50231 Colonialism and Modernity

UTS: Communication: Social and Political Change
Credit points: 8 cp
Result Type: Grade, no marks

Handbook description

This subject provides a basic introduction to the 500-year history of European colonialism and modernity and to issues of continuing importance raised by these momentous phenomena. Students deepen their knowledge of the political, economic, social and cultural processes of colonial expansion and imperialism. They also explore the roots of different intellectual disciplines: biology, history, psychology, anthropology and post-colonial studies. The subject introduces students to many perspectives, for example, those of colonised indigenous peoples; of invading 'settlers' moving to the countries of the colonised; of anti-colonial political and military struggles; and of diasporas – populations dispersed by invasion, slavery, indentured labour and voluntary migration.

Subject objectives/outcomes

On completion of this subject students are expected to be able to:

1. demonstrate a basic knowledge of theories of colonialism and modernity
2. be familiar with different interpretations of colonialism and modernity
3. understand non-Western perspectives on colonialism
4. question and criticise Western theories of modernity
5. understand the position of countries such as Australia in the history of colonialism
6. possess research and analytic skills, and be able to interpret diverse literatures
7. demonstrate lucid exposition and innovative questioning.

Contribution to graduate profile

This subject will contribute to the development of:

• historical and theoretical knowledge in social inquiry
• critical and analytical skills in cross-cultural and global contexts
• critical understanding of contemporary international and ethnic relationships
• ethical practice, especially in historical and cross-cultural contexts
• reflective appreciation of the role of theory in social and political life, facilitating a commitment to lifelong learning.

Teaching and learning strategies

Lectures
Students are to attend one lecture per week starting with the first week of semester. Lectures provide students with a framework for both tutorial discussions and assignment work. Students are to attend all lectures.

Tutorial participation
All students register for a tutorial at enrolment. Attendance at the specified tutorial in the first week for your tutorials is necessary to ensure you keep your place in the class. Each student will facilitate one online preparation for a tutorial, and all students will respond online each week to the facilitator's statement.

Punctual attendance and participation in tutorials is compulsory. Absence from more than two tutorials without good reason will result in failure in the subject. Tutorial Participation includes:

• One small group facilitation online and lead tutorial in class
• Seven weeks participation in responses online to a facilitation statement, prior to class
• One hypothetical
• Learning Outcomes discussions

Online discussion portfolio
Students will select their best two responses to facilitation statements to be handed in [as hardcopy] for tutors to assess [one in Week 8; one in Week 13]. Responses should be no less than 300 words each [400 for 8cp] and will be assessed for relevance to discussion questions, quality of analysis [insight into readings, critical analysis and/or relation to other texts], and strength of argument. Overall response portfolio will be no less than 600 words [6cp] or 800 words [8cp].

Essay
Approximately 2000 words. (For those taking the subject as 8 cp, the word length is 3000)
These assessment activities are explained in more detail below under 'Guide to Assessment Tasks', and will also be discussed in Tutorials.

Content

This subject allows students to analyse Australia's situation in relation to the world and our region by investigating the history of colonialism, including its engagement with modernity and the history of anti-colonial movements. Students deepen their knowledge of the political, economic, social and cultural processes of colonial expansion and imperialism as they affected the colonised peoples, the colonising rulers and settlers, and the metropolitan powers. The subject explores the roots of many intellectual disciplines and tools, investigating, for example, the relationship between anthropology and colonialism, as well as the role of technologies such as photography in colonial processes. Using international and Australian comparisons, the subject introduces students to many perspectives: those of colonised peoples; those of members of diasporas (the populations dispersed by invasions, slavery, indentured labour and voluntary migration); those of the invading settlers who established overseas colonies; and those of people remaining in or migrating into the colonisers' home country.

