The myth of postcolonialism

We are constantly told that we live in a ‘postcolonial' world. We study postcolonial countries, we read Things Fall Apart and discuss postcolonial literature, and Stephen Harper tells us, "We have no history of colonialism." We say postcolonial so that we can imagine colonialism as being over, a part of history never to occur again. Forget that— we may dream of a postcolonial world, but we are nowhere close to one. Beyond the smokescreen of the ‘post', we are just as much colonizers as we once were; we've just gotten quieter about it. Rather than the messy, days-of-old colonialism, we engage in more hushed-up, more all-encompassing, and much more dangerous neocolonialism.

Neocolonialism can be quickly summed up as the practice of using capitalism, globalization, politics and cultural forces to control countries. Instead of good ol' violence being used to coerce nations, economic policies are used to bring a country to its knees. Same shit, different century. At this point, you are invited to stick your head in the sand and sing the praises of a postcolonial world. Or you could stop and think about it for a minute.

We barrage Iran with threats and economic sanctions the minute we're almost pretty sure they're probably developing nuclear weapons… but we're all okay with a country that boasts such gems as Rick Perry having access to them? Nuclear weapons are bad, Iran shouldn't have them, and what was that third thing? The Iranian nuclear sanctions may or may not be a grasp for safety, but they are most definitely neocolonialist. Move a little to the west and say hello to the infamous SAPs, or Structural Adjustment Programs, in Africa. SAPs threaten the sovereignty of nation-states, take control away from the people, and weaken the national body. But it's not colonialism guys, we're just helping them out! In reality, SAPs serve to keep weak countries weak, cripple them with crushing debt, and ensure that these countries produce products useless to the native population but desired in powerful countries. Products like cotton. Sounds like colonialism to me. In what universe can we class this as aid?

Last but definitely not least, try to move past Mr. Harper's vacant grin and observe the active practice of neocolonialism in the True North Strong and Free. No history of colonialism, hmm? The Native Canadian population would probably beg to differ. There's this little document in Canadian legislation, it's called the Indian Act. It's not so bad; it was only the model for apartheid in South Africa. The Indian Act takes it upon itself to define what an ‘Indian' is, and to let us know who isn't ‘Indian' enough, with the terms ‘status' and ‘non-status'. And let's not forget Canada's dirty little secret, the residential school system. As Duncan Campbell Scott so nicely put it, "the Indian problem" could be easily remedied by stripping Native Canadians of their children, cultural practices, and sense of identity. Attawapiskat First Nation was recently deemed unfit to manage their own affairs and relieved of responsibility of their finances. Sound familiar? The term ‘postcolonialism' is a band-aid solution to a gaping wound.

Postcolonialism does not exist. We have a new brand in neocolonialism, accomplishing the same goals quietly, and right under our noses. Open your eyes, look around, stop thinking postcolonial, and start thinking neocolonial.