Colonialismo

Protesters in favour of the coup, some holding anti-France, pro-Russia signs, in Niamey, Niger, 3 August 2023. Photograph: Reuters

MundoÁfricaEuropaUnión Europea, , ,

Retreats from crumbling empires are inevitably characterised by hastily arranged evacuations. Panicked civilians make their way to rickety airport terminals, in the hope of an emergency flight out of the chaos. This was the postcolonial scene in Niamey, the capital of Niger, this week, as hundreds of French nationals joined other EU citizens in scurrying away from the west African nation.

Sections of the military had staged a coup against Mohamed Bazoum, Niger’s democratically elected president, just before 3 August, the country’s National Day, when it marked 63 years since gaining nominal independence from France in 1960.

Crowds were chanting “Down with France” as they targeted the country’s embassy last weekend, smashing windows and setting fire to perimeter walls.…  Seguir leyendo »

The renowned Swiss ethnologist, merchant and art collector Hans Himmelheber, photographed in 1971 with his masks. © Rietberg Museum, Zurich

Europa, ,

"And I said to the Minister: I'm glad that Switzerland never participated in either slavery or colonization”.

Four years after this statement by former Swiss minister Doris Leuthard during a visit to Benin, eight Swiss museums joined the Benin Switzerland Initiative. This initiative is part of a process of decolonizing museums. Through this initiative, Swiss museums have discovered that, of the 97 objects in the collection originating from the Kingdom of Benin, 40% come from the colonial period.

If you were to ask the Swiss what they think of their colonial history, most would say that it doesn't exist. Researchers have nevertheless proved the colonial involvement of Switzerland, or rather of certain Swiss people.…  Seguir leyendo »

A party from the village of Kambo, led by Elfinesh Tegene, approaching the cave of Ametsegna Washa, Menz Keya Gebreal district, Ethiopia, November 2022. Frederic Wehrey

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In the fall of 2021, as military forces from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) swept south toward Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital, they encroached upon a swathe of highland territory known as Menz. A blue-green land of deep ravines, terraced hills, and imposing flood basalts, Menz is sometimes seen as a place apart. In his classic midcentury ethnography of the area, Wax and Gold, the University of Chicago scholar Donald Levine observed among its inhabitants—most of them farmers of barley, sorghum, and teff—a potent mix of martial prowess and piety. This “land of fighting and fasting”, as he called it, served as the cradle for a dynastic line of Amharic rulers that included Menelik II, the founder of the modern Ethiopian state who dealt a shattering blow to the Italian colonial army at the battle of Adwa in 1896, and also Haile Selassie.…  Seguir leyendo »

‘This year’s Biennale present the joyous, hopeful face of a fragmenting world.’ The installation Ghebbi by AD-WO. Photograph: Vincenzo Pinto/AFP/Getty Images

ReflexionesPensamiento, Cultura y Ciencia,

This year’s Venice Architecture Biennale, titled Laboratory for the Future, was inaugurated on the same day that the leaders of the G7 industrialised nations met in Hiroshima. As different as these events appeared, both signalled the end of globalisation. Both also displayed the promise and perils of a fragmenting world.

Of all the arts, architecture is the most globally homogenising. Erecting tropical copycats of Paris and London was a staple of European colonial policy. Today, the same glass-and-steel tower blocks dot interchangeable financial capitals the world over.

But the 2023 Biennale’s curator, the Ghanaian-Scottish architect Lesley Lokko, is using international architecture’s most influential event to critically reassess that one-world narrative.…  Seguir leyendo »

ReflexionesPensamiento, Cultura y Ciencia

Si volvemos la vista al siglo XIX, cuando se gestan las claves de nuestro mundo actual, asistiremos a la aparición del llamado liberalismo imperialista, un imparable movimiento expansionista europeo hacia Asia y África, encabezado por Gran Bretaña. Inglaterra había arrebatado Canadá a Francia, se había asen­tado en Australia y en la India, invadido Afganistán, intervenido en Oriente Medio, Crimea y China… Francia y Gran Bretaña continuarían disputándose la hegemonía en Oriente y África hasta que entre 1884 y 1885 la conferen­cia de Berlín legalizó el reparto de territorios.