All or most of the following topics will be addressed:

• European colonialism in global perspective
• The role of racial ideologies and discourses
• Religion, colonialism and power
• Modernity, colonialism and gender
• Colonial uses and appropriation of labour and their consequences
• Colonialism and the creation of the nation state
• Colonialism and remaking nature
• Anti-colonialism and nationalism
• Decolonisation, partition and borders

Assessment

Assessment item 1: Tutorial Participation and Presentation

Objective(s):	a, c, d, f, g
Weighting:	40%
Task:	Online and classroom tutorial workshopping of readings allows students to explore the recommended readings, to deepen their analytical skills and to engage in challenging intellectual activity with other students and with staff. To achieve these goals, tutorial work will occur in different formats, as follows: General discussion Week 1 – Discussion of the course and the handout, and allocation of work for the semester. Week 2 – guided small group discussion to familiarise students with this format. Weeks 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11 & 12 – Assessed Online and face-to-face facilitated discussion Week 5 – Hypothetical: the case of sati Week 13 – Informal discussion of learning outcomes as well as discussion of readings NOTE: DUE DATES Week 8 – Hand in best online discussion response from Weeks 3, 4, 6, 7. AND Hand in Essay Plan at end of Essay Workshop – NOTE: A completed essay plan must be attached to the final submitted essay – however this does NOT need to be identical to that discussed and handed in at Workshop. Week 13 – Hand in best online discussion response from Weeks 10, 11, 12. Week 14 – Hand in Essay in class. MUST be accompanied by an essay plan. Facilitated Small Group Discussion (weeks 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12) Tutorial group divides into small discussion groups (of 5 or 6 people). Each discussion group nominates one or more people to facilitate and to report back for the group for each of these weeks. All students must take this responsibility at least once. The groups in consultation with the tutor should identify in advance the question they will address so that most topics are covered each week. The nominated facilitator for each week should post a short, two page discussion stimulator and issues summary on UTS Online by the Thursday morning of the week before the tutorial, identifying the key issues and points of contention or questions. Each other person in the group should post a brief response of no less than 300 words PRIOR to the tutorial. This response should be well informed by the readings. Tutors will monitor the posting of each student's contribution and marks will be deducted for failure to post on time. These responses need to refer to at least one of the essential readings for the week, ie those in reader. Responses will be assessed according to the criteria in Assessment Task 2, which describes the two responses you will hand in. These responses should be more than your personal response: they are to be a view which responds to the facilitator's statement and which is based on a careful reading of AT LEAST one of the required readings for the week and which ARGUES your point. Students will select and hand in the two responses they feel made the most effective contribution to the discussion to be assessed by their tutor. [One in Week 8; one in Week 13] Groups meet and discuss their allocated tutorial topic for 40 minutes. Discussion should engage with the lecture and readings for the week, building on the issues raised by the facilitator's statement and student responses. The facilitator will then report on the group's discussion to the main class discussion (noting disagreements, further questions, and conclusions). The task for the FACILITATOR of the small groups is to Prepare a stimulating introductory summary around two pages, based on a careful analysis of the ESSENTIAL READING/S [ie the one or two in the reader] AND a knowledge of FURTHER READINGS FROM THE RECOMMENDED READINGS LIST. Facilitators must post it up with adequate time to allow others to respond and no later than 9am on the Thursday morning prior to the tutorial. Identify key issues and points of contention or questions. Lead the discussion of your group in the classroom tutorial Report on how the group approaches and answers the focal tutorial question/s after the small group face to face discussion. Regard your facilitation statement as reflecting the research and analysis qualities of a tutorial paper, but also to include consideration of communicating to your fellow students and stimulating discussion.
Assessment criteria:	Assessment criteria for facilitator's statement and reporting: Breadth and depth of reading Quality of critical insight into readings, i.e. analysis Quality of stimulation of discussion (in posted statement and in face to face plenary discussion) Lucidity and coherence of writing.

Assessment item 2: Discussion response portfolio

Objective(s):	a, d, f
Weighting:	20%
Length:	Between 600 words and 800 words (800-1000 words for 8cp)
Task:	EACH WEEK: you must post at least one considered response, equal to or more than 300 words, to the facilitator's statement before your tutorial class begins. YOU MUST INCLUDE DISCUSSION OF AT LEAST ONE OF THE ESSENTIAL READINGS IN YOUR RESPONSE. For assessment, you must select and print out your TWO best online contributions to the weekly discussions, each no less than 300 words, and submit to tutor for assessment. Submit your best response so far [from Weeks 4-7] in Week 8 and a second response [selected from weeks 8 - 12] in Week 13.
Assessment criteria:	Evidence of: Thoughtful and thorough reading of required reading text/s Identification of the issues raised in the lectures and texts Ability to synthesise and summarise academic writing Quality of argument Lucid writing style, correct spelling, grammar and expression.

