Colonialism is complex. It's more than facts or figures, it's much more about emotions than it is about economics.
I tried to choose the articles below as carefully as possible to let you understand colonialism, and be able to apply it to yourselves.
You don't have to read all of them, but please do read this section from Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (esp. that last paragraph):
It is very important to know the difference between colonialism and imperialism. This article is a good summary of Lenin's take on Imperialism, which is a better example than either Hobson or Schumpeter IMO.
Just read the 3 pages on Lenin, you're probably already familiar with Schumpeter's idea [ie. imperialism is natural], and Lenin incorporates Hobson.
Now that I've given you an idea as to how to seperate colonialism and imperialism, we can move on to what colonialism really is with the following:
"Creating" history to make and later enforce racial hierarchies, that are perpetuated after the death of colonialism:
There are few writers as talented and as powerful as Frantz Fanon. Here he discusses how he tries to break out of the "history" that has been created for him by the colonist, and how he is subverted at every turn. It's good to have some background on him since his actual ideas are rather strong. Fanon was born in Martinique, a French colony. He was a psychiatrist (heavily influenced by Freud) and later a philosopher/rebel fighter in the Algerian War of Independence.
Manufacturing a working class:
This is a very quick summary of how ideas of a working class were introduced to Mombasa. This is only a review, but it gives you an idea about how this is a process of give and take, and not just one of domination and submission
Saving the longest for last.
Locating the Tensions of Empire: The Problem of Reproduction
It's a bit long and a bit scattered, but it's a good article on how reproduction, gender, and class are so intricately linked in colonialism. I think it gets a bit confusing at the end, but just try to understand why colonialism ended using this framework.
Discussion Questions:
What do you think is the idea that drives colonialism? And how does "efficiency" factor into it?
Why are racist hierarchies formed within a colony, and how/why are they exported?
How are Lenin's idea and Cooper's work (dock workers) linked? [Essentially how does imperialism work with colonialism?]
As Cooper suggests colonialism is more than simple domination or hegemony. But how does that fit into the seemingly one sided creation and maintenance of racism? Is there any push back from those being categorized?
