Postcolonial theory (Cultural Theory)

Biopolítica borbónica en Chile: el discurso antropológico sobre la ociosidad y el vagabundaje

by Patricio Lepe-Carrión

En editorial para ser publicado en el libro colectivo "Revisando el presente. Ensayos críticos desde el sur". CEAPEDI. Universidad Nacional del Comahue - Argentina.

The Intersections of Archaeology and Postcolonial Studies.

by Matthew Liebmann

2008. In Archaeology and the Postcolonial Critique, edited by M. Liebmann and U. Rizvi, pp. 1-20. Altamira Press, Lanham, MD.

Illegal evictions? Overwriting possession and orality with law’s violence in Cambodia

by Simon Springer

Springer, S. Forthcoming. Illegal evictions? Overwriting possession and orality with law’s violence in Cambodia. Journal of Agrarian Change.

The unfolding of a juridico-cadastral system in present-day Cambodia is at odds with local understandings of... more The unfolding of a juridico-cadastral system in present-day Cambodia is at odds with local understandings of landholding, which are entrenched in notions of community consensus and existing occupation. The discrepancy between such orally recognized antecedents and the written word of law have been at the heart of the recent wave of dispossessions that have swept across the country. Contra the standard critique that corruption has set the tone, this paper argues that evictions in Cambodia are often literally underwritten by the articles of law. Whereas ‘possession’ is a well-understood and accepted concept in Cambodia, a cultural basis rooted in what James C. Scott refers to as ‘orality’, coupled with a long history of subsistence agriculture, semi-nomadic lifestyles, barter economies, and–until recently–widespread land availability have all ensured that notions of ‘property’ are vague among the country’s majority rural poor. In drawing a firm distinction between possessions and property, where the former is premised upon actual use and the latter is embedded in exploitation, this article examines how proprietorship is inextricably bound to the violence of law.

"Strategic Empathizing: Techniques of Bounded, Ambassadorial, and Broadcast Narrative Empathy"

by Suzanne Keen

Issue 3.2 Masquerade: Caribbean Issue, Table of Contents

by Moving Worlds: A Journal of Transcultural Writings

Per una teoria del cyberfemminismo oggi. Dall'utopia tecnoscientifica alla critica situata del cyberspazio

by Federica Timeto

Studi Culturali, n. 3, dicembre 2009, pp. 453-478

La nozione di tecnosocialità elaborata nell’ambito dei social studies of technology (STS),  e ampiamente... more La nozione di tecnosocialità elaborata nell’ambito dei social studies of technology (STS),  e ampiamente dibattuta all’interno della riflessione tecnofemminista, porta in primo piano la costruzione sociale del genere e della tecnologia, e la necessità di considerare congiuntamente le tecnologie di genere e l’ingenerarsi delle tecnologie. Questo saggio analizza l’apporto teorico e pratico del cyberfemminismo al dibattito, analizzando la fase utopica e quella critica del cyberfemminismo per soffermarsi sull’incontro fra il cyberfemminismo, il pensiero postcoloniale e il femminismo transculturale. Ritornando alla radice politica del pensiero di Donna Haraway sul cyborg e sui saperi situati, il cyberfemminismo situato e transculturale recupera la dimensione incarnata delle nuove tecnologie, e adopera e analizza le nuove tecnologie di informazione e comunicazione considerandone gli effetti materiali e simbolici in relazione alle dinamiche della produzione e del consumo, della collocazione e della mobilità, per rivendicare un agire femminista che scaturisce dai contesti e dalle storie in cui l’intreccio fra corpi e tecnologie fa differenza.

Keywords: ICTs - cyberfemminismo - Donna Haraway - studi postcoloniali - femminismo transculturale

8.2 "New" New Zealand Table of Contents

by Moving Worlds: A Journal of Transcultural Writings

Issue 11.2, Postcolonial Europe, Editorial

by Moving Worlds: A Journal of Transcultural Writings

Issue 11.2, Postcolonial Europe, Table of Content

by Moving Worlds: A Journal of Transcultural Writings

Violent accumulation: a postanarchist critique of property, dispossession, and the state of exception in neoliberalizing Cambodia

by Simon Springer

Springer, S. Forthcoming. Violent accumulation: a postanarchist critique of property, dispossession, and the state of exception in neoliberalizing Cambodia. Annals of the Association of American Geographers.

