans women, who live in the intersections of social, economic, and political vulnerabilities in the movement. This pathway is a process of decolonization for Filipinos in the Philippines and in the global diaspora.

The Death of Governor Andrés González Muñoz and the Rise of Autonomy in Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico’s road toward autonomy with Spain had been a long-sought goal. On January 11, 1898, General Andrés González Muñoz arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico to assume governorship of the island and implement autonomy, a new form of government which gave the island the right of self-rule. This article provides an overview of the rise of autonomy and the important role played by González Muñoz in implementing it. Spain fought hard to keep its last remaining American colonies under its orb granting Puerto Rico and Cuba limited freedom and rights. González Muñoz who had played a role in ensuring that these American colonies would remain under Spain was tasked with ensuring its implementation. Upon his arrival, he attended required ceremonial duties. However, before the day was over, he had died. González Muñoz death contributed to the political uncertainty that would haunt Puerto Rico throughout 1898.

Witchcraft in the American Colonies Beyond the Limits of Salem

In the United States, witchcraft has become synonymous with Salem. When it comes to the history of witchcraft in the United States the conversation tends to be dominated by Salem, as the words witchcraft and Salem seem to have become synonymous. What is also well known is that the Salem Witch Trials led to the deaths of so many and the imprisonment of dozens more. However, fears of witchcraft and witch hunts and trials have occurred all over the world. There is documentation of witches and persecution of people thought to be witches on every continent that people inhabit. In the last few decades, as the subject of women's history has flourished there has been an abundance of research done on the topic of witchcraft and its impacts in the American colonies. However, a majority of this research and the scholarly writings have focused on the Salem Witch Trials. While this has drawn more of the general population into the topic, there is still far more research that is needed on the other witch trials that occurred in the American colonies. Salem has a well-publicized and understood history when it comes to witchcraft and trials, but there are many trials that preceded and followed those that occurred in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Raising Malcolm’s Ghost: Black Radicalism, Third World Internationalism, and Counterintelligence in Lauren Wilkinson’s American Spy

ABSTRACT This article considers the “warring ideals” (Du Bois, Souls of Black Folks) of Black American solidarity with Third World Internationalism and complicity in U.S. imperialism through a reading of Lauren Wilkinson’s American Spy (2019). The novel, a spy thriller, centers on the life and experience of Marie Mitchell, a Black woman FBI agent recruited by the CIA to further an assassination plot against Thomas Sankara, the charismatic socialist leader of Burkina Faso. The story puts individual career advancement in the service of American imperialism in direct tension with the larger collectivist goals of Black and Third World liberation. Thus, the novel invites an exploration of the geopolitical implications of Du Bois’s famous formulation about Black American double consciousness, a formulation most often considered solely as a matter of individual psychology.

The End of the Eclipse for Enlightened Reformation: The Classics and New Interpretations

Abstract The article revisits classic historiographical discussions about the concepts of Enlightened Despotism and Enlightened Absolutism with the aim of identifying the role played by the related notion of Enlightened Reformism. It draws inspiration from new theoretical and methodological perspectives that challenge the traditional view of Enlightenment as a phenomenon centered on a single diffusion center, as exemplified by Global History, which emphasizes the co-produced nature of the Eighteenth-century Enlightenment. A turning point is considered to be the investigations carried out by historians in the 1970s, such as Franco Venturi, who, by acknowledging a "reforming eighteenth century," expanded the scope of Enlightened Reformism, seen beyond the Enlightenment and Absolutism. Enlightened Reformism is a central theme in Ibero-American historiography, increasingly viewed as an organizing concept for governmental actions in the Atlantic empires between 1750 and 1830. With a broader scope of discussions, research addresses the relationship between Enlightened Reformism and topics such as the management of distant territories, slavery, agricultural development, mineral extraction, scientific voyages, and resistance. Studies also delve deeper into the critique of the vocabulary and theories that underpinned reformist discourses, some of which laid the foundations for the processes of independence in the American colonies in the early 19th century.

Variations in Gender Perceptions of Summer Comfort and Adaptation in Colonial Revival-Style Homes

Past investigations have assessed gender variations in thermal comfort and adaptation in different buildings. However, no reported study has evaluated differences in gender perceptions of the thermal environment in US Colonial Revival-style homes. As a result, this study aims to provide an understanding of variations in gender perceptions of summer comfort and adaptation in the buildings. The study evaluated data collected during the field studies of thermal comfort (FSTC), including physical measurements of environmental variables and subjects’ votes. In this study, 67% females and 33% males participated in the field surveys in summertime. The mean neutral temperature of 25.5 °C and preferred temperature of 24.9 °C were noted for females. For males, the mean neutral and preferred temperatures of 25.8 °C and 25.6 °C were observed. Females feel neutral and prefer “no change” to the thermal environment at lower temperatures than males. A difference of 0.3 °C was noted between the average heat indices for females and males. Male respondents who feel warm perceive less air quality more than females. Females and males who perceive being thermally comfortable also perceive good air quality. Females and males who are thermally comfortable rated air humidity to be acceptable. There are similarities and differences between gender perceptions of the thermal environment. The investigation suggests interventions that can help users regulate their skin temperatures and use control measures that are sensitive to clothing insulation. The research also calls for policies that can promote building users’ pivotal adaptive measures to improve their indoor thermal environment. The study enhances our understanding of sustainable indoor environments and how to improve living conditions and adaptive modifications among different groups of occupants in buildings.

Manifest Destiny in Southeast Asia: Archaeology of American Colonial Industry in the Philippines, 1898–1987

Abstract At the turn of the twentieth century, American logging companies backed by the US colonial regime initiated extensive extraction in Bikol, Philippines. Industrial infrastructure and the involvement of a newly assembled Bikolano workforce left a profound imprint on the region's landscape. This article discusses a collaborative archaeological project that used archival materials, place-name analysis, ethnographic interviews, discussions with local scholars, satellite mapping, and drone-mounted lidar scans of former industrial sites. Findings shed light on the enduring ramifications of American logging in the early 1900s on settlement patterns, the infrastructure of routes and mobility, the state of industries from Philippine independence in 1946 through the 1980s, and ongoing environmental hazards. These findings emphasize the legacy of American empire, reveal the role of Filipino logging workers in shaping the landscape through settlement decisions, and uncover intricate connections across a pan-Pacific American colonial frontier that was shaped by both extractive and settler colonialism. This article adds to an emerging trend in Americanist archaeology in which archaeology investigates recent historical and even contemporary events.

“Ni Con Unos Ni Con Otros”: the anti-imperialist and anti-totalitarian movement for democracy in Latin America, 1940–1960

ABSTRACT In 1950, exiles from all across Latin America met in Havana for a congress. The event’s purpose was to unite those striving for a democratic Latin America, free from US imperialism and Soviet totalitarianism. This current of opinion was not marginal: it was enthusiastically backed by millions of voters in largely free elections across the continent. However, very little has been written on democracy in Latin America, particularly during the period explored in this paper, 1940–1960. Recent scholarship on the period has instead focused on the ideological struggle between capitalism and socialism. In this paper, I highlight two democratic congresses held in Latin America in 1950 and 1960, under the title Conferencia Interamericana Pro Democracia y Libertad. The conferences served as a forum to delineate a common definition of democracy for the continent, and to explore how it could take hold in Latin America. This paper thus reveals an ideological current independent from the superpowers, which tried to democratise the region against what participants identified as the twin evils of imperialism and totalitarianism.

Hegemony, co-production and the American Empire: essays in honor of John Krige

Hegemony, co-production and the American Empire: essays in honor of John Krige

Botanical surveying, nation-building and American empire: the US quest for a Philippine flora, 1903–1925

ABSTRACT In the early decades of the twentieth century, the Smithsonian Institution, in collaboration with other partners in the US scientific establishment, sought on multiple occasions to oversee the preparation of a Philippine flora. Boosters originally conceived of the project in 1903 as a means of showcasing US colonial prowess and aiding the economic and cultural development of the Philippines as part of a benevolent civilizing mission. By the 1920s, however, the justification for the Philippine flora increasingly emphasized the US-Filipino partnership, although US officials immediately undercut this collaborative rationale by suggesting that Philippine institutions lacked the skill and infrastructure to preserve and care for specimen collections. This account of how visions of nation-building and imperial power shaped the Smithsonian’s quest for a Philippine flora contributes to ongoing scholarly efforts to integrate the United States into the global history of botany and empire.

