{"id":454,"date":"2021-10-31T15:02:42","date_gmt":"2021-10-31T15:02:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpmu.mau.se\/nmict21group7\/?p=454"},"modified":"2022-12-18T13:29:11","modified_gmt":"2022-12-18T13:29:11","slug":"decolonization-and-global-matrices-of-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpmu.mau.se\/nmict21group7\/2021\/10\/31\/decolonization-and-global-matrices-of-power\/","title":{"rendered":"Decolonization and global matrices of power"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In my previous post<\/a><\/span>, I said I would talk about power politics and (de)colonization and how my initial awe at such an incredible humanitarian feat turned into disappointment with the official \u2018development industry\u2019 after experiencing it firsthand.<\/p>\n

So, here we are. But where do I begin?<\/p>\n

Well, by quoting Einstein, who never said this<\/a>, \u201cThe definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.\u201d Which is what we are being served under the \u2018decolonization\u2019 banner by the very hands of the colonial power masters.<\/p>\n

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How it all began<\/h5>\n

A refresher history brief on colonization-globalization-decolonization-digital colonization-surveillance capitalism nexus. It is a mouthful, I know. If you prefer, I could resort to Orwell\u2019s concept of Big Brother for the sake of brevity and simplicity. The essence is the same.<\/p>\n

Let us, for a moment, remove the ideas of racism, inequality, and other identity issues from the present equation, and focus on the political economy of colonialism. Because, as they say, to understand politics, you need to understand economics.<\/p>\n

At the time, the European imperial powers, with their mercantilist economies, chiefly Great Britain, France, Spain, and Portugal, were seeking new raw materials and new markets for the expansion of their wealth. Trade was seen as one of the critical levers of state power. This spurred explorations, the most famous of which was commissioned by the Spanish Queen, remembered in history as the Discovery of the New World.<\/p>\n

Fast forward for the next 400 years, and these powers continued to conquer more territories. Around the time of the Industrial Revolution, the great financial divide was firmly set in place for the generations to come. Just before the First World War erupted, most of the world was colonies.<\/p>\n

Fast forward again, it\u2019s the 1940s, and World War II (the real reasons for it \u2013 you should be able to guess by now) is at the gates and then over. Europe lies in ruin. The only socialist state in the world at the time, the Soviet Union, played a critical role in the defeat of Nazi Germany and had to be given a seat at the decision-making table where the New World Order was in the making.<\/p>\n

But not so fast. The end of WWII also marks the beginning of the ideological divide between the \u2018socialist\u2019 block and the \u2018capitalist\u2019 block led by the United States, ‘us’ (US\/West) and ‘them’ (the rest\/South), ‘developed’ and ‘underdeveloped’, ‘human’ and ‘subhuman’.<\/p>\n

Follow the money!<\/h5>\n

Not so much because they \u2018feared the scourge\u2019 of communism sweeping parts of Europe, as to secure their own economic and geopolitical interests, the United States came up with a brilliant Marshall Plan<\/a><\/span> for reconstructing war-torn Europe. Few would care to remember that one of the results of the Plan was the Cold War. The World Bank (not its original name) was established to manage the funds, and presto, the neo-colonial project where the US was to take the reins from the hands of the soon former colonial powers Britain, France, and Spain.<\/p>\n

Or was it the \u2018Invisible Hand\u2019? <\/em>We shall find out soon enough.<\/p>\n

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While covertly helping the colonies free themselves from their existing overlords via proxies, the US was working to become the global financial and military superpower and global hegemon, in which it eventually succeeded after its chief nemesis, the USSR, died an inglorious death soon after the Cold War ended.<\/p>\n

The rest is history. But here is the main catch. With the US and its Western allies’ financial and military hegemony, the world was now up for grabs \u2013 and literally so. Market economy and democracy were the buzzwords. Development aid was another, and after it failed to deliver was replaced with the twin god of ‘globalization’ and \u2018trade\u2019.<\/p>\n

Except that none of these buzzwords meant what you were told to believe. If you would accept the naked truth, all of them were and still are, only the tools in the same capitalist toolbox of political-economic warfare<\/span><\/a><\/em>. And so are you, dear citizen of Western democracy, along with your media, academia, and NGOs.<\/p>\n

Now, I could go on like this ad nauseam. Instead, I will share a few informative videos that buttress these points; you can take it from there. You can disbelieve, or you can do your research and think.<\/p>\n

Here’s a video that nicely and succinctly explains what I was too lazy to put into words. Take a look!<\/p>\n