After centuries of subjugation of races, other cultures and other beliefs, in the name of civilisation, science, religion and power, Earth 2006 is best described as -
1)Christian (the missionaries infused the americas, africa, and asia with their God and now those continents are strongly in its grasp. Furthermore, the whole modernist project is profoundly Christian in nature. These days, the influence is also stealthy, in the form of many western NGOs, and of naive people 'doing good' around the world for the sake of emancipating themselves of moral duty)
2)Western (Eurocentric). Families are thought of as 'mother and father plus kids' units, and the rest are considered 'extended' family, furthermore 'family' only includes blood relatives and those married to them. Western thought is considered 'modern' and other forms of thought are labelled 'cultural' or, a greater patronising insult- 'traditional'. Western lifestyle is considered as superior - they are developed countries with 'developed' societies...the others are 'developing'...learning to live with things the priveleged and enlightened west have known and had for years. Aid and charity flow from the west to the 'others'. English is the 'world' language. USA, France, UK sit on the UN security council with veto rights and a Eurocentric Russia and a non-democratic China are the representatives of the 'other' countries.
3)Capitalist. Its all about 'efficient' (only in an economic sense) allocation of scarce resources. Even Life itself is couched in these terms - 'Maximise my life', 'live to the fullest' , 'Life is short, make the most of it while you can' etc. All about maximising a resource limited environment. Then there more - you must sell yourself...be productive, you must define who you are...have a CV, get a 'job', earn a wage, so that you can do 'what you really want to do'. Countries are ranked as 'first world' or 'third world' by economic standards. To be a non-capitalist country is considered to somehow be a gross violation of the rights of citizens, and to be a pariah of the 'global order'.
4)Masculine. The radical feminists are right. Even the economic system is masculine - competition??? what? whats wrong with cooperation? God is male (the judeo-christian-islamic god that is), and he had a son not a daughter. And all the prophets were male. Oh and 99% of the religious texts were written by males too. I wonder if these things really are coincidences. International relations continues to be stained by the distructive thinking of 'Realism' another 'my penis is larger than yours, so dont try picking up in my backyard' theory of inter-country relationships. In not even going to even start about neo-conservatism.
I'm sure I can write an essay on each of those categories, so the brief examples I gave are by no means exhaustive.
All other constructions of the world are suppressed, ignored, ridiculed, assimilated......eliminated. Witness the poor state of affairs of most indigineous peoples around the globe....the former slaves of the white man (and they were nearly always men), still struggling...perhaps they really were inferior after all? The native work ethic is not as 'good' as the protestant work ethic. I could try to pour out decades of post-colonialist thought into this small paragraph, but i wont. I will just encourage you to read into it. The project of trying to imagine another reality than the one we see at present (that is, not one where both 'normal' and 'different' options are still 'framed' within the same structure (Christian, Eurocentric, Capitalist, Masculine), so really even the 'alternatives' are not genuinely different). Oxfam argues for a 'different world' but their world is still profoundly eurocentric, christian (doing good, from us to them) and capitalist (albeit left of centre) and masculine. Gramsci had a point. Certain concepts of the world around us have assumed such a hegemonic position in our minds, that to argue against them would be akin to argue against homemade apple pie. This is the key of all propoganda and social construction.
Ofcourse there are people that seek to be different, to live a different reality. However they are labelled as outcasts, to live at the peripheries of the society...they are the tree huggers, the troublemakers, the protestors, the luddites, the wishy washy liberal utopians, out of touch with 'reality'. And for those that make it to any level of notoriety, the labels of activist, dissident, radical or terrorist await from the 'machinery of mainstream'.
So what then to do? Far be it for me to suggest that I hold the 'philosophers stones' here. But being aware of our own shortcomings, and refusing to close your eyes and always wanting to learn and listen, and to consider the possibility and legitimacy of another reality than the one we see at present is perhaps a step in the right direction.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
I understand the capitalism and euro-centric points but fail to comprehend the masculine and christianity points. Are you anti-christian? Did you consider the possibility that Jesus DOES exist and that the spread of Christianity has got to do with the power of the Good News and not just missionary efforts?
and the second point on masculinity, I just dont get it at all. Perhaps historically true, but these days women enjoy equal opportunities too- atleast in the western world.
I dont think you can classify all those working for western NGOs (I assume thats who you are talking about) as being somehow motivated by Christian beliefs and values. I accept that many of the things we presume are 'universal' or 'secular' values are infact Christian in origin, but that doesnt make them less important necessarily, nor make the person holding those values somehow a Christian-in-disguise. But the rest, Im with you 100% . The point about masculinity is an interesting one indeed! And you must be the 1 in 1,000,000,000 male that is prepared to understand and listen to feminist critiques. Ive sent an email to you and perhaps this conversation can continue...
I really like your blog so far, very interesting posts. Keep posting, you have another 'subscriber' now!!
Dear 'Anonymous'
I am not anti-christian at all. I am against the imposition of religious belief on oppressed populaces by a dominating power. Im sure the black slaves, the colonised indigeous tribes were very moved by the Good News delivered in the evening by an evangelical missionary, after a day of being spat on ,whipped, treated like second class citizens in their own country by their 'bosses'. The missionaries made (and continue to) hay out of these desperate people seeking some refuge and hope from their daily meaningless lives. The exploitation in more recent times ofcourse was preceded by forced convertions, especially in Latin America by the Spainish. Lastly, Jesus has no place in international development, any more than any other heavily marketed concept does (such as free market reforms).
Secondly, the fact that you dont get the pont on masculinity, is the problem pointed out by the feminist critique. You are so blind to the system, that what they see as oppressive structures you see as 'normal' and 'reality'. Its not a question of 'equality' - its more a question of the the structure in the world.....women can have all the equality they want, but if they live in a male-structured world, then in order to succeed they have to uptake attributes that are associated as typically 'male' and then be subsequently admonished for it.
"refusing to close your eyes and always wanting to learn and listen, and to consider the possibility and legitimacy of another reality than the one we see at present is perhaps a step in the right direction."
Take a look at Prof Balu's work at www.colonialconsciousness.org
You might find some interesting pointers there that are related to your post.
A wonderful post, I really enjoyed reading it, made me think in ways I had not considered before! You sound very smart, what do you do? are you teaching at university or something?
Post a Comment