When in the 1950s and 60s. most colonised states and districts across the universe threw off the yolk of colonialism. there was enormous hope and expectancy that a new epoch of hope. independency. freedom and self – finding was about to blossom.
In most instances. it was with great reluctance that the colonial Masterss granted independency to their former settlements from where they had for coevalss held the entire control that had enabled them to work human and material resources and perpetuate themselves in the societal economic and political lives of their topics. In Kenya and Algeria for case. it was with utmost force that independency was won. Therefore. the Mau-Mau Movement of Kenya and the Algerian War of Independence remain to this day of the month. important water partings in the motion for independency particularly among African states.
However. independency has non ever resulted in the awaited alterations. In some states. one time the common enemy in signifier of the colonial Masterss was rid of. local differences manifested. sometimes ensuing in acrimonious wars. The 1947 Indo – Pakistani war is a instance survey. There are many other cases including Congo. Nigeria. Malaya. and even late in Western Sahara. Eritrea and East Timor. among others where the battle for independency and independency itself has resulted in wars and discord. Sometimes. independency has come along with luggage of heartache. blood and a overplus of distressingly crushed hopes.
Some minds argue that the colonial powers put in topographic point mechanisms to guarantee that the new provinces fail. or to let them to go on to command the freshly emergent states even after independency. The close societal. political and economic ties and relationships between former settlements and former colonial powers seem to prefer this statement. Thus. 44 old ages after independency. Britain is still one of Nigeria’s biggest merchandising spouses. The close ties between France and Francophone Africa. and even the United states and state. Philippines lend acceptance to this theory. One can barely challenge this position in visible radiation of overpowering grounds.
However. as the universe continues to see alterations. the construct of neo colonialism is fast melting out of manner. Newer and more sophisticated. yet more elusive motions are taking over. the most of import of which is Globalization.
The mass motion of capital. aggregated by effortless flow of human and material resources across seamless boundary lines represents new and more ambitious phenomena particularly in a uni-polar universe characterized by the gap up of new markets and the rise of planetary panic as the powers that control the planetary media would desire us to absorb. ( Possibly Mercuse should lift and bring forth a new edition of his ‘One Dimensional Man’ Or Toffler should compose on ‘One Dimensional Mind’ ) .
While the poorest states in the universe ( normally African ) . are yet to be to the full integrated into the emergent planetary market that has non stopped the negative impact of colonialism from being felt. African states are faced with increased marginalisation in the planetary economic system and poorness is on the addition. Reports have indicated that bomber Saharan Africa is the lone part in the universe where the life criterion has really fallen over the last 20 old ages or so.
In the universe of today. control of human and material resources is non done through forceful domination of people through military subjection. even though President ( Professor? ) Bush is working hard to confute that fact. But it remains that the new signifier of control is spearheaded by international finance organisations aimed at consolidating a planetary economic construction that really frequently has its caput offices in New York. London. Tokyo. Paris. Frankfurt. and other investing hubs across the universe. ( The Chinese have merely discovered this ice pick and have set about claiming their portion with characteristic velocity ) .
The Gatlin guns are frozen. There are no more slaughters like the 1904 Maji – Maji Revolt in Namibia where German military personnels consistently gunned down an estimated 60 – 80. 000 Africans. The Berlin Conference of 1884 – 1885 that partitioned Africa has been replaced by GATT. and in today’s idiom. the World Trade Organization. These yearss. African folks do non necessitate to be set upon each other while the colonial Masterss mop up settlements from where human and material resources were exploited. ( We can make that all by ourselves. as we have demonstrated in Rwanda ) .
The universe has gone beyond such crudeness. We call it free trade. and the concluding supreme authority is the World Trade Organization whose purpose is apparently to let a few rich states and corporations dominate planetary capital and planetary resources. The colonial powers of today do non necessitate military might and occupation to command the lives and fate of one million millions of people in their former settlements. Possibly in the non excessively distant hereafter. Microsoft or Citi Group will hold a place on the United Nations. After all. these two companies entirely generate more wealth every twelvemonth than all of Africa’s 700 million people.
By the way. the globalisation of capital and other related resources is a continuance of a historical procedure that began with the mercantile epoch or so. is every bit old as adult male. The Dutch East Indies and the Royal Niger Company of 200 old ages ago are the HSBC. Barclays. USB and other multi subjects like Coca Cola. McDonalds. Exxon Mobile. Royal Shell. Sony. Philips and many others whose end seems to be the collection of capital in as few custodies as possible. No demand to direct a Cortez or a Columbus or a Drake or Cook on expeditions for immense net incomes. This is the Global age and a few computing machine screens will state you precisely what is traveling on across the Earth in an blink of an eye. ( Remember Wall Mart’s Global Screens? )
So for those who may believe that colonialism is a thing of the yesteryear. it is clip to believe once more. Imperialism and dialectical philistinism as envisaged by a certain celebrated philosopher might non hold come to go through. or at least. non as he predicted. But the sad fact remains that today. more than at any age in 1000s of old ages of human domination through business and colonialism is witnessing the concentration of more wealth in the custodies really few. Recent figures show that the top 5 per centum control about 70 per centum of planetary resources. And this was facilitated by Globalization. So the fact should be accepted that Globalization is another ( digital? ) signifier of Colonialism.
It is good thing that most of us do non recognize it.
