Future of Postcolonial Studies: Globalization and Environmentalism

Hello Readers...…

I am Riddhi Bhatt, Student of English Department, MKBU.Today I came with some interesting blog writing. Yes this is my thinking activity: Future of Postcolonial Studies ,Globalization and Environmentalism assigned by Dr.Dilip Barad.In this blog I am going to summarize two articles about postcolonial studies. I am going to discuss the summary of two articles. One is about Conclusion: Globalization and the future of postcolonial studies and another one is Conclusion: The future of postcolonial studies. So, let’s discuss both the articles.We know that the term postcolonialism is a very old term, and some critics might have said that now it is no necessity to talk about it but the dynamics of the term has changed nowadays. Now we have to look this term in different ways.As a part of the syllabus, students of English department are learning the paper The Postcolonial Studies(paper-203). So, let’s start making this wonderful blog task.

Postcolonialism :

• According to “A Glossary of Literary Terms” by M.H.Abrams…..

The critical analysis of the history,culture,literature and modes of discourse that are specific to the former colonies of England,Spain,France and other European imperial powers.These studies have focused especially on the Third World countries in Africa,Asia,the Caribbean Island and South America.Some scholars,however,extend the scope of such analyses also to the discourse and cultural productions of countries.

• According to the dictionary…

Postcolonialism is the critical academic study of the cultural legacy of colonialism and imperialism, focusing on the human consequences of the control and exploitation of colonized people and their lands. More specifically, it is a critical theory analysis of the history, culture, literature, and discourse of (usually European) imperial power.

CONCLUSION: GLOBALISATION AND THE FUTURE OF POSTCOLONIAL STUDIES

    CONCLUSION: GLOBALISATION AND THE FUTURE OF POSTCOLONIAL STUDIES this article is taken from Ania Loomba’s Colonialism/Postcolonialism. This article is about the impact of postcolonialism in the 21st century.Article's beginning from the talking about the most terrible events of 11 September 2001, the so called global war on terror, and the US invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, it is harder than ever to see our world as simply postcolonial.

'In contrast to imperialism, Empire establishes no territorial.center of power and does not rely on fixed boundaries or barriers. It is a decen. tered and deterritorializing apparatus of rule that progressively incor- porates the entire global realm within its open, expanding frontiers. Empire manages hybrid identities, flexible hierarchies, and plural exchanges through modulating networks of command. The distinct national colors of the imperial map of the world have merged and blended in the imperial global rainbow.'

(Hardt and Negri 2000: xiii-xii)

Article focuses on some important discussions   

1. Liberalization, 
2. Privatization and 
3. Globalization.

'Globalization is just another name for submission and domination’Nicanor Apaza, 46, an unemployed miner, said at a demonstration this week in which Indian women ... carried banners denouncing the International Monetary Fund and demanding the president's resigna- tion.'We've had to live with that here for 500 years, and now we want to be our own masters.'

Ania Loomba is questioning the definition as well as questions the interpretation and views the binary of language. It also sheds some light on the text further clarifies that literary text not simply reflect dominant ideological beliefs but takes into consideration the complexities and nuances within the colonial culture it also portrays how the other culture creates new genre literature is made of language and everything is a game of language. Loomba's text further sheds light on the environmental issues and concerns as a part of the discourse of Postcolonial Studies. Furthermore, globalization carries overwhelming connotations of cosmopolitanism, of the dissolution of national boundaries, of the free flow of capital, labour, and benefits across the confines of locally vested interests.

“Market fundamentalism destroys more human lives than any other simply because it cuts across all national, cultural, geographic, reli- gious and other boundaries.It's as much at home in Moscow as in Mumbai or Minnesota.A South Africa - whose advances in the early 1990s thrilled the world- moved swiftly from apartheid to neo-liberal- ism.It sits as easily in Hindu, Islamic or Christian societies.And it contributes angry, despairing recruits to the armies of all religious fundamentalisms. Based on the premise that the market is the solu- tion to all the problems of the human race, it is, too, a very religious fundamentalism.It has its own Gospel: The Gospel of St. Growth, of St. Choice…”

- P.Sainath.

While discussing market fundamentalism we have also discussed Movie ‘ Reluctant Fundamentalism’. What is ‘Reluctant Fundamentalism’.Yes after some writing I also want to share example and literary text which connecting dots but first here we see some conflicts and main points in this article describing.

Some conflicts are....

1. Man vs Market Fundamentalism (which is even more dangerous than Religious Fundamentalisms)
2. Man vs Nexus between Private Corporations and Democratically Elected Politicians
3. Man vs Private Companies
4. Man vs Multinational Companies (MNCs)

Some main points in Article.... 

• Michael Herdt and Antonio Negri’s 'Empire'.
• Arjun Appadurai’s Modernity at Large: cultural dimension of Globalisation  
• Simon Gikandi’s "Globalisation and the claim of Postcoloniality"
• Samuel Huntington ‘s rhetoric of clashing civilization. 
• Joseph E. Stiglitz’s phrase Market Fundamentalism.
• Nicanor Apaza’s  An Unemployment miner 
• P. Sainath’s And then there was the market.
• Niall Ferguson 
• NBA
• ACTA : American Council of Trustees and Alumni

Examples of Movies :
1. Reluctant Fundamentalism  
This movie was Adapted from Moshin Hamid's novel on the same title,  the fortunes of a young Pakistani student, Changez Khan (Riz Ahmed), son of an esteemed poet and intellectual, as he wanders into Western culture and, essentially, the awful universe of corporate capitalism. Business is battle and this is shown at its best yet Khan's sharp keenness and mental ability before long bring him rewards and, after graduation from Princeton, glory with Underwood Sampson, a worldwide valuation firm situated in New York.Reluctant Fundamentalism - the conflict between market fundamentalism and religious fundamentalism in the aftermath of 9/11.

2. Madaari 
When Nirmal loses his family in a disaster caused by government corruption, he embarks on a journey seeking accountability and revenge.The conflict between common man (father whose child died in bridge crash) and nexus between construction company and politicians.

3. Ghayal Once Again  
In this movie we see that  the conflict of youngsters who witnessed Murder of RTI activist against multi-business owner Bansal.

4. Tigers 
Tigers (initially titled White Lies)is a 2014 Indian drama film directed by Danis Tanović.The episode that repeated in Pakistan in 1990s was repetition of the Nestle Baby Milk Scandal in 1970s that occurred in developing countries. The film features Emraan Hashmi in the leading role as a pharmaceutical representative in Pakistan who discovers his new company's baby formula has killed hundreds of children, after which he begins a lone and dangerous battle against the company.The film faced multiple delays during its initial release. After Tanovic decided to fictionalise Raza’s battle, he had renamed the food company as Lasta in the film.

Example of Add :
1. Nestle's Maggie ban in India - unhealthy food controversy :
The Maggi Noodles crisis in 2015 emerged as one of the biggest public relation hurdles for Nestle India, which came under fire after laboratory tests found the popular two-minute instant noodles were unsafe and hazardous for human consumption.
This we can see as a dark side or down side of the globalization. Because directly it has create an impact on Nestle Company.

2.Ban on Pepsi & Coke in India owing to pesticide issues :
A court in southern India on Sept. 22 lifted a ban on the manufacture and sale of soft drinks by US giants Coca-Cola and Pepsi, amid claims that their beverages contained pesticides. The government in Kerala state had imposed the ban on August 11 after claims by a New Delhi-based environmental group, but the Kerala High Court ruled that the state government did not have the authority to do so. "The ban order issued by the state government was not within the legal powers that rest with the government. Thus we set aside the government order," chief justice V.K. Bali and justice M. Ramachandran said in their ruling.

3. Kerala to restrict use of groundwater by Pepsico; traders may 

Kerala to restrict use of groundwater by Pepsico; traders may stop sale of Pepsi, Coke. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan welcomed the move of traders and said government would extend support to the initiative to check the threat to exploitation of water, pollution and lifestyle diseases.

CONCLUSION: THE FUTURE OF POSTCOLONIAL STUDIES

This article began with the one statement by Gaytri Chakravorty Spivak, that ' no longer has a postcolonial perspective. I think postcolonial is the day before yesterday'. In this article Loomba said that through Globalization we do more damage to the environment.In this conclusion she wants to briefly reflect on some of these challenges and what they might mean for a postcolonial critique.

Vandana Shiva :

Vandana Shiva has exposed the connection between colonialism and the destruction of environmental diversity. She argues that the growth Capitalism, and now of trans-national corporations, exacerbated the dynamic begun under colonialism which has destroyed sustain-able local cultures; these cultures were also more women-friendly, partly because women’s work was so crucially tied to producing food and fodder. 

'one cannot talk about saving the environment while ignoring the needs of human lives and communities (Shiva 1988; Agarwal 1999).'

Other feminist environmentalists are more sceptical of such an assessment of pre-colonial cultures, which, they point out, were also stratified and patriarchal; however, they agree that questions of ecology and human culture are intricately linked.

Harvey :

'All the features of primitive accumulation that Marx mentions have remained powerfully present with capitalism’s historical geography until now. Displacement of peasant populations and the formation of a landless proletariat has accelerated in countries such as Mexico and India in the last three decades, many formerly common property resources, such as water, have been privatized (often at World Bank insistence) … alternative (indigenous and even, in the case of the United States, petty commodity) forms of production and consumption have been suppressed. Nationalised industries have been privatised. Family farming has been taken over by agribusiness. And slavery has not disappeared (particularly in the sex trade).'

(Harvey 2005: 145–46)

In this conclusion, she have offered an invitably partial examination of such challenges, indicating some new directions post-colonial studies has either taken, or must take.

Climate concluding that..

Climate change, refracted through global capital, will no doubt accentuate the logic of inequality that runs through the rule of capital; some people will no doubt gain temporarily at the expense of others. But the whole crisis cannot be reduced to a story of capitalism. Unlike in the crises of capitalism, there are no lifeboats here for the rich and the privileged (witness the drought in Australia or recent fires in the wealthy neighborhoods of California).

(Chakrabarty 2009: 221)

Examples :

1. Sherni 

The film deals with the subjects like human–wildlife conflict and wildlife conservation.The title of the film is a bit of a misnomer, as in Hindi sherni properly refers to a lioness, while the formal word for a tigress is baghin.Though the word sherni is also frequently used to refer to tigresses.

2. Avatar :

In 2154, humans have depleted Earth's natural resources, leading to a severe energy crisis. The Resources Development Administration (RDA) mines a valuable mineral unobtanium on Pandora, a densely forested habitable moon orbiting Polyphemus, a fictional gas giant in the Alpha Centauri star system. Pandora, whose atmosphere is poisonous to humans, is inhabited by the Na'vi, a species of 10-foot tall (3.0 m), blue-skinned, sapient humanoids that live in harmony with nature and worship a mother goddess named Eywa.

3. Dhruv Bhatt's Tatvamasi

Dhruv Bhatt' book "Tatvmasi". In this book he wrote about the "Narmada"river. But in this book he only talks about the beautifulness of the river but there is big conflict raised at that time. But there is no reference of that conflict in his book.

Also not mentioned that "Narmada Aandolan".Also if we talk about the film Reva(Film).There is very conflict raised in that time because they take a land of poor people because government make  a Sardar Sarovar Dam. They paid  a rupees for it but it's not satisfied by all people.The novel remains totally aloof from the agitation in the villages and around Narmada Dam by school activities.

4. Chardham Yatra project :

This project concerns the harm of the environment. However, environmental experts said that three of the five roads are ‘feeder roads’ to the border, and not border roads. Therefore, they need to be treated like regular national highways, which have been functional since 1962.

THANK YOU.....