Definition
According to the Oxford online dictionaries, Postcolonialism is defined as: “The political or cultural condition of a former colony.” and “[The] theoretical approach in various disciplines that is concerned with the lasting impact of colonization in former colonies.” In a wider context this theory and area of study seeks to explore, analyse and explain the effects and influences of colonialism and/ or imperialism on subaltern and native populations, their cultures, and the existing social, economic and political structures using a wide range of academic disciplines. This is done primarily through focusing on power dynamics, with regards to the ways in which knowledge has been and to an extent continues to be dominated and therefore produced from a hegemonic perspective (i.e- Eurocentric) and thus influences perceptions, values and belief systems. In the context of environmentalism and environmental scholarship, postcolonialism explores the ways in which current environmental thoughts and issues are perceived and discussed but also critiques how they have been shaped by colonialism as “The environment is now seen as a domain in which the First World, having exploited it for centuries in the guise of industrialization or modernization, now places the onus of cleaning it up on the Third World, imposing sanctions on the use of fossil fuels or carbon emissions.” (Nayar, 2016) In this way, development and modernisation have become primary topics of discourse in regards to climate change and global warming. However, the trajectory and effects of history are often overlooked and consequently the increasing overlap of these two subjects seeks to address the conflicts at hand and also explore possible solutions from many viewpoints.
Context
The study of the relationship between postcolonialism and environmentalism is still relatively new, with increasing interest as more environmental experts and scholars shift their attention from Western-classical environmental views to more contemporary, fresher views of postcolonial cultures and literatures (Buell et al., 2011). Many of these works are concerned with the argument to include indigenous environmental views from Africa, Asia, and Latin America rather than just the conventional views of Anglo-North America and Europe. Literature on postcolonialism and environmentalism first emerged in the 1950s. However, interest in postcolonialism increases exponentially from the 1980s (Fig.1). The sudden shift of interest might be attributed to some of the best known literatures on the subject at the time like Alfred W. Crosby’s Ecological Imperialism (1986) and Richard H. Grove’s Green Imperialism (1995). More recent work on postcolonial ecocriticism include Graham Huggan’s ‘Greening’ Postcolonialism (2004), Rob Nixon’s Environmentalism and Postcolonialism (2005), etc. However, the number of postcolonialism literature peeked in the early 2000s and has not changed significantly since then (Fig.1).
Fig.1 Percentage of postcolonialism literature over time (Google Ngram)
Postcolonialism in relation with environmentalism is is a field of study within ecocriticism, which is the study of literature and the environment from an interdisciplinary point of view, where literature scholars analyze texts that illustrate environmental concerns and examine the various ways literature treats the subject of nature (Wikipedia). One major author who contributed to the initial rise of ecocriticism is Henry David Thoreau, whose focus was still mostly on British Romanticism and American nature writing (Nelson, 2015). Writers under this stream of thoughts and deep ecologists are most likely to criticize the conversation of postcolonialism in environmentalism matters as they deem the idea of postcolonialism to be entirely anthropocentric and not ecocentric (Huggan, 2004). However, supporters of postcolonialism would argue that Thoreauvian ecocriticism “has tended to reflect the interests and concerns of countries in the North” (Vital, 2008) and that without the inclusion of postcolonialism perspectives, it is just “another attempt to ‘white out’ Black Africa by coloring it green” (Slaymaker, 2001).
Critique
The incorporation of postcolonial theory in the context of environmentalism has been met with a mixture of both positive and negative commentaries. Critics claim that the field of postcolonial studies is afflicted by rampant anglocentrism, causing many Western academics to pay little attention to indigenous perspectives that could potentially present some environmental insight. In his article “The Neocolonialism of Postcolonialism: A Cautionary Note,” (1997) Graham Huggan of Harvard University argues that there is often an underlying sense of exclusivity and othering when academics try to “demystify” cultures that are not their own. Postcolonialism often contains neocolonialist and/or exoticist underpinnings, especially when it “subscribes to intellectual tourism” and benefits from marketing cultures as exotic. For example, the publisher Heinemann has an African Writers Series that is advertised with a particular concept of Africa that Europeans and Americans find palatable. It is also argued that literature in and of itself has contributed greatly to knowledge and understanding, but has also been used for the purpose of subjugation.
In her article “Postcolonialism, feminism and development: intersections and dilemmas” (2001), Cheryl McEwan points out that many people see postcolonialism not only as elitist, but also as too theoretical to be of practical use in our material world. Huggan echoes this sentiment, claiming that it is possible that postcolonialism inevitably suffers for simply being a part of Western thought and is, to put it kindly, a “hazy” (but trendy) idea. According to Huggan, the term “postcolonialism” has been commodified to the point where the postcolonial studies field has become “intellectually bankrupt.” To Huggan and other scholars, the concept of postcolonialism is is inherently overreaching. There is no specific start or end to the post-colonial era and the affected environments are ill-defined at best. Thus, it is difficult to decipher the exact meaning of the “post” part of “postcolonialism.” Postcolonialism addresses neocolonialism and does not imply that colonialism is over. To many scholars, that the “post” has no meaning at all. Concrete solutions are necessary for directly addressing environmental problems, but postcolonialism has limitations in achieving this.
As for a more positive view of postcolonialism, in their book Decolonising Nature: Strategies for Conservation in a Post-Colonial Era, William M. Adams and Martin Mulligan explore conservation from a range of disciplines from ecology to philosophy in order to critique and improve conservation. They study conservation and its colonial legacy and how to move beyond it in order to ensure that it also protects and improves the lives of indigenous peoples and their cultures and traditions by incorporating their views and perspectives. In this way the incorporation of postcolonialism into environmental scholarship acknowledges the history of the domination of values and beliefs and gives a platform for the incorporation of indigenous knowledge whilst still being solution-oriented.
