Postcolonialism Analysis

Decent Essays
Graham Huggan and Helen Tiffin in their book "Postcolonial Ecocriticism" give a variety of important terms in postcolonial ecocriticism and ecofeminism, these terms are: ecological imperialism, biocolonialism and environmental racism. First, ecological imperialism, Alfred Crosby's term, "which ranges in implication and intensity from the violent appropriation of indigenous land to the ill-considered introduction of non-domestic livestock and European agricultural practices." Huggan and Tiffin continue to state the 'ecological imperialist' view of nature and the 'animal other' as being "either external to human needs, and thus effectively dispensable, or as being in permanent service to them, and thus an endlessly replenishable resource." (Huggan and Tiffin: 3-4) Alfred Crosby's demonstration of significance of environmental factors, (under which he includes nonhuman animals) in imperial conquest and subsequent colonization, is pioneering. (Huggan and Tiffin: 18)
Second, the term "biocolonialism" is used by a variety of environmental and bioscientific scholars to cover "the broadly biopolitical implications of current Western technological experiments
…show more content…
(Plumwood, 2001:

Related Documents

  • Great Essays

    “Our right to hunt, fish, harvest, and trap when it intersects with settler’s ability to enjoy their summer cottages is a major controversy in this country. It’s one that has to be sorted out ASAP because our hunting and fishing rights are upheld and your summer home, well, isn’t it nice.” In this episode of Red Man Laughing- The Wild Rice Wars, the host, Ryan McMahon, addresses the effects of present-day colonialism on Indigenous Peoples and their inherited rights, specifically the controversy surrounding a local Anishinaabe farmer, James Whetung, and his battle to keep his farm. James Whetung is a wild rice farmer whose family has lived and harvested wild rice on Pigeon Lake for generations.…

    • 2003 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    Dubbed the Age of Imperialism, the 17th-20th century was a time of immense growth and expansion, during which the majority of European states sought to extend their influence and wealth through the expansion of their territories overseas. The promise of economic growth and prestige encouraged European nations to expand their territories. However, eventually the European powers turned on each other to enlarge their own empires. Imperialism began with the division of the African continent between European countries, and later moved onto Asia, where the main reason for colonisation was the extensive opportunities for trading. Briefly after this, European nations began challenging each other over territory which was highlighted by the dispute over…

    • 1223 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    New Imperialism Dbq Essay

    • 700 Words
    • 3 Pages

    From capitalism and communism to the struggles between the power hungry Europeans and the natives of the new world. The history of European countries sneaking resources from Africa. As well with the ideas of Karl Marx on communism and Adam Smith with capitalism. People of the proletariat or middle class have not been treated fairly by the higher class as we know as the bourgeoisie or high class. Adam Smith’s idea on capitalism is still used in our modern day world.…

    • 700 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Four P’s of Imperialism Imperialism is a process known as an expansion of one country’s power through something known as diplomacy or military force. This allowed the country to be helped in an economic way through a process known as domination. Imperialism has something known as the 4 P’s which helped to describe the different parts of Imperialism and how each part affected the United States. Piety, Profits, Patriotism, and Politics are known as the 4 P’s of imperialism which was the primary points to expand outside American borders. Each of the points of Imperialism helped influence the United States in the Spanish Civil War by influencing the United States in a time of need.…

    • 813 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The ill treatment of social and racial acts that are directed to the Latinas/os population between evidence of jokes or stereotypes that are directed towards belittling a culture and its people. This act directed through media such and identity show how even today colorization affects us. The article Latinidad in Prime-Time News Coverage of the Elian Gonzalez story, shows a symbolic view of colonization by establishing social order when something in the news that must only do with the Latinas/os culture it is only newsworthy if it shows a threat to society as being dangerous. The media use these stereotypes to a culture attaching poverty and crime to establish statistics to help the established social order and social agenda for the dominate…

    • 685 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    At first glance, European imperialism and thus colonialism seems ridden with atrocity and demise for those upon whom it is imposed while serving the pride and prejudice of those who have imposed it. The question that this paper seeks to answer, however, is one that is layered and cannot be superficially analyzed based on popular views and discourse. For the findings of this paper to prove academically valuable and sound, one must aim to consider with as little (if any at all) bias as possible. Therein lies credibility.…

