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Friday, 25 September

We had only one class this week. There we discussed section 5 of chapter 27.

We watched part of the BBC documentary Racism: A History. We watched the segment in part 2 regarding the natives of Tasmania, and we also began watching the segment about India -- which also included a discussion of the importance of social Darwinism as a rationale for the mistreatment or lack of aid for people.

Here are some terms that were used in the film that I thought might be new for most of you:

-heathens - someone who doesn't believe in a monotheistic God -- and for the British, this meant essentially non-Christians.

- underpin - provide a support - ideas that underpin imperialism

- indelible - permanent, something that can't be removed - an indelible stain

- lure  - tempt, trap someone - they were lured to Flinders Island

- succumb - unable to overcome, not able to resist -- succumb to the pressures

- winnow - weed out, reduce the numbers of some group

- parsimony  - not willing to spend money

- cash crops - crops grown specifically for commerical gain -- rather than for the nutritional or other needs of the farmer/owner.

 

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Tuesday, 15 September

We worked with sections 3 and 4 of chapter 27. There were particular terms we focused, including

faction
geopolitics
concession
maharahjah
Mogul/Mughal
sepoy
jute
Raj

It is important that you work actively with the historical terms used in your book. It's not always enough to understand the overall meaning of a sentence. You want to feel that you could use a term in your own work -- and your work even includes discussions in class.

We discussed examples of geopolitics (e.g., Russia and its interest in expanding into areas of the Ottoman Empire).

We spent some time looking at chapter 27, including the images, and thinking about what the book focuses on. On Friday we'll compare our book with the file I have given you on Vklass of pages from a Swedish history book from the 1970s.

By reflecting on how Imperialism is presented in these books, this forces us to think about the process in which history is written: Which sources are used? Which issues are focused on? What is prioritized?

We discussed different approaches to history, which can be seen as different theories:

the Great Men apprach: History is understood to be a series of events driven by the personalities and achievements of powerful men.

Feminist theory: Gender is brought into an analysis of history. This can encompass many different approaches, including a focus on the systems and institutions at work in the societies under review, the sources that are utilized, and the assumptions historians employ.

Imperialism as modernism: This approach interprets the political, economic, and cultural domination of lands in the 19th and 20th centuries by European countries and the U.S. to ultimately be a matter of modernization -- which is perceived to be an overall positive development.

Postimperialism or a revisionist view of imperialism: Here the focus is on consequences of Imperialism from the perspective of those peoples and areas controlled by Europe or the U.S. This can encompass many different perspectives, and thus is quite broad.

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Friday, 11 September

We worked with material from sections 1 & 2 in chapter 27. This included material on the Congo and King Leopold II of Belgium; the role of the Maxim gun in helping Europeans to subdue Africans; the Berlin Conference of 1884-85; different forms of government/control used by imperialists to control other lands.

One of the things I tried to stress was the fact that current European prosperity is primarily the product of the exploitation of other lands during and the various forms of economic and political control exerted over them.

We went outside for the last third of the class, to reflect on the material from the day, and to enjoy the sunny weather. Remember: spend time without your phone, without constant distractions. Allow yourself time to think.

Tuesday, 8 September

We started with a little further discussion about racism.

There was also a discussion about the role of Christianity and the slave trade. I explained that Europeans found passages in the Bible that they felt legitimized the subordination of blacks to whites. This included, but was not limited to, the Old Testament passage that spoke of Ham, one of Noah's sons, who was disgraced. The people of Africa were interpreted to be Ham's descendents and thus deserving of a lower position in society as a result of Ham's disgrace.

I can say that human history is full of examples where people are happy to cling on to an argument that provides an explanation for why they should have a privileged position over another group. All situations aren't as heinous as that of the slave trade, but it is still quite common that people come up with rationalizations for why one group should be favored at the expense of another. And religious scripture (of various religions) is often at the root of these arguments.

***
I then had you do a basic outline of the historical periods we've worked with in Hi1b, with a particular focus on the Renaissance foward. You need to understand the logical underpinnings of this outline in order to make sense of other information.

We then looked at chapter 27 - The Age of Imperialism.

We discussed some of the causes -- or issues that led to imperialism in the 19th century. These included
- Industrialization, in particular the drive for resources and new markets where industrial products could be sold
- nationalism - the desire to build up empires, the desire of states to compete with other states.
- religion - the belief that Christianity should be spread.
- a sense of cultural superiority - a belief that the mores (look it up -- it's not "more") of the West would be beneficial to all peoples.

We will continue on Friday. For Friday you were to read sections 1 & 2 in chpt. 27.



Here's a little teaser for Tuesday's class:

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Hi 2a

Here is our blog for Hi2a for 2015-16

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Friday, 4 Sept.:

We came to the decision that we will work with colonialims / Imperialism -- but exactly what issues will we work with and how we will our conduct our work is still yet undecided.

We started discussing racism, trying to get a definition that captured racism, not merely prejudice or discrimination of different types. Essentially, racism is based in the physical/biological elements of a person. A sense of superiority/inferiority is grounded in the physical being of the person -- things that are by nature a part of that person, not things that are learned or adapted (and thus could be changed, such as religion, language, clothing or grooming habits, organizaiton affliation).

Reflect upon these ideas. Test out examples in your mind. Draw from experience or from examples you've read or heard about.

We noted that black-white racism has its roots in the transatlantic slave trade, which started in the 16th century. Having a centuries'-long institution that set up whites as superior to blacks in terms of political power, economic power, and education, and which was justified using Christianity, served as the basis for racist societies on both sides of the Atlantic.