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Race, Racism & Decolonising The World (How does racism manifest itself…
Race, Racism & Decolonising The World
How does racism manifest itself in IR?
Colonialism
policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another country (occupying it with settlers) & exploiting it economically
distinction between civilised & barbarian
along racial lines
'Standard of civilisation'
determined who could be considered a member of international society
Contemporary categories that reference this standard: 'rogue' states, 'quasi' states
Race as determinant of fitness for sovereignty
Basis of admission into family of civilised nations was not reducible to material power
E.g. Belgium, a weak 'quasi' state that owed its existence of its usefulness as a buffer state between great powers, was nonetheless invited to become an imperial power
E.g. Japan considered a great power after victory over Russia in 1905; first non-European power to defeat a European power --> but even Japan had difficulty obtaining recognition of racial equality at Versailles peace conference
Weak country that does quite well for itself & a strong country who isn't able to > realists must be missing sth when arguing that everything is reducible to material power; race also plays a role!
Practices tracking a global colour line
: genocide, indentured labour, apartheid, eugenics > all of these are constructed around race
How does racism manifest itself in the study of IR?
IR used to be quite conscious of race ->
decolonisation provided the encouraging myth that racism has ended
IR now obfuscates racial hierarchies
Anarchy
: classical realism, neorealism, liberalism, neoliberalism, constructivism
Hierarchy
: Marxism, postcolonialism, feminism
critical theories agreed that
hierarchy was the fundamental structuring condition
but disagreed about the basis of hierarchy:
class? race? gender?
Was one of these categories more basic than the other?
Now: idea of
intersectionality
How should we tell the story of the world?
Hannah Arendt's 'On Revolution' mentioned the French Revolution as the marker of the beginning of human rights but
totally ignored the equally impactful and important Haitian revolution
Why has the Haitian revolution been ignored for so long?
First victorious slave revolt, first black republic, first non-European postcolonial state ever
'Unthinkable' that black slaves could have planned and executed a successful rebellion
'Shoving the facts into the proper order of discourse':
White planters must have miscalculated
Mulattoes must have led
Foreign states must have helped
It will not survive
How is the 'colour line' manifesting itself in contemporary controversies?
'Rhodes Must Fall' (Cape Town, 2015)
Rhodes was a colonial explorer in sub-Saharan Africa, a politician
Student movement brought up a number of grievances: institutional racism, lack of transformation of university after apartheid, access to education, student housing
Other examples: Rhodes Must Fall Oxford, Removal of Confederate Memorials in US