Alexis de Tocqueville apoyó el expansionismo europeo y es un ejemplo paradigmático de la pretendida ambigüedad del pensamiento liberal de esos años.…  Seguir leyendo »

A visitor walks through the collections of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, plunged into a virulent controversy for having used the term "bersiap", which echoes the memory of the colonial violence perpetrated in Indonesia by the Kingdom of the Netherlands. © Olaf Kraak / ANP / AFP

MundoAsiaEuropaUnión Europea, ,

On October 13th, 2022, an Indonesian man, wearing a golden suit with a black velvet peci (Indonesian traditional cap), stood in front of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal. Before him, a black leather case with a sticker that read: ‘Black Pete is racist.’ [referring to the black companion of Saint Nicholas in Dutch folklore] He looked the judges straight in the eye when he spoke: ‘I am delighted to stand here in front of indigenous, white native counselors.’ It is unknown whether they were indeed indigenous to the Dutch land, but that was not the point. By reversing the use of the word inlanders (natives) to address representatives of the Dutch legal system, after all a white institution of power, he reminded them of the condescending way that Indonesians were treated during colonial times.…  Seguir leyendo »

El colonialismo y sus alrededores

ReflexionesPensamiento, Cultura y Ciencia,

En las primeras páginas de A orillas del mar, la novela de Abdulrazak Gurnah que leo por estos días con admiración y retraso, uno de los narradores medita sobre la relación que su país africano tuvo con los colonizadores británicos. Recuerda la educación de su niñez, recibida en la lengua de los colonizadores, y recuerda la impresión confusa que esa educación le produjo. Era, nos dice, algo parecido a la admiración por los colonizadores, que habían llegado con tanta seguridad a estas tierras para hacer en ellas cosas importantes que los colonizados ignoraban: curar enfermedades, por ejemplo, o volar aviones.…  Seguir leyendo »

Nehru y la guerra de España

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El 26 de octubre de 1930, mientras cumplía condena en la prisión de Naini, el futuro presidente del Partido del Congreso y primer ministro de India, Jawaharlal Nehru, escribió una carta a su hija Indira por su cumpleaños. Esta misiva, en la que Nehru compartía con una niña de 13 años sus reflexiones sobre una India independiente, sería la primera de una serie que, a partir del 1 de enero siguiente, le haría llegar con inalterable regularidad. La correspondencia con Indira se publicaría bajo el título de Glimpses of World History una vez que Nehru quedó en libertad, componiendo un volumen que sobrepasa el millar de páginas.…  Seguir leyendo »

Una manifestación en Londres en la Plaza del Parlamento en 2020Credit...Isabel Infantes/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

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“Declaro ante todos ustedes que dedicaré toda mi vida, sea esta larga o corta, a su servicio y al servicio de esta gran familia imperial a la que todos pertenecemos”. Se cuenta que la princesa Isabel lloró cuando leyó su discurso por primera vez. Esas palabras, pronunciadas cuando cumplió 21 años, y retransmitidas por la radio en 1947 desde un jardín repleto de buganvillas en Ciudad del Cabo, proclamaban la futura encarnación del Reino Unido y su imperio y la Mancomunidad de Naciones en la joven integrante de la realeza.

En aquel momento, las demandas de independencia surgían por todo el Imperio de la posguerra.…  Seguir leyendo »

EspañaMemoria Histórica

Las autoridades de Barcelona han anunciado la futura inauguración de un centro dedicado a la contracultura. Gracias a la insistencia de Pepe Ribas, esta iniciativa ha conseguido involucrar a varios sectores e instituciones, entre ellas el Museo de Arte Contemporáneo (MACBA), que integrará en su colección el legado libertario. El nuevo espacio vendría a ser el colofón de otros proyectos que han reivindicado este mundo en las últimas dos décadas, como las exposiciones dedicadas a Nazario, Ocaña y la revista Ajoblanco. O las recientes jornadas (dentro de otra exposición comisariada por el propio Ribas) que, bajo el lema Underground y Cultura, apremiaron a los poderes culturales hasta que por fin dieron su consentimiento a la creación del equipamiento.…  Seguir leyendo »

