I get your point and agree with the first section of your statement. I think
that point, especially in the second section should be circumscribed a bit
against deployments that could suggest concepts of freedom of dissemination
and self expression came to be only through external intervention. I am
wondering whether some of the things one could point to as unintended
legacies of invasion or the positive appropriations of colonialist values
might not be complicated by the fact that those appropriations took place or
only became necessary as a result of the systemic and material
transformations brought about by the invasions in the first place. Let us
assume that the rights of women and the rights of the press where not
necessary or applicable precolonially because of a more or less system of
complimetarity of power and other indigenous mechanisms of power diffusion
or re/distribution that colonialism not only displaced, but also provided
new models of engagement to its autocracy and dualistic oppositionality,
which some have argued constituted the very milieu of Nwapa and others. The
loose coalitions and disparate centers of pre-colonial power produced a
system in which the question was not whether one, humanly speaking, had the
right to disseminate the truth, as was done with abandon under collective
anonymity and immunity of hegemonic festivals, but whether the right to
dissemination was channeled through the apparatuses of counterhegemonic
centers or through the ultimate populist channels that festivals represent.
In other words, concepts of freedom and expressiveness permeate subaltern
history and the specific forms that those societies adopted today are the
direct consequences of disruptions and impositions of colonial invasions. It
is a different question if because these forms are more modern, they
represent improvements in the modes of freedom and self expression.
Bode
-----Original Message-----
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
[mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of kenneth harrow
Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2011 4:12 PM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Imperiled Revolutions
hi gloria
i agree that the absence of moral authority makes the rhetorical reasons
for invading sound hollow. they mostly are hollow.
i couldn't begin to examine the moral authority of an invading force to
judge the validity of the invasion.
i want to turn it around and claim that nations always act on their own
national interest. if a leader were not to do so, he or she would be
booted out.
so the question for me becomes, given that france and the u.s. and the
u.k. are acting in libya for their own national interest, is the
intervention itself something that i am happy is happening. and i mostly
feel that ghaddafi should not have been allowed to quash the movements
against his regime by the use of force.
i wish there were a way we could lend support to the uprisings in syria
and bahrein and yemen, the democracy movement in morocco, even in
algeria. i find these movements enormously inspiring.
i am skeptical that support for these movements will "install
democracy." i am opposed to a model of african/arab/latin american
peoples sitting around waiting for outsiders to install things into them.
on the other hand, on both sides, that of the invaders and the invaded,
there are complicated mixed motives for action. sometimes it might be a
simple landgrab, but often the contradictions between rhetoric and
actions point to mixed motives.
i've only recently come to see this, that despite the oppression of
colonialism africans took away from the encounter with the colonialists
much that they wanted and were able to use to their advantage, included
ideas about liberal human rights, gender rights, and so on. and some of
this, maybe most of it, was despite colonial policies. for instance,
colonial censorship was very severe, but the ideal of freedom of the
press and rights of self-expression couldn't be extinguished, and they
carry through today with journalists in africa some of the very bravest
people on earth. in country after country that i follow, i see
journalists on the firing line, and willing to risk jail or their lives.
why is that?
we in the west talk about freedom of the press. there is much we could
criticize about murdoch's press as biased and worthless trash; but that
ideal of a free press, especially in countries like cameroon and
senegal, is lived at a much much higher level than i've ever seen in the
u.s.
basta
thanks for your response and thoughts
ken
(by the way, to justify my comment about women's rights being something
african women took to their advantage, i would offer the novels of
nwapa, emecheta, mariama ba....the older women authors who set the stage
for african women's writing, as testament to my claim. they themselves
wrote about their experiences in schools when they were young that gave
them a spirit of freedom. add aidoo to that list.
another great example is wangrin by hampate ba, but that is another story)
On 6/28/11 7:06 PM, Emeagwali, Gloria (History) wrote:
> Ken, this time around I am merely the messenger, not the author,
>
> although I note your comments.
>
> Incidentally I disagree with your view that an invading power should not
at least
> have some semblance of moral authority and some 'locus standi'. Without
that
> its justification for invasion sounds hollow and it joins the league of
blatant hypocrites.
>
> To say that you, as a power, are invading to install democracy whilst
>
> your own government is undemocratic is weird. What do you think?
>
> Dr. Gloria Emeagwali
> www.africahistory.net
> www.esnips.com/web/GloriaEmeagwali
> emeagwali@ccsu.edu
> ________________________________________
> From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
[usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of kenneth harrow
[harrow@msu.edu]
> Sent: Sunday, June 26, 2011 5:51 AM
> To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
> Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Imperiled Revolutions
>
> the binary postulated here is too neat. "Islam" is better written
> "Islams." there are strong divisions in most countries in the middle
> east, i believe, concerning more conservative versus more liberal
> understandings of islam.
> i think one could also argue that liberal secularism is also the product
> of a relatively small segment of most societies around the world, with
> differences. in the u.s. conservatives run against "secular humanism,"
> and have managed to demonize it, for example. and the split here in
> france is clearly along similar left-right divisions over liberal
> secularism.
> ken
>
> On 6/26/11 4:15 AM, Emeagwali, Gloria (History) wrote:
>> Islam is embraced by the vast majority of the Middle East. The idea of a
liberal secular republic is the vision of the bourgeoisie, professional
elements among the middle strata, and the more organized and skilled
sections of the working class. There is little doubt that the mosque
provided an institutional foundation for opposition to secular authoritarian
leaders - the Church took on a similar role in Eastern Europe under
communism - and it makes sense that organizations like the Muslim
Brotherhood should have a jump start on political organization in the
post-revolutionary society.
> --
> kenneth w. harrow
> distinguished professor of english
> michigan state university
> department of english
> east lansing, mi 48824-1036
> ph. 517 803 8839
> harrow@msu.edu
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa
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--
kenneth w. harrow
distinguished professor of english
michigan state university
department of english
east lansing, mi 48824-1036
ph. 517 803 8839
harrow@msu.edu
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