Colonialism and Postcolonialism by Ania Loomba

Then and Now:

Colonialism, Imperialism, Postcolonialism, Globalization and Environmental Studies

Post-Colonialism with hyphen and non-hyphenated form of Postcolonialism are two different terms. Post-colonial with hyphen often used to situate Postcolonialism in particular time and space which is after Colonialism. The formal end of colonialism marked as Postcolonialism where native people are suffering from eliminating the effects of colonial identities from roots. But when we use Postcolonialism without hyphen then it becomes a general theory which examines How Dominant people construct, structure or appropriate the very identity of Dominated people by Othering, Marginalizing or dehumanizing them. How the West European colonizers violated the histories and tradition of the East by showing them as Illiterate, Inhuman, Uncivilized and sometimes Animalistic. So, This is the foundational difference between Postcolonialism with hyphen and without hyphen.

So, when we use Postcolonialism without hyphen then it becomes necessary to demonstrate that in which era we are studying Postcolonialism.  In this way Postcolonialism is not only limited to a particular period of time but it is an ongoing process. As Alia Loomba also rightly remarked that....

Thus, imperialism, colonialism and the differences between them are

defined differently depending on their historical mutations.

Significance of Ania Loomba's 'Colonialism and Postcolonialism'

Ania Loomba's 'Colonialism and Postcolonialism' is worth referring to when we are understanding Postcolonialism. This book remains significant for two chief reasons….

• Clarity in Concept: The way writer introduce any concept and theories regarding Postcolonial studies is explained in a very direct and clear language.

• Contemporaneity: Relevance with current ongoing situations makes this book more noteworthy. The book is designed in such a way that we find parallelism between what is explained in a book with social, economical and political situations. of the day.

Two major issues highlighted in Book

• Dangers of Universalising the post-colonial experience 
• Possibilities of challenging colonial ideologies

Defining the Major Terms associated with Postcolonialism

First introductory chapter of the book focuses more on giving a clear definition of various terms associated with Colonialism. Ania Loomba's way of interpreting the definition is very praiseworthy. First she gave definitions which are given in well known dictionaries and then she found what is problematic in this description. And which essential part seems missing from definition because Postcolonialism is also about inquiring into foundation and bringing out that history created by Westerners is not as true as reality. So, Let's see how she defines different terms.

Colonialism

a settlement in a new country … a body of people who settle in a new

locality, forming a community subject to or connected with their par-

ent state; the community so formed, consisting of the original settlers

and their descendants and successors, as long as the connection with

the parent state is kept up.

(Oxford English Dictionary)

The word colonialism comes from Roman word 'Colonia' which means farm or settlement. This particular was used to refer especially Roman who settled on another land but still they owned the citizenship of their own country. What remarkation Ania Loomba made in this definition is very thought provoking…

¶ Definition only refers to colonizers and other than that it completely avoids inhabitants of that land.

¶ After reading the above definition we can conclude colonisation as Conquest or Domination over other land.

¶ Colonialism is the establishment of 'New Locality' but the above definition absolutely avoids the fact that New Locality is not completely New. There are old people who are living there and they are already inhabitants of that land.

¶ Colonizers came on new land and they 'Form a New Community' there. But forming a new community is also about Un-forming and Re-forming the communities which already exist there is completely missing from the definition.

So, Colonialism is encroaching the land of other people along with that it also include wide range of practices such as Trade, plunder, negotiation, warfare, genocide, enslavement and rebellions etc.

Colonialism Before and Now

Ania Loomba said Colonialism is not a very recent process which began when European Masters started appropriation over other land. It has very deep historical roots which are in the 2nd Century AD when Roman Empire expanded their land at the end of Armenia and Atlantic. In her own words…

But colonialism in this sense is not merely the expansion of various European powers into Asia, Africa or the Americas

from the sixteenth century onwards; it has been a recurrent and widespread feature of human history.

Now the question is then why European Colonialism is so effective that it's echo can still be heard in the minds of once colonized people? Ania Loomba tried to discriminate European Colonialism from other settlements. And for that she took the help of Marxist Capitalism. All earlier colonialism are pre-capitalist but Modern Colonialism traced the effects of Marxist Capitalism. Where labour and hard work is done by colonized people, and gain and profit are for Colonial Masters. It is established on the notion of Master-Slave relationship where masters exploit the people for their personal gain. 

European colonialisms involved a variety of techniques and patterns of

domination, penetrating deep into some societies and involving a com-

paratively superficial contact with others, all of them produced the eco-

nomic imbalance that was necessary for the growth of European capitalism and industry.

Imperialism

The meaning of Imperialism is also changing with the different historical period. So, Like colonialism, Imperialism also cannot be defined in a single one definition. Earlier Imperialism had a very general meaning of Command or Superior Power over Anything. But with the time it's meaning is shifting towards pertaining to the Empire, and rule of an Emperor over land. Which is totally arbitrary and self-centered with dictatorship. The Empire also suggests royalty and authority. 

In the early 20th century Lenin and Kautsky gave new meaning to imperialism which is quite near to Capitalism. 

In Imperialism, the

Highest Stage of Capitalism (1947), Lenin argued that the growth of

‘finance-capitalism’ and industry in the Western countries had created

‘an enormous superabundance of capital’. This money could not be profitably invested at home where labour was limited. The colonies lacked

capital but were abundant in labour and human resources. Therefore it

needed to move out and subordinate non-industrialised countries to sustain its own growth.

Neo-Colonialism and Neo-Imperialism

According to Lenin's definition Capitalism is a distinguished feature between Capitalism and Imperialism. But in Modern Era direct rule of colonies are shifting from Geographical Encroachment to Indirect Rule, In which there is physical power over land. But, without any Direct Rule they can force their power over other countries which is known as Neo-Colonialism and Neo-Imperialism.  

In the modern world, then, we

can distinguish between colonisation as the takeover of territory, appro-

priation of material resources, exploitation of labour and interference

with political and cultural structures of another territory or nation, and

imperialism as a global system.

So, In the new form of Colonialism doesn't make any interferences in Social, Political and Cultural systems of territory. Only Economic and Financial things are in control of Colonizers. And This process is affecting the Global Scenario that's why it is called Imperialism which is the highest form of Colonialism.

If we want to see an example then American Imperialism is the best example as Edward Said is also referring. Because American Imperialism has enormous Military and Economic power over the Globe without any direct rule.

Situating Post-Colonialism

“Imperialism, colonialism and the differences between them are defined differently depending on their historical mutations. . . . These fluctuations also complicate the meanings of the term ‘postcolonial’, a term that is the subject of an ongoing debate”

Postcolonialism is a very vague term. We cannot woven it in a single definition. Some of the reasons given by Ania Loomba are as following…

¶ Post-Coloniality is not only limited to study the effects of Colonialism after colonial rule.

¶ The word Post meaning 'aftermath'. So Postcolonialism studies the aftermath effect of colonialism on people's minds. The word 'Post' can be read in two senses…

• Temporal
• Ideological

¶ Postcolonialism cannot be situated in a particular time period. Because different countries colonized during different periods of time.

¶ Ella Shohat asked ‘When exactly, then, does the “postcolonial” begin?’ This is a very complex question.

References

• Loomba, Ania. Colonialism-Postcolonialism. Third Edition ed., Routledge, 2015.
• “Loomba, Ania. Colonialism/Postcolonialism.” OUP Academic, Oxford University Press, 27 Jan. 2016, https://academic.oup.com/fmls/fmls/article-abstract/52/1/117/2939924