Outline Lecture Three: Decolonization Vs. Neocolonialism I) “A World Safe
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Outline Lecture Three: Decolonization vs. Neocolonialism I) “A World Safe for Democracy”? a) Amritsar, India in 1919 i) Demonstrations against the Rowlatt Bills ii) General Reginald Dyer’s response and rationale on behalf of the British Raj (1) George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” b) Versailles and China’s May Fourth Movement 1919 i) What were the catalysts behind the May Fourth Movement? ii) May Fourth’s Ambivalent relationship with the West (1) Western-inspired ideals of democracy and self-determination (2) E.g. Chen Duxiu’s New Youth c) Impetus for Social Reforms i) Many saw anti-imperialism and anti-feudalism as synonymous ii) Associated traditional China’s feudal society with gender inequality (1) Call for women’s entry into the public sphere II) Revolutionary Movements in China 1911-1949 a) Key Dates: i) 1911 Revolution–Sun Yat-sen’s overthrow of Qing (Manchu) Dynasty and founding of the Republic ii) 1919 Beginning of May Fourth Movement iii) 1926-1928 Chiang Kai-shek’s Northern Expedition and national unification iv) 1937-1945 Sino-Japanese War v) 1949 Communist take-over of the mainland under Mao Zedong; Nationalist Party under Chiang retreat to Taiwan b) Dr. Sun Yat-sen and the Founding of the Republic i) Experience and exposure of an expatriate and exile ii) Three Principles of the People (1923) (1) First Principle: Nationalism (2) Second Principle: Democracy (a) Egalitarian ideals since antiquity (i) Mencius’s justification for Gemin or “revoking the mandate” (b) Five-power Constitutional Republic (3) Third Principle: Livelihood (a) Socio-economic inequality as key flaw of Western capitalism (b) To ensure equitable livelihood, state ownership of certain industries III) India’s Path Towards Decolonization a) Legacy of the British Raj from 1858-1947 i) Long-term debilitation of India’s economic infrastructure ii) Exclusion of Indians from government iii) Anti-colonial reaction (1) Gandhi’s “Svadeshi” or “Home-spun” Movement (2) Symbol of the “home-spun” tunic (dhoti) b) Gandhi and the Satyagraha Movement i) Meaning of Satyagraha (1) Code of Satyagraha ii) Sources of Satyagraha (1) Hindu heritage, along with Jainist and Buddhist ethics (2) The ethic of ahimsa (a) “Even if it be a superstition to believe that complete immunity from harm for 25 years, in spite of a fairly regular practice of non-killing, is not simply a fortuitous accident but a grace of God, I should still hug that superstition!” (b) Fundamental belief in the virtue of doing no-harm to all creatures c) The Power of Non-Violent Civil Disobedience i) Ahmedabad Strike (1) Conditions for strike (2) Personal fast as manifestation of Satyagraha or “truth-force” ii) Kheda Satyagraha 1917 (1) Civil disobedience 101 (a) Purity of purpose, solidarity of its participants, pro-active self-sacrifice (b) Obedience of conscience vs. obedience of convenience (i) “A satyagrahi obeys the laws of society intelligently and of his own will, because he considers it to be his sacred duty to do so” d) Gandhi’s Self-avowed Shortcomings i) Gandhi’s admission of his “Himalayan Miscalculation” ii) Lack of systemic, institutionalized change iii) Gandhi’s truly rare legacy of rigorous and tireless self-examination IV) The Decolonization Process a) Decolonizing Trends in Asia and Africa i) Inspired in part by ideology of nationalism and self-determination (1) Belated realization of Wilson’s hopes? (2) Maturation of an indigenous elite class exposed to Western education? ii) Participation in war against fascist powers in Europe and Japan during W.W.II b) Ho Chi Minh’s call for national independence of Vietnam in 1945 i) French Vichy government’s colonial policy (1) Betrayal of France’s own ideals of “Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity” ii) Final French defeat at Dien Bien Phu in 1954 c) Algerian War of Independence 1955-62 i) Staunchly opposed by the war-time hero, Charles de Gaulle ii) Racism of the “Pied-noir” or “Black foots” iii) Frantz Fanon (1925-1961) (1) Wrote Wretched of the Earth on his death-bed in 1961 (2) Decolonization should not be about imitating the West, but forging new path V) The New Mask of Imperialism—Neocolonialism a) Definition of Neocolonialism i) Decolonized states have the outward trappings of sovereignty ii) But more insidious form of imperialism b) The Post-colonial Agenda behind Foreign “Aid” i) International Monetary Fund and World Bank (1) Exercise control through monetary loans (2) Conditions for loans ii) Little towards education iii) Only safe aid is “military aid” c) Nkrumah’s Pan-Africanism i) Wrong end of economies of scale (1) Relative to foreign powers, all colonial economies are miniscule ii) Africa’s need for large, diversified economy d) The Socialist Alternative? i) Attractive alternative to the persistent inequalities of neocolonialism .