Employing a poststructuralist-meets-anarchist stance that advances conceptual insight into the nature of sovereign... more Employing a poststructuralist-meets-anarchist stance that advances conceptual insight into the nature of sovereign power, this article examines the dialectics of capitalism/primitive accumulation, civilization/savagery, and law/violence, which are argued to exist in a mutually reinforcing 'trilateral of logics'. In deciphering this triadic system, this article offers a radical (re)appraisal of capitalism, its legal process, and its civilizing effects, which together serve to mask the originary and ongoing violences of primitive accumulation and the property system. Such obfuscation suggests that wherever the trilateral of logics is enacted, so too is the state of exception called into being, exposing us all as potential homo sacer (life that does not count). Proceeding as a diagnostic assessment of sovereign power, where although signposted by Cambodia's contemporary experiences of violent land conflict, this article is not intended as a fine-grained empirical analysis. Instead, it forwards a theoretical dialogue where Cambodia's neoliberalizing processes offer a window on how sovereign power configures itself around the three discursive-institutional constellations (i.e., capitalism, civilization, and law) that form the trilateral of logics. Rather than formulating prescriptive solutions, the intention here is critique, where in particular it is argued that the preoccupation with strengthening Cambodia's legal system should not be read as a panacea for contemporary social ills, but as an imposition that serves to legitimize the violences of property.

Representation in postcolonial analysis

by Noel B. Salazar

Salazar, Noel B. 2008. Representation in postcolonial analysis. In W. A. Darity (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (2nd ed., Vol. 7, pp. 172-173). Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA.

Fanon and the Négritude Movement

by Cynthia Nielsen

currently under editorial review

Frantz Fanon recounts how his subjectivity as colonized other was constructed and how a politics of white assimilation... more Frantz Fanon recounts how his subjectivity as colonized other was constructed and how a politics of white assimilation contributed to his self-fragmentation. While cognizant of the social forces at play in systemic racialized contexts, Fanon, nonetheless, refuses to deny a black person’s agency. Fanon’s insistence that the oppressed retain their ability to act as free agents and to resist and (re)configure their subjectivity has political, ethical, and philosophical import, as it highlights the fact that the subjugated are not mere things determined from the outside. To the contrary, just as several contingent factors coalesced to create the historical situation in which the colonized subject finds herself, other equally contingent factors—including the oppressed engaging in intentional subversive acts and resistance strategies—can emerge and help to bring about socio-political transformations. Moreover, Fanon, like his teacher Aimé Césaire, understood that the process of decolonization and subject re-narration would occur over a period of time and in various stages. By studying Fanon’s complex relationship to the Négritude movement and by highlighting his appropriation and critique of its themes and variations, Fanon’s resistance tactics come into sharper focus. That is, contrary to worries of Fanon promoting a reactionary racialized essentialism, I argue that Fanon’s employment of essentialized narratives can be interpreted as a variant of (what Spivak calls) strategic essentialism. In short, Fanon, like Césaire, understood that different historical moments require different resistance strategies. His recognition of the need to adopt for a time essentialized narratives for therapeutic and upbuilding purposes, coupled with his understanding of the productive nature of socially constructed identities signals a movement beyond a mere reactionary response still trapped within a binary Manichean framework.

"Discerning Globalization through Translation as Postcolonial Identity" in Crossing the Disciplines: Explorations at the Interface

by Cynthia Sau-kuen Tsui

Doctoral Conference Paper, Centre for Translation & Comparative Cultural Studies, University of Warwick, UK. Warwick Working Papers Series 2008 (ISBN 0-954 2465-4-3), p.22-37.

