A Canadian anthropological approach to the study of empire and the human condition
Readings and ideas from the “post-colonial” literature with an openness to prospects for transforming anthropological theory and practice.
“Decolonization is always a violent phenomenon… . Decolonization, which sets out to change the order of the world, is, obviously, a programme of complete disorder… . In the colonies it is the policeman and the soldier who are the official, instituted go-betweens… . Non Violence is an attempt to settle the colonial problem around a […]
Read More…I will have more to write about this after the event has taken place, probably a short summary. In the meantime, I wish to post the announcement and a related link. ••••••• JOHANNES FABIAN, Sept. 22nd at 5pm – Location: H-1120, Concordia University Co-hosted by the Dept of Sociology & Anthropology, Concordia University and Dept […]
Read More…As discussed previously on this blog, Italy has now finalized an agreement to pay Libya $5 billion (US) in compensation for colonial injustice. In some respects it represents more of a business plan motivated more by Italian strategic calculations than anything else: the hefty dollar figure includes a large portion in investment projects that will […]
Read More…R.A.C.E. 2008 Organizing Committee THE 8TH ANNUAL CRITICAL RACE and ANTICOLONIAL STUDIES CONFERENCE OF RESEARCHERS AND ACADEMICS OF COLOUR FOR EQUALITY (R.A.C.E.) NOVEMBER 14-16, 2008 Ryerson University, Toronto Conference website RACE-ING HEGEMONIES, RESURGING IMPERIALISMS: Building Anti-Racist and Anti-Colonial Theory and Practice for Our Times We are subject daily to revelations about the violence and hypocrisy […]
Read More…My comrade Guanaguanare has published a different take on “The Mongoose.” Naipaul has been a deeply problematic figure in Trinidadian cultural politics, loved and reviled, admired and scorned. I had the pleasure of seeing him speak in Port of Spain, in 1991 I believe, in the company of friends from the University of the West […]
Read More…“It’s going to be nasty,” Derek Walcott said, prefacing his war on V. S. Naipaul with a warning. “The Mongoose” was the last of Walcott’s new poems at the Calabash Literary Festival in Jamaica last weekend [May 2008]. He’d wondered whether he ought to read it, Walcott said, “and then I figured if I don’t […]
Read More…I meant to mention previously that we can observe, after a decline and almost dismissal of ideas of imperialism, dependency, and colonialism in the 1990s academic and anthropological literature to be specific, one can see a return of the terms “imperialism,” “empire,” and “colonialism” in the titles of mainstream journal articles. It’s nice to see […]
Read More…Following up on the last post that featured wining, a Trinidadian blogger in the UK, Sheree Mack, who authors the Every Day Creativity blog, has posted two items on wining. One is a simple poem, akin to a soca road march at Carnival time, and with some key lyrics that coincidentally will reappear in my […]
Read More…Did my post here bring forth this reality? There I was, a mere 13 days ago, talking about my Bachchan conversion experience in Trinidad, and now I read that he landed in Trinidad last night (Saturday, July 19, 2008), in the company of 150 performers for his Unforgettable Tour … which began where? Next door […]
Read More…Aside from being an installment of “Monday Morning Madness,” I need this video as background for at least two coming posts, especially for readers unfamiliar with Trinidadian or Indo-Caribbean cultures, with their dances, and some of the terminology that is used. This post follows the previous (Video) Notes from the Indian Diaspora. This video, featuring […]
Read More…I have to begin by thanking Guanaguanare, one of the Trinidadian bloggers I admire most, for having already done such an excellent job discussing the popular Trinidadian music video below, Sumintra. I will distill some of those notes and add a few comments and sources of my own. So, yes, this is a “derivative” work […]
Read More…For many of those who are 40 and older, 1968 stands out as an emblematic year for the transnational politics of dissent, for the development of countercultures and various avant gardes, for the emergence of non-class social movements, and the appearance of what some call the “revolution of the forgotten peoples” in the social sciences […]
Read More…I found my captor and tormentor! I found my captor and tormentor who subjected me to an afternoon of torture, appearing in noisy, nauseating technicolour dreams for long afterwards, until I learned to love him and all those like him. I am referring not only to the supreme Amitabh Bachchan (see this biography as well), […]
Read More…This week’s installment of “Monday Morning Madness” (missed last week’s I am afraid, as the real madness of an imperial anthropologist seemed much more entertaining). You won’t be seeing Trinidadian artist Ataklan walking naked in this video, not literally anyway. One of Ataklan’s messages in this interesting video, which takes us with him from a […]
Read More…Imagine that there has been a steady beat of war drums supporting the notion of attacking Iran, sooner rather than later. This in the midst of a fuel price crisis that “suddenly” reveals the Persian Gulf to be the holder of the world’s most essential commodity. This is in the midst of two wars that […]
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