Insects and the American Farmer: Crèvecœur's Response to Buffon's and Raynal's Theories of American Nature

J. Hector St. John de Crèvecœur's Letters from an American Farmer includes memorable scenes in which the farmer revives bees he has rescued from the craw of a king bird, and welcomes a hornet's nest inside his house. As I will argue, the book represented insects in a sentimental manner, as a retort to theories advanced by Guillaume-Thomas Raynal, and Georges-Louis Leclerc, comte de Buffon, that insects were noxious and overabundant in America. Insects played a key role in the late eighteenth-century controversy Antonio Gerbi called “the Dispute of the New World,” in which Crèvecœur's book weighed in to promote the North American colonies. In the collection of manuscript essays Crèvecœur presented to London publisher Davis and Davies in 1781, some described plagues ruining crops, or swarms biting colonists, but these texts were passed over, and not published until the 1920s. The article traces Crèvecœur's interactions with Buffon and with Raynal, who were variously rivals and mentors to him, as well as examining how the French-American soldier, farmer, author, and diplomat survived two revolutions and laid down principles today associated with sustainable agriculture.

Navigating the British Atlantic in the Eighteenth Century: What the Logbooks Tell Us

AbstractCrossing the North Atlantic was one of the world's most important oceanic voyages by the eighteenth century. By then, ships built and owned in the British North American colonies and, late in the period, the United States were crossing this dangerous and often-fickle ocean in large numbers. The surviving logbooks of such vessels can serve as unique source material for understanding the Atlantic experience for scholars prepared to interpret and exploit them. Recording the Atlantic passages of the small schooner Sultana, the snow George, and the brig Reward in the Global Sea Routes (GSR) database creates a record for future researchers with a broad array of interests, but only after the obstacles to interpretation are overcome, to the extent possible. I will discuss what those obstacles are, laying out the information to be found in these logs, how it is entered and why, and what it has to tell us about the Atlantic and those who used it at the time. I will make the case that what is contained in these sources justifies the acquisition of the technical and historical expertise necessary to use them.Note: the snow rig was popular among mid-size ocean-going Atlantic merchant ships by the mid-eighteenth century. It is similar to the two-masted brig, as opposed to the three-masted ship, but it has a small “try-mast” just behind the main mast (the after mast), on which the mizzen sail was hoisted.

The Roots of Ethnic Conflict in Post-World War II Myanmar, Malaysia, and the Philippines

The impacts of colonial history on present-day ethnic relations in Southeast Asia, a region known for its cultural and ethnic diversity, remain significant in understanding the sociopolitical developments within the countries of the region. This paper examines the historical origins and contemporary implications of long-standing ethnic conflicts in Southeast Asia, focusing on Myanmar, Malaysia, and the Philippines. I argue that these conflicts stemmed from colonial legacies and can be traced back to each country’s respective colonial periods, which took place at different points in history. From the imposition of territorial boundaries to racial classification and differential treatment, colonial policies resulted in enduring tensions between ethnic populations, which continue to shape ethnic relations in these countries today. British colonial rule in Myanmar fostered tensions between the Bamar majority and non-Bamar minorities, while in Malaysia, disparities between Malays and ethnic Chinese were fueled by British migration policies. In the Philippines, conflicts involving the Muslim minority in Mindanao originated from attempts by the Spanish at Christianization and subjugation, further exacerbated by American imperialism. Despite variations in colonial experiences and timelines, ethnic conflicts underscore the lasting impact of colonization on these countries’ present-day social and political dynamics.

The Decline of the Eastern Empire and the Fall of Constantinople: An Omen for Europe?