An attempt towards cutting-edge theoretical explorations in translation studies. Starting from the identity crisis in... more An attempt towards cutting-edge theoretical explorations in translation studies. Starting from the identity crisis in cultural globalization known as “Jihad vs. McWorld” by Benjamin Barber, this paper draws inspirations from Annie Brisset's observation of the “deficient” target language in translation and Edward Said’s criticism on “Orientalism”. It then challenges Jacques Derrida’s “Différance” and points to a new view of cultural identity of negotiable differences, offering a philosophical solution to the global identity crisis.

Four Ways of Reading Nirad C. Chaudhuri : A Case Study of A Postcolonial Conservative

by Ian Almond

Published in Orbis Litterarum (2011)

The article examines four ways of reading the work of a twentieth century Anglophone Indian intellectual, by employing... more The article examines four ways of reading the work of a twentieth century Anglophone Indian intellectual, by employing postcolonial, Foucauldian, Zizekan/Lacanian and ultimately deconstructive approaches to produce, in each case, a very different thinker: a willing imperialist tool, a sly subverter of colonial hegemony, a postcolonial subject fraught with internal libidinal tensions in its relationship to the paternal power and, finally, an intellectual obsessed with historically emptying and rendering finite every cultual phenomena he encounters.

Islamisierte Körper auf der Bühne : Identitätspolitische Positionierung zur deutschen Islam-Debatte in Arbeiten des postmigrantischen Theaters Ballhaus Naunynstraße Berlin (Islamicized Bodies on Stage : Identity Political Positioning towards the Debate on Islam in Germany in Works of Berlin's Postmigrant Theatre Ballhaus Naunynstraße)

by Nora Haakh

Master thesis (Magisterarbeit), 120 pages, german, unpublished

The Indian Dimension of An-Na'Im's Islam and the Secular State

by Prakash Shah

This paper focuses on the chapter on India in An-Na'im's Islam and the secular state. It first sets out the general... more This paper focuses on the chapter on India in An-Na'im's Islam and the secular state. It first sets out the general context of An-Na'im's writing and his specific commitment in Islam and the secular state to distinguish between the secularity of the state, on the one hand, and the basically private realm of shari'a. This forms the basis of An-Na'im's contention that shari'a and state law should be kept separate and that the state is not competent to enforce shari'a. The paper then goes on to examine the basis for secularism in India's experience of British colonialism, and locates its roots in India's encounter with British Protestantism. The discourse of secularism has survived in post-colonial India and become a constitutional commitment, although its theological underpinnings continue to exacerbate ethno-religious conflict. The answer to such conflict must lie outside the domain of the opposition between religion and secularism therefore, and potentially in India's long consciousness of pluralism, including legal pluralism. As an example of the continued vitality of such pluralism the issue of courts and judging in the Muslim law context is taken up, with a focus on some controversial litigation in matters of Muslim personal law. These examples actualize the claim of the paper that An-Na'im's thesis in Islam and secular state may actually not be workable in concrete contexts outside of the theological premises which underpin it.

Law, Empire, and Historiography of Modern Sino-Western Relations: A Case Study of the Lady Hughes Controversy in 1784," Law & History Review 27, No. 1 (Spring 2009), 1-53.

by Li Chen

Abstract:
Western extraterritoriality in China (1842-1943) exerted an enormous impact on Sino-Western relations... more Abstract:
Western extraterritoriality in China (1842-1943) exerted an enormous impact on Sino-Western relations and on modern Chinese national identity and historical consciousness. The Lady Hughes dispute in Canton [Guangdong] in 1784 has been the most powerful and often the sole piece of “evidence” for numerous Western commentators and historians over the past two centuries to argue that imperial Chinese law and judicial practices were too arbitrary and sanguinary to govern “civilized” Westerners in China. This discourse has dominated our understanding of not only this critical stage of modern Sino-Western relations but also late imperial China’s law, politics, and diplomacy. Utilizing both original English and Chinese records, this paper provides a comprehensive, critical reexamination of this landmark international dispute and its far-reaching historiographic impact. It argues that the “colonial archives” of such early Sino-British legal disputes should be “read against the grain” to recover the histories that have been suppressed or almost erased by the unequal relations of power between the actors involved. Furthermore, as a micro-history, this case study also sheds new light on the complex process of accommodation and contestation between two empires and their respective agents in South China, with conflicting claims to imperial power and prestige. That the central administrators and the local agents on both sides had different priorities complicated the situation even further. The conventional wisdom on late imperial China’s law and international relations that has relied upon the traditional, over-simplistic representations of this and similar legal disputes should be reevaluated.

