European Colonialism and Its Legacy

The goal

This course introduces students to contemporary debates in postcolonial and decolonial studies. Students will learn about the history of European colonialism and will study anticolonial struggles across the Global South. They will analyze how the colonial West continues to shape postcolonial societies through economic, military, and political interventions.

The outcome

After completing this course, students will be able to:
- understand colonial ideologies and their role in European politics and society;
- understand the colonial basis of contemporary race, class, and gender hierarchies;
- understand the role of culture and language in anticolonial and postcolonial struggles;
- understand the contemporary legacy of European colonialism.

Contents of lectures

1. Introduction: the history of European colonialism
2. The Haitian revolution
3. Revolution and resistance in the Caribbean
4. African anticolonialism
5. The case of Algeria
6. Orientalism
7. Orientalism and the Balkans
8. Midterm
9. On the postcolony
10. The struggle continues: decolonial thinking and praxis
11. The place of Latin America
12. Decolonizing gender
13. Globalization, borders, and neocolonialism
14. Decolonizing peace and conflict studies
15. Review for final exam

Contents of exercises

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1. (mandatory) Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Silencing the Past, Beacon Press, 2015

   (Original)

2. (mandatory) Aimé Césaire, Discourse on Colonialism, NYU Press, 2000

   (Original)

3. (mandatory) Frantz Fanon, Wretched of the Earth, Grove Press; Reprint edition, 2005

   (Original)

4. (mandatory) Albert Memmi, The Colonizer and the Colonized, Beacon Press, 1999

   (Original)

5. (mandatory) Ania Loomba, Colonialism/Postcolonialism, Routledge, 2005

   (Original)

6. (mandatory) Achille Mbembe, On the Postcolony, UC Press, 2001

   (Original)

7. (mandatory) Quijano, Anibal and Michael Ennis. "Coloniality of Power, Eurocentrism, and Latin America." Nepantla: Views from South, vol. 1 no. 3, 2000, p. 533-580

   (Original)

8. (mandatory) Maria Lugones, The Coloniality of Gender, 2007

   (Original)

9. (mandatory) Harsha Walia, Undoing Border Imperialism, AK Press, 2014

   (Original)

10. (mandatory) Walter Mignolo, Local Histories/Global Designs, Princeton University Press, 2000

    (Original)

11. (mandatory) Sabaratnam M. “Avatars of Eurocentrism in the critique of the liberal peace.” Security Dialogue. 2013;44(3):259-278

    (Original)

12. (mandatory) Bakić-Hayden, M. “Nesting Orientalisms: The Case of Former Yugoslavia”. Slavic Review, 54(4), 917-931, 1995

    (Original)

13. (mandatory) Said, Edward W. Orientalism. New York: Pantheon Books, 1978

    (Original)

14. (mandatory) Todorova, Maria︡ N. Imagining the Balkans. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009

    (Original)

15. (supplementary) Appadurai, Arjun. Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P, 1996

    (Original)

16. (supplementary) Bhabha, Homi. The Location of Culture. Oxon: Routledge, 1994

    (Original)

17. (supplementary) Chakrabarty, Dipesh, ‘Provincializing Europe: Postcoloniality and the Critique of History’, Cultural Studies, 6.3 (1992), 337-57

    (Original)

18. (supplementary) Vivek Chibber, Postcolonial Theory and the Spectre of Capital. Verso, 2013

    (Original)

19. (supplementary) Glissant, Édouard. Caribbean Discourse: Selected Essays. 1st pbk. ed. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1992. Print. CARAF Books

    (Original)

20. (supplementary) Adom Getachew, Worldmaking after Empire, Princeton University Press, 2019

    (Original)

21. (supplementary) Mohanty, Chandra Talpade. “Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourses.” Colonial Discourse and Postcolonial Theory. Patrick Williams and Laura Chrisman, Eds., New York: Columbia UP, 1994

    (Original)

22. (mandatory) Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty. “Can the Subaltern Speak?” in Colonial Discourse and Postcolonial Theory, Patrick Williams and Laura Chrisman, eds., New York: Columbia U P, 1994

    (Original)

Lectures, discussions, student presentations.