Post-Colonialism

The novel Indian Tango (2007), written by Ananda Devi, uses the figure of travel in an unexpected way. It is here a heuristic tool which opens up possibilities of rethinking literature beyond the boundaries of fiction and autobiography. It also appears as a means of creating an unprecedented intercultural writing. But here travel appears only indirectly; the reader is led to rebuild the signs of an experience of travel which is not explicitly narrated. We would like to demonstrate that the deciphering of this hidden background of the text is nevertheless necessary for the understanding of the novel. Indeed, linguistic elaboration phenomena located in the text take significant effects and call for an experience of reading which is intercultural in itself.

In no other country under Nazi occupation was there a stronger underground press than in the Netherlands. This press produced more literature than anywhere else in Germany’s New Europe. In his bibliography Het vrije boek in onvrije tijd (The Free Book in an Unfree Time, 1958), Dirk de Jong identified over a thousand items of Dutch clandestine literature. Traditionally, this literature has been studied as a reflection of what historian Louis de Jong called “the Dutch spirit of resistance.”  This combative spirit was seen as a reaction to the ambitions of the German propaganda; whereas the Germans hoped to find support for the Nazification of the Netherlands and the tightening of links between the “Germanic” Dutch and their German “brothers,” clandestine literature insisted on the incompatibility of Dutchmen and Germans for “spiritual reasons.” The German spirit was depicted as intrinsically subservient, in contrast to the Dutch “spirit of freedom.” This traditional interpretation of clandestine literature is problematic, however, when we link it to the debate on Indonesia (the Dutch East Indies) and on Dutch colonial policy in general. It raises the question: If Dutch writers were really so concerned with freedom, why did so many of those who had been involved in the clandestine press deny freedom to the people of Indonesia as soon as the war was over?

Lo que esta ponencia plantea es que los efectos de la modernización, entendiendo esta como un proceso de transformación social e histórica, modifico las relaciones de poder entre los sujetos subalternos del mundo colonial hispánico en Guatemala. Ello significó que algunos grupos pudieran posicionarse en relaciones de poder, mientras que otros fueron insertados en el esquema de la dominación. Sin embargo también implicó que los nuevos subalternos aprendieron el lenguaje de los dominantes a fin de presentar un proceso de resistencia ante el Estado-Nacion de Guatemala.

One of the most enduring critiques of the field of International Relations (IR) Theory in the last thirty years has been that it ‘silences’, or hides, certain aspects of international politics, thus producing an incomplete image of our world. However, despite the fact ‘silence’ is arguably becoming an important conceptual and epistemological category in the discipline, so far there has been little effort to clarify what exactly is meant by ‘silence’ or what the implications of attempts to ameliorate it may be. This paper seeks to fill that vacuum by conducting an analysis of the most important schools of thought and individual works that have invoked the concept of ‘silence’. These works roughly fall within the schools of post-modern, feminist, post-colonial and critical International Relations (IR) Theory. The paper is divided in five parts. The initial four will each examine a specific school of thought, starting with post-modernism, to trace the ways the concept is used, the suggested ways of ameliorating ‘silences’ and their implications. The final and concluding part will draw together the observations made in the previous to offer tentative conclusions regarding the potential (new) openings for international relations theory and practice made possible by a political conceptualisation of ‘silence’.

""Recasting the Region studies the trajectories of Muslim Bengali politics and examines the literary and cultural history of Bengali Muslims from the early twentieth century until the 1952 Language Movement. It argues that Muslim political mobilization in late colonial Bengal did not emanate from north Indian calls for a separatist 'Muslim' state of Pakistan, but rather emerged out of a sustained engagement with local Bengali intellectual and literary traditions.

In six chapters, the book features meticulous research on topics like the pursuit of folklore, literary modernism, and intellectual movements in both Dhaka and Kolkata in the late colonial period. Examining language literary texts, the social histories of newspaper and magazine offices, and the writings of Bengali Muslim politicians and intellectuals, the book delves into the meaning of nationalism and decolonization for the Bengali Muslims.

Focusing on the cultural history of the largest Muslim population of the colonial era, the Bengali Muslims, this work utilizes heretofore unexplored Bengali sources as well as offers a new interpretation of the emergence of the state of Pakistan.""

