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Eurocentrism, Coloniality and the Myths of Decolonisation of Africa

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Eurocentrism, Coloniality and the Myths of Decolonisation of Africa POLITICS ecolonially speaking, Euro- North American modernity Dunfolded in terms of the colonisation of space, time, being © Shutterstock.com Eurocentrism, and even nature. It announced its presence through the usurping of world history by Europe and North America. It expanded, institutionalised Coloniality and and consolidated itself into a global phenomenon through mercantilism, the slave trade, imperialism, and colonialism. Economically, Euro-North the Myths of American modernity was carried forward and globalised by capitalism. At the spiritual level, it was propagated through Christianisation. At the Decolonisation epistemological level, Euro-North- American modernity consolidated itself through appropriation and monopolisation of all useful existing of Africa knowledges as well as through the displacement, subjugation and silencing of other knowledges that challenged Eurocentrism. To survive until today, modernity evolved and unleashed a very persuasive global programme underpinned by discourses of democracy and human rights as it sought to routinise and naturalise itself as the only natural order of life. The long-term consequences of all these processes were far-reaching and devastating for Africa. They resulted not only in epistemicides but also in the re-articulation of modern human history in terms of the ‘Athens-to-Washington’ historiographical narrative as the logical consequence of the usurping of world history (Zeleza 1997; Ndlovu- Gatsheni 2013a;). Once world history was usurped, the Euro-North American world pushed for the globalisation of Eurocentrism and coloniality. This is why the philosopher of liberation Enrique Dussel categorised the constituent elements of Eurocentrism as including ‘Hellenocentrism’ which privileges and articulated Greece and Rome as the original centre of human civilisation; ‘Westernisation,’ which Fifty years after the celebration of decolonisation identifies Europe and North america the ‘European game’ which denied Africans as the centre of the world and the paragons of human progress; and agency continues to prevail. Coloniality remains ‘coloniality’ which underpins Anglo- Saxon claims to being superior human a reality. beings ordained by God and history to dominate and exploit other human beings (Dussel 2011). By usurping By Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni world history Europeans were able 34 THE THINKER POLITICS successfully gain ontological density and anti-colonial struggles, often having been created by it, are today as the only complete human beings these struggles became ensnared by adopted everywhere’ (Castoriadis while at the same time doubting the the same inventories and grammars 1991: 200). ontological density of all those peoples fashioned by the immanent logic of found outside Europe. modernity, imperiality and coloniality. African loss of ontological density Samir amin defined Eurocentrism Ramon Grosfoguel argued that the idea Today Africans are entrapped as a modern construct that is of a decolonised world is one of the within a modern world system that constituted by a bundle of Western most powerful myths of the twentieth is racially hierarchised, patriarchal, prejudices with respect to other century which erroneously assumes sexist, Christian-centric, Euro- peoples. Eurocentrism became one that the complex ‘heterogeneous and American-centric, hetero-normative, of the banal forms of ethnocentrism multiple global structures put in place capitalist, and colonial in architecture informed by European mistrust of non- over a period of 450 years’ suddenly (Grosfoguel 2011). Denial of the Europeans and a discursive terrain of evaporated ‘with the juridical-political humanity of Africans was based on racism, chauvinism and xenophobia. decolonisation of the periphery over misreading the African being as lacking While Eurocentrism is a deformed the past 50 years’ (Grosfoguel 2007: souls, rationality, writing, history, ideology, it has been used to confer 219). civilisation, development, democracy, upon Europeans and North Americans Inevitably, African efforts to make human rights and ethics (Grosfoguel the right to judge and analyse others history are constrained by their 2007: 214). (amin 2009: 177-178). entrapment in global coloniality. This At the institutional political level, as Amin added that Eurocentrism is means Africans are making history Euro-Americans were busy producing ‘expressed in the most varied of areas: modern nation-states in the wake of day-to-day relationships between Coloniality ‘is the Treaty of Westphalia of 1648 and individuals, political formations and recognising each other’s sovereignty opinion, general views concerning maintained