Indonesian veterans commemorate victims of massacres by the Dutch army in the 1940s in 2013. The Indonesian experience of colonial violence is often overlooked in the Netherlands. © Adek Berry / AFP

MundoAsiaEuropaUnión Europea, ,

On February 17, researchers of the Independence, Decolonization, Violence and War in Indonesia 1945-1950 program (IDVWI) presented their results. They concluded that Dutch armed forces structurally and systematically utilised “extreme violence” to stamp out the Republic of Indonesia that had declared itself independent on 17 August 1945. They added that politicians, civilian and military authorities, including their legal systems, looked away, condoned and silenced colonial violence both in Indonesia and The Hague, the Netherlands’ capital city.

Reactions came fast and furious. Prime minister Mark Rutte apologised to “the people of Indonesia”, but also to Dutch veterans and all the communities violently touched by the war, from 1945 onwards.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoÁfrica

It should come as no surprise that the most powerful and clear condemnation of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine has come from the representative of a country familiar with the devastating consequences of imperialism, colonialism and revisionist history tainted by dangerous nostalgia.

Late on Monday, during an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council, Kenya’s U.N. ambassador, Martin Kimani, delivered a short but sharp speech that called out not only Russia but the general arrogance and perfidy of powerful countries broadly. “The Charter of the United Nations continues to wilt under the relentless assault of the powerful,” he said. “In one moment it is invoked with reverence by the very same countries who then turn their backs on it in pursuit of objectives diametrically opposed to international peace and security.”…  Seguir leyendo »

A statue portraying Belgian soldier and explorer Émile Storms was vandalized in Brussels, Belgium on 22 June 2020 during a wave of anti-racism demonstrations following the death of American George Floyd

Internacional

It is quite something to be launching the January issue of International Affairs in this, our centenary year. The special issue, guest edited by Jasmine K. Gani and Jenna Marshall, looks at ‘Race and imperialism in International Relations: theory and practice.

Both race and imperialism remain controversial and, at times, uncomfortable areas for debate both within academia and in policymaking circles. As such they are frequently set aside and simply ignored.

Jasmine and Jenna have brought together a great collection to help rethink our understanding of international relations (IR). Their introduction to the issue highlights how colonial knowledge flows between academic and practitioner communities, and how we can move beyond it.…  Seguir leyendo »

A visitor looks at some of the royal treasures of Abomey, looted during the colonial era, now on display at the Quai Branly Museum in Paris and due to be returned to Benin in the coming months. © Christophe Archambault / AFP

MundoÁfrica,

Every society is full of cultural property of various kinds, and African societies are no exception. This cultural heritage is valuable in many different ways. It may be associated with a monetary value, especially today, but this does not detract from its other values – religious, historical and emotional, to name only those most difficult to convert into money. These values also vary over time. Today, Africans more readily value African art objects for decorative purposes, whereas they used to see them only for public places like palaces.

Some of these art objects are outside their societies of origin and this raises a debate.…  Seguir leyendo »

Pedro Castillo, durante su investidura en Perú

MundoAmérica

El nuevo presidente de Perú hizo un fuerte alegato anticolonialista y contra los siglos de explotación de España sobre América, y lo hizo (en esta ocasión) ante Felipe VI. Lo que le da un mayor dramatismo.

Pedro Castillo no es el primero en hacerlo. El presidente mexicano Andrés Manuel López Obrador fue más allá y señaló que la negativa de España a disculparse por los abusos cometidos durante la conquista no permitía "mejorar" las relaciones bilaterales.

Por supuesto, las palabras de Castillo y la actitud de López Obrador son merecedoras de análisis y debate, tanto en América como en España. Pero desde el plano político hay que entenderlas más como el resultado de un proceso político que como una afrenta contra España.…  Seguir leyendo »

Visitors look at the Rosetta Stone next to social distancing markers on the floor at the British Museum in August 2020 in London. (Chris J. Ratcliffe/Getty Images)

EuropaUnión EuropeaUE a debate,

In June, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet offered a reminder that “systemic racism needs a systemic response.” She called for the immediate dismantling of the systemic racism that Black people face around the world and set out a four-point agenda for this transformation.

