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Colonial and post-colonial

relations
WSDA 2021
Matevž Rezman Tasič

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Why this elective?

 Motions that deal with the Third World.
 Lack of Thirld World specific argumentation in debates in general.

 Roadmap:
 Historical background
 Economic relations
 Political relations
 Culture

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Some background
 Types of colonialism
 Settler colonialism
 Extractive/exploitation colonialism
 European superpowers (UK, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Italy,
Belgium) + Japan + USA (late 19th century)
 Decolonization – 2nd half of the 20th century
 Africa and Asia
 Carribean

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Economic relations
 Extraction/exploitation capitalism: priority is extracting cheap natural
resources  underdevelopment
 Settler colonialism: focus on (violent) acquisition of land that is only
retrospectively legalized.
 World systems theory (Wallerstein): centre-periphery
 Constraints of current global capitalist system
 Free market system
 Export oriented economies
 Competitive advantage: cheap labour and natural resources
 IMF structural adjustment programs

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Political relations
 International institutions built in a way that disadvantage global South
 UN Security Council: 5 permanent members
 IMF and World Bank: voting power concentrated in the hands of the West
 The Cold War
 US vs USSR
 Non-Aligned Movement (1961)  Bandung Conference (1955)
 21st century
 China: BRI
 The convergence of discourses: left criticism of US interventions during Cold
War and right criticism of contemporary China
 Multipolarity?
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Cultural relations
 Language: a colonial legacy or emancipating project
 English, French, Spanish = colonial legacies
 Nation-building in post-colonial societies  relied on this remnants of
colonialism
 Different perspectives
 Western perception of post-colonial countries
 Seen as ‚the Other‘ – static, exotic, inherently different
 The role of education

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Some reading suggestions

 Samir Amin: Global History – A View From the South
 Vijay Prashad: The Darker Nations
 Vijay Prashad: The Poorer Nations
 Eric Hobsbawm: The Age of Extremes
 Robert Nichols: Theft is Property!

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