    • 1081 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Colonialism helped to destruct and de-civilize the continent of Africa while also serving as the basis for African-Americans to establish themselves in “uniquely and innovative ways” (Gomez 184). Although Colonialism was used to “civilize” the continent of Africa, it was the harsh effects that transformed the African Americans into using the ideologies of art in the Harlem Renaissance. Because “black people have always maintained a dynamic and vibrant life of the mind”, Colonialism help serve as a challenge to overcome for greater success and implant significant expressions through powerful movements like the Harlem Renaissance (Gomez 184). Colonization is the idea of "thingification" or the process of turning the colonizer into a thing by denying him his humanity as "the colonizer sees the other man as an animal, treats him like an animal and transforms himself into…

    • 1171 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The western colonialism and imperialism was also responsible for the introduction of western ideas. These ideas included western ideals and norms such as nationalism and democracy. There was a range of efforts undertaken to supplant indigenous cultures with colonial or European ones. One result of these efforts was the emergence of native-colonial elites who adopted the main aspects of the imperial cultures, including the hierarchical class system of the dominant imperial powers. These elites increasingly formed the core of the colonial civil service and military.…

    • 132 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Globalization, collaboration, is necessary for sustaining the life of all species. Tsing says, “Precarity is a state of acknowledgment of our vulnerability to others” (29). Anti-globalization, indigeneity without contact, is impossible because Homo economicus is always scoping for a new frontier. If we don’t collaborate with each other - which is to say if we don’t contaminate our lives by intermingling with those humans and other species which we see as radically different from us – then we are destined for extinction. This is one of Tsing’s main arguments, and it is a continuation of one of the themes that reverberates across all of texts read thus far in our discussion about the Anthropocene.…

    • 761 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Colonization is a topic that many people would rather avoid. Some people believe its occurrence was an essential evil that aided in creating developed countries that help advance the world technologically. To others, it is a distant happening because they would consider it as something ancient that occurred under a different set of cultural norms and with a different generation of individuals, while others think of colonization and slave trade as one of the worst injustices experienced by humanity. Whether colonization is acknowledged or not, there is no doubt that it has played, and continues to play, a huge part in the state in which society is in today. Although the physical manifestations of colonization, like the loss of natural, human…

    • 1833 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The key question of whether or not early European expansion and if it was inevitable is a question still debated to this day. It a tough question but not impossible as demonstrated through Alfred Crosby with “Ecological Imperialism”. Alfred W. Crosby speaks on the origins of European domination over the western world. He focuses on Neo-Europeans as well as North and South America, Australia, and New Zealand.…

    • 876 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In chapter eight of Lisa Monchalin’s The Colonial Problem: An Indigenous Perspective on Crime and Injustice in Canada, she discusses the crime that is affecting Indigenous persons. She explains that there are many factors leading to the victimization and over-representation of Indigenous persons, all of which are a result of colonialism and colonialist ideologies. In discussing this issue, Monchalin mentions that students living both on and off of reserve, face a struggle in their education and academic attainment. The students who are off reserve, were stated to have faced this struggle due to the fact that many school systems had the high “prevalence of institutional forms of racism as well as evident, direct racist actions and attitudes…

    • 875 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Crosby author of the overseas Migration of Western Europeans as a Biological Phenomenon. This European ecological imperialism began with the “decimation and demoralization of the aboriginal populations of Canada, the United States, Argentina and others.” (Crosby 106) This radical takeover by germs, weeds, domesticated animals, varmints, pathogens, “all accomplished demographic takeovers of their own in the temperate well-watered regions of North and South America.” (Crosby 116)…

    • 1471 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Deep ecology, ecofeminism, and social ecology have several similar aspects to their approaches, but also have a variety of differences that make them unique in their philosophy. One idea that is similar between all three approaches is the idea of radical change within societies worldwide. Although radical change is crucial to these philosophical approaches, there are differing systems that take place within each idea and different ecological challenges that are faced by them. Deep ecology does not associate with one specific environmental philosophy, but rather describes numerous philosophies.…

    • 1394 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The colonial writers started the work of rewriting history from their perspective. The main reason for this was that it was completely prejudiced against the colonized. The beginning of decolonization led to a growth of many literary works, that was totally different after long years of colonial suppression of the individuality of the colonized. The writers of the Third World nations are more and more concerned and dedicated on writing about their native histories, and problems of colonization and its consequences. They have written about cultural colonization, native identity and anti-colonial resistance.…

    • 791 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays