In August of this year, a coalition of over 50 black-led organizations joined together to create a platform and an agenda, that summarized the tactics and collective needs to end the war on black people. Not only do the platform of The Movement for Black Lives (MFBL) and Black Lives Matter (BLM) promote intersectionality and inclusion, it also addresses the issues of categorized citizenship in regards to hegemonic power, without adopting dominant structures in their appeals. Intersectional…
Bonfil Batalla’s book, Mexican Profundo: Reclaiming a Lost Civilization, highlights the struggles of the Mesoamerican culture in the past and present. The author provides an insightful look at two different civilizations that have occupied Mexico throughout the centuries. Batalla named these two civilizations the Mexico Profundo and the imaginary Mexico. He explains how these civilizations have major differences that restrict their ability to coexist peacefully together. This book provides a…
In a race there always has to been a winner. There will always be someone in the middle, at the end, and leading pack. This form of competition is similar to the way in which imperialist competition took place. The British were not immune to this competition, and if fact led the pack in conquering the uncivilized lands. The British saw it as their duty to bring prosperity and hope to lands of people who otherwise may not have it. The notion causes the British to ignore the race against many…
In the first half of the twentieth century, the economic, political, ideological aspects all contributed to the skyrocketing and widespread imperialism, galvanizing developed countries to seek for more lands beyond the mainlands. However, the reasons are not isolated. The factor of economic pursuit, political ambitions, and ideological considerations were inter-connected, together strengthening the determination to expand territories. To begin with, the economic pursuit in the land overseas was…
Where is the Change? An essay inspired by Shooting an Elephant I would like to thank George Orwell’s Shooting an Elephant for providing inspiration for the essay you are about to read, and for teaching students around the world an important aspect of the human condition. I sat on the edge of the river bank, watching the ripples float past. As I looked out into the water it was then that I saw it, floating past with the grace of a swan. The only evidence of its path being the trail of…
One of the causes of the Sri Lankan Civil War, which falls under external influence, is colonialism. Sri Lanka was under British colonial rule from 1796-1948. The British implemented the divide and rule tactic when governing Sri Lanka, where minority groups, in this case Tamils, are given preferential treatment. This is to aggravate differences between the Sinhalese majority and Tamil minority. This way, the majority group that was being discriminated against would direct their grievances…
Nationalism and Imperialism became very important and impacting concepts in the nineteenth century. Not only was Nationalism and Imperialism existent in the nineteenth century, but these two concepts and ideas existed before the nineteenth century and started to rise and increase in impact in the late nineteenth, early twentieth centuries. By definition, Nationalism was the concept or idea that a country was better than all the others, which contributed to governments distinguishing themselves…
Orientalism is a term which indicates how the West perceives the East as the ‘other’. Edward Said published his controversial book Orientalism in 1978, which talks about how Orientalism forms an inferior Orient, in terms of knowledge and domination. Edward Said opens his introduction by mentioning the Western’s misconception about the East arguing that “The Orient was almost a European invention” (Said 1). The Orient played a significant role in the creation of the European culture and it…
of the cultures coexisting in the same country had the potential to be beneficial, but was destructive to the two groups socially, culturally, and religiously. A Passage to India takes place during the time period when India was under strict imperialism rule of the British Empire. India at this time consisted of two…
of rising nations during this time period. Throughout this new process of nation building, acquisition of new territories, known as imperialism, was fundamental for the nation's prosperity. This is because besides national unity, the strength of each nation to protect itself from other powers depended on its economic power and expansion. This concept of imperialism materialized in…