Just over a year after the killing of George Floyd, the report was widely discussed. But a key aspect was not as visible in public discourse as it should have been. Among other points, the report recommends the necessity of reparations for colonial injustices.

This poses a significant question for European countries, which have benefited greatly from wealth stolen in the colonial era.…  Seguir leyendo »

Una mujer visita las ruinas de Templo Mayor en Ciudad de México en 2019.picture alliance / GETTY IMAGES

ReflexionesPensamiento, Cultura y Ciencia

El 13 de agosto de 1521 es una fecha memorable: Hernán Cortés conquistó Tecnochtitlán. La capital de los aztecas había resistido durante dos años. Ya en 1519 Moctezuma había agasajado a Cortés con un lujoso banquete que dejó a los españoles atónitos. Pero de nada sirvió, ya que los forasteros no se dieron por satisfechos con los regalos obtenidos y siempre pedían más, sobre todo oro. Los códices dan cuenta de esta avidez con palabras poco halagüeñas: “lo buscaron como cerdos”.

Tenochtitlán, situada en el lago de Texcoco —igual que Tlatelolco, el pueblo hermanado— estaba unida con la tierra firme por cinco calzadas.…  Seguir leyendo »

Namibian schoolgirls walk by a memorial to the victims of the genocide committed by German forces against Herero and Nama people in Windhoek, Namibia, in June 2017. (Gianluigi Guercia/AFP/Getty Images)

MundoÁfricaEuropaUnión Europea, , ,

In late May, more than 100 years after German colonial forces killed tens of thousands of the Herero and Nama peoples in what is today Namibia, the German government formally acknowledged the atrocities as genocide.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas declared that, owing to Germany’s “historical and moral responsibility,” the country asks “Namibia and the descendants of the victims for forgiveness.” In addition, Germany will contribute more than $1 billion in aid for development projects in Namibia over the next 30 years. All of this will be finalized in a bilateral agreement.

Why the major step toward reconciliation? My research details the decades-long silence in Germany about the atrocities and the slow and incomplete process of reconciliation since the early 2000s.…  Seguir leyendo »

‘There must be a process where those affected can give evidence on the crimes that initiated and sustained colonialism.’ A still from African Apocalypse. Photograph: African Apocalypse

EuropaUnión Europea,

During the French presidential campaign of 2017, Emmanuel Macron told a young Algerian that colonialism was “a crime against humanity”. His mailbox was immediately filled with angry letters from former French-Algerian settlers. A few weeks later, he retracted his remarks. “I’m sorry for wounding you, causing pain. I did not want to offend you”, he assured the colonists.

Last year, after George Floyd’s killing sparked widespread demonstrations against French police brutality, Macron commissioned the historian Benjamin Stora to compile a report on the memory of the colonisation of Algeria and the Algerian war. Stora handed in his study, France-Algeria: Painful Passions, in January, and it will be published as a book next month.…  Seguir leyendo »

Patrice Lumumba, Premier ministre du Congo, assassiné le 17 janvier 1961 au Katanga en sécession. © BELGAIMAGE

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Le 17 janvier 1961, au début de la nuit, l’ancien Premier ministre Lumumba et ses deux compagnons, Maurice Mpolo et Joseph Okito, sont exécutés par un peloton de la gendarmerie-armée katangaise commandé par un officier mercenaire belge, en présence de plusieurs ministres du Katanga en sécession.

Patrice Lumumba, devenu Premier ministre du Congo le jour de l’indépendance, le 30 juin 1960, l’a été pendant 67 jours seulement, avant d’être révoqué en septembre, puis assigné à résidence, arrêté ensuite, et transféré enfin au Katanga, pour y trouver la mort le soir même.

Soixante ans plus tard, grâce surtout au minutieux travail de la commission d’enquête de la Chambre des représentants belge et de ses experts, une part de lumière peut éclairer et permettre de mieux comprendre ces événements tragiques, leur enchaînement et les responsabilités tant au Congo qu’à l’étranger, y compris celles, irréfutables, de responsables belges.…  Seguir leyendo »