alive and institutionalisation and ‘norming’ society and culture, social science’ in books, in the of a particular modern world order (Ibid 179). Eurocentrism gave birth as a juridical political formation, they to coloniality. Nelson Maldonado- criteria for academic continued to intensify expansion Torres defined coloniality as a global performance, in beyond Europe in violation of other imperial power structure that survived non-European people’s dignity and the end of direct administrative cultural patterns, in freedom. The most important point colonialism. Coloniality exists through common sense, in the is that under the Westphalian order, long-standing patterns of power which African people were not considered consistently work to define culture, self-image of peoples, part of humanity that was expected labour, intersubjective relations, and in aspirations of self, to enjoy national sovereignty. The knowledge production well beyond the Berlin Conference of 1884-5 was strict limits of colonial administrations. and so many other the culmination of a long-process of He elaborated that coloniality ‘is aspects of our modern writing African people out of the ‘zone maintained alive in books, in the experience’. of being’ into a ‘zone of non-being’ criteria for academic performance, where they were available not only for in cultural patterns, in common enslavement but also for colonisation sense, in the self-image of peoples, in within a stage set by Euro-American (Ndlovu-Gatsheni 2013b). aspirations of self, and so many other modernity that was not of their making The Berlin consensus was in fact an aspects of our modern experience. In (Marx 1898: 12). amin (2009: 13) agreement among European powers to a way, as modern subjects we breathe understood modernity to mean that divide Africa among themselves. While coloniality all the time and every day’ human beings armed with secular the institutionalisation of the slave (Maldonado-Torres 2007: 243). thought and science, ‘individually trade became the first manifestation The reality which is often missed and collectively, can and must make of the dark side of modernity, the by Africans is that the post-1492 their own history.’ But the ability of Berlin Conference of 1884-5 enabled modern world system is resistant to Africans to do so was doubted, as colonialism and laid a firm basis for decolonisation. The world orders it their humanity had been continuously global coloniality (Ndlovu-Gatsheni produced — such as the post-1648 denied to the extent of even being 20213a: 45-50). The scramble for and Westphalian order, the post-1945 reduced to commodities during the partition of Africa among European United Nations normative order and slave trade. The reality is that since powers amounted to an open disregard the post-1989/post-Cold War order 1492, Europe and North America and disdain for the African people’s — have all remained resistant to gained a long-lasting victory ‘not only dignity, rights and freedoms (Mazrui deimperialisation (Ndlovu-Gatsheni through the force of its weapons: it 2010: xi). The Berlin Conference was 2013b). This is why even though remains so through its ‘‘models’’ of hosted by the German Chancellor Africans launched some of the most growth and development, through Otto von Bismarck who is credited protracted and heroic anti-slavery the statist and other structures which, for unifying Germany. The unifier of Volume 59 / 2013 35 POLITICS Germany presided over the process of breathing, as they do, modernity and American dominated modern world. the partition of Africa. coloniality every day. The institutions During the Congresses leading black The partition of Africa as noted by that were bequeathed by modernity on people consistently demanded an Mazrui ‘unleashed unprecedented the world such as the nation-state and end to racism and the abuse of black changes in African societies: political, the capitalist economic management people. The Pan-African Congress that economic, cultural, and psychological’ have somehow been naturalised. was held in 1945 in Manchester in (Mazrui Ibid xi - xii). african people Euro-normativity has routinised and Britain not only brought together pan- of different ethnic backgrounds were naturalised itself. Euro-North American Africanists from Africa and the diaspora forcibly enclosed into one of the epistemology has been globalised. but also made a bold statement demarcated colonial boundaries of African minds have been colonised. rejecting colonialism. Pan-Africanists the colonial state. At another level These imposed realities make it very made sure that whenever Europeans some African people with common difficult for africans to exercise extra- and Americans met to decide the ethnic background were randomly structural agency. future of the world excluding black fragmented into different colonial But africans have not given up
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