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Creole Languages As a Reaction to Political Economy, a Mechanism for Afro-Descendants to Gain Political Agency and a Vehicle to Obtain Freedom from Colonizers

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Creole Languages As a Reaction to Political Economy, a Mechanism for Afro-Descendants to Gain Political Agency and a Vehicle to Obtain Freedom from Colonizers Sociology and Anthropology 3(3): 193-197, 2015 http://www.hrpub.org DOI: 10.13189/sa.2015.030307 Creole Languages as a Reaction to Political Economy, a Mechanism for Afro-descendants to Gain Political Agency and a Vehicle to Obtain Freedom from Colonizers Ashley Needham University of Oregon, USA Copyright © 2015 Horizon Research Publishing All rights reserved. Abstract Haiti was the only European colony to of the intermixing of Afro-descendent cultures and European successfully execute a slave-led rebellion. This paper aims populations in the Caribbean. It was a cultural development to demonstrate the strength of the Haitian people and the that gave agency to periphery people that were exploited for maneuverability to use colonialism against colonists. This the economic gain of the dominant society of the core [2]. goal of this paper is to provide evidence to demonstrate the Furthermore, creolization, in general, was a way for impact that creolization had on the Caribbean, in that, out of periphery countries to mediate the political economic colonialism came a unique and unprecedented culture and development of the core, through challenging the structure that the very goal of colonialism, to subjugate Africans in that the core global powers enforced, in this case the order to leverage the European economy, would be the hegemony of Europe. What challenged the hegemony of reason for the downfall of the colonialist project in Haiti. Europe was the unprecedented creative ingenuity of the Through document analysis, literature review, and intermixing of cultures. This ingenuity was the shared examining relevant data, this paper demonstrates the ability language of Haitian Creole. Creole gave Afro-descendants or of materialism to revolt against colonialism, the use of Afro-Caribbeans their own ability to communicate, organize creativity as a demonstration of agency, the connection and develop a new way of life separate from the generations between linguistic history and emancipation, and finally of institutionalized and systemic oppression at the hands of that creolization was a vehicle for the independence and colonial powers. Creolization would ultimately lead freedom of the new Haitian people. Afro-Caribbeans to the Haitian revolution. Keywords Creolization, Political Agency, Political Economy, Afro-Caribbean, Afro-American, Afro-Descendant, Creative Ingenuity, Materialism, Marxism, 2. Materialism and Creative Ingenuity Capitalism, Colonization, Liberty, Freedom, Racism, The accumulation of wealth in Haiti prior to the revolution Periphery–Semi-Periphery–Core, Revolution, Hegemony depended on the exploitation of human labor. This system was a representation of the Marxist political economic theory that human labor, such as slavery, was instrumental in producing a successful economy in Europe. This is why 1. Introduction creolization was so important. It was a way to symbolically and practically break from the dominating European powers. In this paper I am arguing that the creolization of the Furthermore, it was utterly unprecedented. It took colonizers Caribbean, specifically Haiti, was a development that came by surprise, for as you can imagine, they had little regard to out of the political economy of colonization. Moreover, the humanity of their slave populations. The first part of my creolization was a mechanism for the increased political research paper will focus on Sidney Mintz’s agency of Afro-descendants and a vehicle for obtaining “Afro-Caribbeana” and his argument for creative ingenuity freedom. This paper will have four sections: Materialism as as a result of the intermixing of cultures. Using Mintz’s the driving force of culture that yields creative ingenuity; argument, that despite the fact that slavery was detrimental to creativity as an expression of agency; linguistic history those who were exploited, it sparked this creative ingenuity related to political agency; and creole as a vehicle for that changed the Caribbean indefinitely, I am arguing that independence and freedom. In sum, my argument is as creolization such as Haitian Creole language gives follows: the development of the Haitian Creole language was Afro-Caribbean’s political agency. It was a way for a transformative creative ingenuity that occurred as a result Afro-Caribbean slaves to deny the power of their colonizers 194 Creole Languages as a Reaction to Political Economy, a Mechanism for Afro-descendants to Gain Political Agency and a Vehicle to Obtain Freedom from Colonizers to ultimately give agency to themselves and reject the their labor is exploited in order to strengthen the European authority of the Europeans symbolically, “Instead we see economy. Mintz further develops this claim by arguing that that culture is used…cultural forms confirm, reinforce, the plantation system is based on coercion, slavery, maintain, change or deny particular arrangements of status, investment and entrepreneurship and was necessary for power, and identity” [1]. Europe’s rise in economic power, “the growth of slave-based Mintz posits a Marxist theory in his article that economies in the New World was an integral part of the rise materialism is the driving force behind culture. In other of European commerce and industry,” [1]. This is important words, Mintz believes that our economic system is what because it demonstrates not only the continued connection of shapes our cultural systems. This demonstrates that Mintz is slavery to world-system theory through slave-based not a cultural determinist, for he argues that our political economies, but also demonstrates that Caribbean cultures economy is primary and culture is secondary. This theory is were constructed in terms of economic growth. Therefore, the basis of my argument to understand creolization as a the basis of the development of culture is rooted in medium for political agency. The creolization of the materialism. This Marxist theory, that materialism drives Caribbean comes from the notion that Afro-descendants culture, is helpful to the development of my claim that were transplanted into the Caribbean in order for European creolization, which develops out of an oppressive political powers to leverage the European economy on the backs of economy, is an expression of human creative ingenuity that exploited labor and raw materials of periphery regions. This gives marginalized groupings of people political agency. is how we can analyze the existence creole because it was a Furthermore, Mintz continues by arguing for a humanistic result of an economic decision that mixed African, European, understanding of the repressive conditions of slavery by and indigenous cultures together. Thus, resulting in a new understanding the creative process of the slave through the and persisting cultural system of creolization. Mintz uses this voice of Ralph Ellison. This creative process that understanding of Marxism to give a humanistic account that redeveloped culture in the Caribbean stems from the Marxist creolization and the intermixing of cultures in the Caribbean, theory of materialism. In order for creolization to occur, gives Afro-descendants political agency. For African populations were subjugated by European powers to Afro-descendants in the Caribbean were able to mediate their support the economic growth of core regions. Mintz argues experience as oppressed human labor, to create a new for the representation of creative ingenuity first through the language and cultural system that gives them more power creation of jazz music, “A slave was, to the extent that he was within the core-periphery system. This manipulation led to a musician, one who expressed himself in music, a man who creole language as the ultimate symbolic expression of realized himself in the world of sound” [1]. The tension defiance against their oppressors. between the need to be heard and the repressive conditions of Akin to the Marxist theory that materialism drove culture slave labor that continued to deny any human expression is and embedded in Mintz’s “Afro-Caribbeana,” [1] is what led to creolization, such as the emergence of jazz Wallerstein’s world-system theory. This theory argues that techniques. This emergence is important in recognizing the different regions of the world are linked through a single ability of enslaved Africans to assert their individual and economic system based on capitalist exploitation that creates collective power in spite of the repressive conditions they a disparity between powers based on wealth [4]. were in. World-system theory saved Marx’s idea of the proletariat Mintz continues his argument that supports the claim of rising up to destroy the oppressive bourgeois by restructuring creative ingenuity emerging through oppressive conditions the way we need to assess social class and wealth disparity through the emergence of Creole languages. The existence of on a global scale. While Marx was addressing the British different tongues spoken by Afro-Americans demonstrated industrial revolution and its consequences, Wallerstein is in “Haitian Suriname, the Dutch Leeward Island, the British addressing the post-colonial era of Western imperialism and and French Lesser Antilles, and Louisiana” [1] is because of how the core manipulates the periphery into submission. the commitment enslaved Africans had towards their cultural World-system theory is helpful in understanding how it was heritage and the continued ability of slaves to maintain their possible for Afro-descendants to negotiate the hegemonic individual and
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