I just read a short but very thought provoking article by Will Dalrymple in the Spectator website (https://spectator.us/algeria-current-colonization/). Some people may find the article a bit off-character from Dalrymple because here he provides a critique of all sort of colonialism and imperialism in history, including Muslim. Anyway, there are several interesting points in the article … Continue reading Settler Colonialism and Permanent Settlement
Edward Said’s Orientalism was a work of scholarship. I think it was a very mixed work of scholarship (better as a critique than a plausible interpretation of the facts, in keeping with the author’s expertise as a literary scholar rather than a historian). But it was one of the later 20th century works which ruminated … Continue reading Pass the samosa, spare the postcolonialism
Yesterday we went for lunch with some friends and rather randomly the husband engaged Vidhi on the merits/demerits of colonialism. I also had a commentator somehow bring up that I’m unfairly blaming the English for South Asia’s problems. My point being is that the new counter-narrative is that the English seem to have done us … Continue reading How have the English paid for imperialism/colonialism?
Specifically the increase in Islamism around the world since 1900 AD. Be curious to hear everyone’s thoughts.
Please watch this video, followed by the following video: I have read many books on India preceding and during British rule from many different perspectives and as a child spoke to many old people who were nostalgic about the British. What does nostalgia mean? It means that they all celebrated independence and had a nuanced … Continue reading Nuanced understanding of British Colonialism
I had earlier posted a link to a Guardian Article about Singapore and how it was a model for colonial & post-colonial development. To my knowledge Singapore & Hong Kong are colonial creations and therefore their success are more anomalous than not. I would hazard a few drawbacks of colonial rule in South Asia: (1.) … Continue reading Why Colonialism is always wrong..
The ever perceptive Zachary Latif asked the question of whether colonialism works. I think this needs to be evaluated on a case by case basis. How to evaluate the success of colonialism? Here is one way to evaluate the success of colonialism: 90% colonization of the mind Has colonization improved the character and self confidence … Continue reading Does Colonialism work? . . . metrics to evaluate colonialism
Colonialism can work โ just look at Singapore It is now a rich country in which most of the population lives in municipal housing while their children attend excellent state schools. There is a further crucial difference from the colonial past; Singapore now holds elections to choose its leaders. This was not the case until … Continue reading Does Colonialism work?
Hello from Phnom Penh. It’s interesting to note that in SE Asia the country that has thrived throughout is the one that kept its independence (however nominal), the Kingdom of Siam (Thailand).
Since there has been some discussion about “Indian” and “Pakistani” music recently– and in the spirit of being “high signal”– I am cross posting this essay I wrote about thumri and social change. The essay was originally submitted as part of my M.Mus coursework at SOAS, University of London.ย Thumri is a semi-classical genre of … Continue reading Thumri and Social Change