Similarly, in his book Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor, Rob Nixon states that “Postcolonialism can help diversify our thinking beyond the dominant paradigms of wilderness and Jeffersonian agrarianism in ways that render ecocriticism more accommodating of what I call a transnational.” further supporting the notion that diversification in regards to environmentalism and environmental scholarship would add more value to the ongoing discourse and the possible ideas that may emerge from it when it comes to solving real life problems. And in her essay: Postcolonial Ecocriticism and the Question of Nature, Ursula K. Heise adds that “Postcolonial ecocriticism also promises to make new contributions to the analysis of how imperialism, colonialism, neocolonialism, and postcolonialism not only create basic conditions of inequality between colonizer and colonized…” In this calling to attention the importance of the history of the disparities of the “Global North and South”. Therefore, those who have contributed to the discourse of the intersection of postcolonialism and environmentalism would argue that this is an important intersection as it seeks to acknowledge and address the ways in which the current world environment was affected by past regimes, and in doing so also aims to find solutions by moving from hegemonic knowledge to a structure of knowledge that incorporates other ways of knowing in finding solutions.
Conclusion
The term postcolonialism seeks to further explore the ways in which systems of colonialism and imperialism affected subaltern people, their cultures and their current social, economic and political situations using historical background. In this way previously marginalised people and groups are able to contribute to Western-dominated academia and its disciplines and thus include other ways of knowledge apart from the current hegemonic structures and also work toward solutions. Interests in postcolonialism and its relationship with environmentalism only sparked in 1980s, when the political tensions precipitated from colonialism are mostly dissolved and more scholars started to divert their attention to the non-Western cultures. Since the beginning of it inception, there are two opposing views regarding postcolonialism and its significance in the environmentalism conversation. On one hand, pure environmentalists observe that postcolonialism undermines that “sacredness” argument of nature by giving too much importance to equal development. While on the other hand, supporters of postcolonialism approach in environmentalism is the key to resolve environmental issues without compromise quality of human life or the prospect of future generations.
Critics of postcolonialism highlight that it is a slippery concept since it does not have a single, definite meaning. They claim that the term “postcolonialism” is currently more of a buzzword than a legitimate scholarly perspective or field. Some scholars also argue that the postcolonial field often suffers from undercurrents of anglocentrism and exoticism. In critics’ eyes, postcolonialism’s negative attributes can prevent it from being a useful lens for addressing environmental issues. In contrast, those who support postcolonialism would argue that it aids in the development of the current solutions by being able to identify the root of environmental problems. Hence, this is a way for academia to be broadened through the incorporation of other knowledge systems and therefore not only be more representative and inclusive, but also be transformed to cater to the increasingly globalised world.
Postcolonialism can thus be useful in rooting real world problems in the past and in giving a voice to previously marginalised people and groups in order for past issues to be addressed and more representative solutions to be found. However, just as with any “-ism,” it is important to be cautious with the postcolonialism approach in order to prevent cultural elitism or exoticizing of indigenous cultures. Moreover, it is crucial to recognize the restraints of using postcolonialism to address environmental issues. Since postcolonialism is essentially anthropocentric, it would only be useful in the context of civilizations which have not achieved the same level of development and quality of life as the developed world. Therefore, it is only fair to compromise environmental solution with the ensurance of welfare and equal development in these less privileged cultures.
References
Buell, Lawrence, Ursula K. Heise, and Karen Thornber. “Literature and Environment.” Annual Review of Environment and Resources 36 (2011): 417-40.
Huggan, Graham. “The Neocolonialism of Postcolonialism: A Cautionary Note.” Links & Letters 4 (1997). Accessed March 18, 2017.
Jameson, Fredric. 2016. “Third-World Literature In The Era Of Multinational Capitalism”. Postcolonial Studies, 71-90. Wiley-Blackwell. doi:10.1002/9781119118589.ch5.
King, Brian H. Geographical Review 93, no. 2 (2003): 273-75. Accessed March 18, 2017. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30033912.
McEwan, Cheryl. 2001. “Postcolonialism, Feminism and Development: Intersections and Dilemmas.” Progress in Development Studies 1 (2): 93–111. doi:10.1177/146499340100100201.
Nelson, Jake Robert. “For a Postcolonial Ecocritical Approach to International Relations.” In Transatlantic Perspectives on Diplomacy and Diversity, edited by Anthony Chase, 139-150. New York: Humanity in Action Press, 2015.
Nixon, Rob. “Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor.” Cambridge, US: Harvard University Press, 2011. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 20 March 2017. Copyright © 2011. Harvard University Press.
Roos, Bonnie, Hunt, Alex, and Tallmadge, John, eds. Under the Sign of Nature : Postcolonial Green : Environmental Politics and World Narratives. Charlottesville, US: University of Virginia Press, 2010. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 20 March 2017.
Slaymaker, William. “Ecoing the Other(s): The Call of Global Green and Black African Responses,” PMLA 116.1 (2001): 132.
Vital, Anthony. “Toward an African Ecocriticism: Postcolonialism, Ecology and Life & Times of Michael K,” Research in African Literatures 39.1 (2008): 87
Wikipedia contributors, “Postcolonialism,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, Accessed March 18, 2017. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postcolonialism