内容摘要：
在1840年前一百多年间的中英贸易史中,英方(在1834年前由东印度公司所代表)只有在1784年的修斯夫人号船员[Lady Hughes]枪杀案中,才将英国凶手交给清朝政府审判法办。本案件的最终结果是乾隆皇帝下旨, 着广东巡抚将英国凶手当众绞死。可能当事人谁也没料到这一普通的凶杀案件, 会成为中外近代关系史上影响最为久远的事件。它不仅成为英国派出第一个访华外交使团的重要原因,并被英国政府和国会援引, 作为在华建立英国法庭以及在鸦片战争后要求获得治外法权的重要理由。在随后两个世纪中, 众多历史学家和国际法学家也用这一案件来为西方延续了一个世纪的治外法权辩护,并进而演绎出一种影响深远的史学理论,认为落后的中国传统法律政治制度和外交政策与西方现代文明制度间的差异是近代中西冲突的根源。但很少有学者认真研究过这件案子的原始档案,更罕有学者认真对照中国和英国在1784 年(而不是1840年、1884年、或者是1984年)的法律来探讨该案件的处理过程和结果。本文利用英国东印度公司关于本案件和其它相关案件的原始档案和现存的中文资料, 重新考察这一重要的国际争端。
不同于此前的主流史学论述,本文的主要发现简单归纳如下: (1)根据1784年后英国及近代西方学者的通行说法,在修斯夫人号案件中表现出来的中国法律和执法的严酷、野蛮和腐败,是西方抵制中国管辖权,甚至纵容杀人放火和鸦片走私的原因。但本文认为这不过是英国为其早在1670年就开始谋求在华治外法权的做法而构建的一个似是而非的理由; (2)过去两个多世纪中对这一案件的解读存在重大的史实错误或偏差, 其主要原因是忽略了英文官方档案乃“殖民者档案,”没有对其进行批判性研究和对比性审读,而是近乎全盘接受其观点和“事实”表述。作者认为,在英方官方档案中,中方代表和当事人如同英国殖民者档案中的被殖民者,没有自己的声音和主体性,被英国当事人的预设立场和叙述模式所笼罩。我们可以借鉴后殖民研究学者的方法,对这些档案进行“逆文理”式处理(read against the grain), 利用这些殖民档案来(部分)再现历史事件本相; (3) 但本文不仅仅是为了驳斥长期以来关于该案件以及由此衍生的关于中西近代关系和中国法律传统的史学观点, 而是力图重现被垄断性史学论述(master narrative)所掩盖的历史事件复杂性, 并进而揭示历史“真相”的构建过程。史学界流行以文化或文明冲突论来解释近代中国和西方之间的矛盾。但本文认为这种传统观点不仅经常缺乏充足的事实根据,也阻碍了我们重型认识国际间政治和文化霸权的深远历史影响。本文通过资料分析和对比, 认为修斯夫人号事件更多地反映出中英作为两个实力此消彼长的帝国为了维护自己的政治及经济利益、主权、帝国尊严、和统治秩序而展开的交锋, 而并非所谓的落后野蛮的中国(东方)法律文化制度与先进文明的西方法律文化制度间的不可避免的争端。本文再现了在广东的中英双方地方官员之间的紧张角力和谈判，以及他们如何在各自的政治和法律框架下谋求自己的利益最大化。本文是作者博士论文中所涉及的一个案例研究, 希望从微观史和从批判性文化史的角度, 来重新考察法律、文化帝国主义与近代中西关系三者的关系: 以及知识、权力和历史“真相”三者如何影响了文化主体性以及现代性的形成。