There is a theory, already outlined by Toynbee, that empires that have succeeded one another in a dominant position are seeing their centre of gravity shift from east to west. This theory has most recently been evoked in connection with the replacement of the European empire by the American empire, which now seems to be giving way to an Asian empire. If we want to analyse historically the mechanisms that lead an empire to its downfall, the best example to choose is undoubtedly that of the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantine Empire in Western terminology. It is a world that has disappeared, but one that is close enough to us to allow us to understand it, and even to learn from its evolution, which only seems inevitable in retrospect. This story with its succession of internal and external causes of decline is summarized in the present study, leading to the disappearance of the Empire at the hands of the Ottoman dynasty. A parallel is drawn with the present situation of Europe.

The Gauchos as possible heirs of the Moriscos: the case of the Argentine asado

ABSTRACT Asados, Argentine cook-outs or barbecues, to this day have a prestigious reputation within Argentine identity often due to its lasting association with the Gauchos—rural Argentine cowboys—who flourished in the nineteenth century shortly after the country’s independence from Spain. However, what is less known is how this quintessential dish, especially the well-done slow-cooked nature of the meat, is a rarely explored window to the past. I stipulate that the transatlantic, transcultural, and even transtemporal importance of this dish preserved by the Gauchos since the nineteenth century places them and their descendants as the hidden heirs of clandestine Moriscos—mostly crypto-Muslims forcedly converted to Christianity in the Iberian Peninsula—who settled in the least monitored area of Spain’s American colonies in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Moriscos knew how to mask certain actions while still holding strong to some former cultural and culinary practices. So too did the Gauchos as they were originally coined rebellious outlaws who did not want to fully conform and assimilate to the dominant culture. Perhaps in viewing their shared cooking styles we can see the often ignored history of Andalusi influence via Morisco practices in the Southern Cone.

An Empire of Development: American Political Thought in Transnational Perspective

This article offers a reconceptualization of US empire by foregrounding a central concept of its theory and practice: development, an ideology and attendant set of material practices that purport to uplift a defined population through political, economic, and social interventions. Because developmental ideology promises benefits and allocates specific roles to different groups, it has worked as a racializing technology, not only defining and assigning clusters of people to hierarchies of different stages but also establishing possibilities, however limited, for movement between these stages. The article demonstrates how developmental ideas and practices have been persistent, if flexible, features across the racialized government of formerly enslaved persons and Native Americans after the Civil War, overseas expansion to the Philippines at the turn of the nineteenth century, and US participation in transnational debates about empire in the early twentieth century and its pursuit of global hegemony after World War II.

Abstract 994: Single analyte profiling of the mutational, immune and microbiome landscape in african american colon cancer patients

Abstract Colorectal cancer (CRC) disproportionately affects African American (AA) patients who experience a higher incidence and mortality than any other demographic groups in the United States. Yet molecular profiling in this population is scarce. Here, we performed whole-exome sequencing (WES) of 342 immediately snap-frozen tissues comprising AA CRC and matched, distant normal colon and identified distinct genomic drivers, DNA signatures, and, surprisingly, mosaic pathogenic mutations that are not present in the patient-matched CRC. We inferred T cell infiltration and tissue-resident microbiome (TR-M) directly from WES, enabling integrative analyses. Compared to normal colon, T cell infiltration is strongly decreased in tumours with microsatellite stability (MSS), while microsatellite unstable (MSI) and Polymerase Epsilon (POLE) mutant tumours had similar levels, suggesting immune evasion in MSS rather than increased T cell infiltration in MSI/POLE-mutants. Analyses of matched normal and tumour tissues revealed the evolving TR-M at unprecedented granularity and identified distinct niches of interactions with genomic and tumour-microenvironmental features. Together, this study represents the largest comprehensive genomic analysis of CRC in AA and provides a framework for performing a multi-layered analysis from a single analyte, thus, affording a cost-effective approach to expedite medical discoveries in underrepresented ancestries. Citation Format: Carino Gurjao, Edmond Chan, Michael J. Lee, Sho Hangai, Raul Rabadan, Tal Korem, Hanina Hibshoosh, Benjamin Izar. Single analyte profiling of the mutational, immune and microbiome landscape in african american colon cancer patients [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 994.