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Postcolonialismo y Arqueologia  (Moro, O. & Díaz-Andreu, M. eds.)
- Post-colonial studies y Arqueologia: Potencialidades de la definición de la Arqueologia como un dispositivo colonial - Oscar Moro Abadía y Margarita Diaz-Andreu - 223
- O Impacto da actividade arqueológica norte americana em Portugal: a caso do estudo do Paleolítico - Nuno Bicho -237
- "Somos todos de fuera"-We are all from somewhere else. Thoughts on the responsibilities of archaeologists - lain Davidson - 245
- Waiving the ancestor's voices? Archaeology, politics and identity in the Canary Islands at the end of the 19th century - José Farrujia de la Rosa - 251
- Aportación a la historiografía arqueológica de fines del siglo XIX: la obra de Miguel Mancheño y Olivares - María José Richarte García y María Lazarich González - 261
- Archer M. Huntington, The Hispanic Society of America y la Arqueología española - Jorge Maier, Manuel Bendala, Constancio del Álamo, Sebastián Celestino y Lourdes Prados - 271
- Arqueología y hegemonía: la contribución al pensamiento conservador español entre los siglos XIX y XX - Víctor M. Fernández Martínez - 281
- O espírito imperialista trencée e a emergencia dos estudos arqueológicos no Portugal de oitocentos: O exemplo de Possidónio da Silva (1806-1896)  - Ana Cristina Martins  - 291
- Pierre Paris en España. Arqueología y política, oportunismo y estrategias - Gloria Mora Rodríguez - 303
- La Arqueología Española del primer tercio de siglo XX a través del archivo fotográfico de A. García y Bellido - María Pérez Ruiz - 313
- Hopefully Not Colonialists: The Role Of "The Chicago School" in The Study Of Spanish Paleolithic Prehistory - Lawrence Guy Straus  - 323
- French influences on the first administrative inventory of Spanish cultural heritage (1844) - Miguel Ángel López Trujillo - 333 "

In the Theravāda Buddhist polities on the mainland of Southeast Asia, abiding concerns about the proper structuring of the relationship between the “two wheels of dhamma” (i.e., the realm of religion and the realm of politics) have had a profound influence on processes of state formation and political legitimation. This paper explores one such religious “effect,” on the constitutions and electoral laws of modern Burma/Myanmar, Siam/Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos, namely the official disenfranchisement of Buddhist monks (and, in some instances, Buddhist “nuns” as well as non-Buddhist clergy). The paper traces the historical evolution of this Buddhist exception to the democratic principle of equal and universal suffrage, and assesses the extent to which dominant theoretical approaches in the social sciences help us understand the politics of religious disenfranchisement in Southeast Asia. It finds that neither secularisation theory nor the religious-economy approach can explain observed patterns. Instead, the paper offers an account of the politics of religious disenfranchisement that emphasises the role of ideas and historical context.

"1. 李祖喬 (2009)。〈從維多利亞公園看香港的殖民空間政治 〉馬傑偉篇《中國城市研究探索》。香港：香港中文大學亞太研究所。
LI, Cho Kiu (2009). “Colonial Spatial Politics in Hong Kong: A Study of Victoria Park”, Eric MA, ed. Exploring China Urban Studies. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2009.

2. 李祖喬 (2014)：〈從維多利亞公園看香港的殖民空間政治 〉《感／觀日常：跨文化研究讀本》。香港：中文大學文化研究學部+進一步。
LI, Cho Kiu (2014). “Colonial Spatial Politics in Hong Kong: A Study of Victoria Park”. Feeling/Viewing Ordinary: An Intercultural Studies Reader. Hong Kong: CUHK Cultural Studies Division and Stepforward."

Hearing the word conflict, we mainly think of the Middle East, Africa and Asia, for that reason it is important to address the power position people involved in conflict transformation and resolution occupy. In 2013, an article was published on Foreign Policy Magazine discussing LGBT communities in Syria and their struggle between Islamists and the Syrian regime. Critically assessing the implications of such publications, and reflecting on the position of the author, three main points of contention can be identified. First, in this publication as well as in others, there is a denial of agency amongst the LGBT community and their portrayal as ‘helpless’ and in need of a ‘saviour’. Second, there is a general view that LGBT communities, and especially gay men, are portrayed as ‘emasculated,’ ‘effeminate’ in nature and ‘disempowered’, in comparison to their western counterparts. Third, such publications imply that there is no solution within societies and communities themselves, and that intervention, whether through the provision of asylum and refugee status, or ‘educating’ societies ‘from above,’ is the main viable option. This paper will address the political, cultural and racial implications of the position of practitioners involved in LGBT struggles in conflict areas. It will suggest that a critical insight into power dynamics, political implications, and sustainable forms of conflict transformation are missing in the field of LGBT struggles. It will also show how the ‘saviours’ contribute to a homonationalist narrative and pinkwashing, suggesting a monopolisation of homosexuality and LGBT culture, and leading to reinforcement of the rejection of homosexuality within communities at conflict. For example, the state of Israel promotes itself as ‘gay friendly,’ and Tel-Aviv as the gay capital of the Middle East. This promotion does not only result in a claim that Israel is ‘modern’ and ‘homonationalist,’ but also leads Palestinian society to reject homosexuality, as they start perceiving it as ‘Israeli’ and ‘other.’ This paper is based on personal experiences working in conflict areas, with Syrians, Iraqis and Palestinians, and on the body of literature on homonationalism, dominant cultures and postcolonial theory. It suggests an alternative to approaching LGBT rights in conflict areas, by enabling social change from below, instead of attempting to ‘save’ from above.