Rey Ty, M. Konate, & Flavia Carvalho. (2008). Critical Post-Colonial Feminism in Asia, Africa, and Latin America: Gender, Advocacy, and Development. Proceedings of the African American Latino(a) Conference. Chicago: Northeastern Illinois University.

by Rey Ty 鄭文華 (郑 文华)

Rey Ty, M. Konate, & Flavia Carvalho. Gender and Development: Post-Colonial Feminism in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

This qualitative research uses multiple case studies to investigate the role of social
movements in the Global... more This qualitative research uses multiple case studies to investigate the role of social
movements in the Global South that advance women’s causes in the Philippines, Mali, and
Brazil. As social movements are learning sites in all the three cases, popular education is an
important tool for consciousness raising and the collective empowerment of women.

Postcolonialisme et francophonie

by Nathalie Schon

Les Antilles françaises sont habituellement étudiées dans le cadre d’études francophones en France ou dans le cadre... more Les Antilles françaises sont habituellement étudiées dans le cadre d’études francophones en France ou dans le cadre des études postcoloniales et des New World Studies aux Etats-Unis. Les perspectives ne sont bien entendu pas les mêmes. Les études francophones se donnent pour objet l’étude de la francophonie. Mais comment définir la francophonie ? On peut partir du principe qu’il s’agit de l’ensemble des peuples dont la particularité est d’user du français. Au delà de cette dimension linguistique, qui est un critère insuffisant pour effectuer un rapprochement culturel, la francophonie prendrait toute sa dimension à travers  » l’acceptation d’une relation, d’une coopération des différences assumées  » (1). Il s’agirait donc de l’expression d’une autonomie au sein d’une grande famille culturelle. Ainsi, dans le cas des Antilles françaises créer un discours autonome serait une lutte incessante pour s’affirmer dans etmalgré une situation d’assimilation. La francophonie d’après cette définition est-elle opératoire aux Antilles puisqu’à l’absence d’une identité antillaise assumée s’ajoute la vision exotique que véhicule le terme de francophonie pour Guy Dugas  en  » nous invitant à rechercher plutôt du côté du lointain ou de l’île  » (2) ?

Colonising Kahlo: Frida Kahlo and the Transcultural Encounter

by Tina Kinsella

This book chapter was published in Transcultural Encounters Amongst Women: Redrawing Boundaries in Hispanic and Lusophone Literature, Art and Film, edited by Patricia O'Byrne, Gabrielle Carty and Niamh Thornton' and published by Cambridge Scholars Press, 2010,

Colonising Kahlo: Frida Kahlo and the Transcultural Encounter
 
Having achieved contemporary iconic status,... more Colonising Kahlo: Frida Kahlo and the Transcultural Encounter
 
Having achieved contemporary iconic status, the artist Frida Kahlo has become a 'modern myth'. Such mythic status is manifest in both recent art historical dialogues and in the use of Kahlo herself as a 'sign' within the popular imagination. In this chapter I will explore these recent discourses from a feminist postcolonial perspective. Specifically, I will investigate the notion of the transcultural encounter, asking: Does the transcultural encounter with Kahlo's work result in an affirmative experience or, rather, does the transcultural encounter create a space of conflict and confusion?  
 
In answer to these questions I will suggest that modern representations of Kahlo as cultural icon have appropriated and misrepresented both her image and her art. This has resulted in a (re)colonisation of Kahlo which has imbued both her image and her art with (re)signified meanings. In an explication of the consequences of this (re)signification I will examine these newly invented connotations, suggesting that they are potentially oppressive discourses. Finally, I will suggest that, in this instance, the transcultural encounter is a manifestation of 'Othering' which simplifies, cannibalises, commodifies  and controls the image and art of Kahlo in order for her to perform to the trite expectations of her newfound colonisers.