Assessment item 3: Essay

Objective(s):	a, c, d, f, g
Weighting:	40%
Length:	approx 2000–2500 words; 3000–3500 for 8cp
Task:	To pass this item, you must demonstrate that you have consulted and understood a range of sources. EACH ESSAY MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY AN ESSAY PLAN. You must follow the style guidelines outlined in your tutorial. This course accepts Harvard Style footnoting [the convention in social science scholarship] or conventional historical footnoting [necessary when longer primary source material is being cited]. Footnoting and referencing will be discussed in the Essay Workshop in Week 10. All websites must be fully dated, [last updated and date accessed] with author and organization identified, with URL recorded. Suggested initial reading lists for essays will be placed on the UTSOnline site in Week 3. Some will have more sources given or more readily accessible resources than others, which will demand more independent research skills.
Assessment criteria:	FOCUS: Address the topic, explore its implications and identify relevant issues raised by the literature RESEARCH: Read widely among suggested and other writings in the area ANALYSIS: Critically analyse arguments and theories, relevant to the field of colonialism and modernity, which arise in your readings. Reflect on the merits and flaws in these arguments and theories STRUCTURE: Good organisation and logical develop of an argument or point of view. Provide evidence to support that view REFERENCING: Correct referencing and English expression EXPRESSION: Well written and stylistically consistent.

Minimum requirements

Students are expected to read the subject outline to ensure they are familiar with the subject requirements. Since class discussion and participation in activities form an integral part of this subject, you are expected to attend, arrive punctually and actively participate in classes. If you experience difficulties meeting this requirement, please contact your lecturer. Students who have a reason for extended absence (e.g., illness) may be required to complete additional work to ensure they achieve the subject objectives.

Attendance is particularly important in this subject because it is based on a collaborative approach which involves essential workshopping and interchange of ideas. Students who attend fewer than ten classes are advised that their final work will not be assessed and that they are likely to fail the subject.

Required text(s)

A full list of background readings will be found at the end of this subject out line.

All Students will need to familiarise themselves with:

1) the Subject Reader, which includes many of the set readings for each week and will be on sale at the beginning of the semester

and

2) the book Colonialism and Modernity, by Paul Gillen and Devleena Ghosh, (UNSW Press, 2007) which includes most of the remainder of the set readings as well as accessible summaries and discussions of many other relevant debates. It will be available for sale at the Co-op Book Shop and will be held in Special Reserve at the Library.

Recommended text(s)

Highly recommended reading (most at Co-op Bookshop)
Anderson, Benedict, Imagined Communities, Verso, London & New York, 1983
Young, Robert C. Postcolonialism: on historical introduction, Blackwell, 2001.
Roy, Arundhati: The Ordinary Person's Guide to Empire, Flamingo, 2004.
Wolf, Eric, Europe and the People without History, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1982
Castles, Stephen and Miller, Mark J 2003 [3rd Ed]: The Age of Migration: International Population Movements in the Modern World, Palingrave/Macmillan, Hampshire and NY.

Essential resource books:
Bennett, T, Grossberg, L and Morris, M [eds] 2005 : New Keywords: A revised vocabulary of Culture and Society, Blackwell, London.
Ashcroft, B., Griffiths, G. and Tiffin, H. [eds]: Post Colonial Studies: The Key Concepts, Routledge, NY and London, 1998.
Williams, R: Keywords, 1976 and 1983.

Recommended reading
Said, Edward, Orientalism, Vintage Books, New York, 1979
Said, Edward, Culture and Imperialism, Vintage, 1994
Hall, Stuart & Gieben, G. (eds), Formations of Modernity, Polity, London, 1992
Hardt, Michael and Antonio Negri, Empire, Harvard University Press, 2000
Hobsbawm, Eric: Age of Empire, Weidenfeld & Nicholson, London, 1987, Europe and the People without History, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1982

Further reading
The readings below cover more specialist material. We hope that you familiarise yourself with at least 2 books from the list. (The list is long in order to enable all students to have access to at least 2 books, and to minimise pressure on library resources.) Additional recommended texts are also listed with the lecture and tutorial program and may replicate those below. The subheadings for the readings below will assist you to locate appropriate readings for your essays.

Economics of colonialism:
Frank A. G., The Development of Underdevelopment, (various editions)
Polanyi, K., (1975) The Great Transformation, Octagon Books, New York
Wallerstein I., (1983) Historical Capitalism, Verso, London
Wolf, E., (1982), Europe and the People without History, University of California Press, Berkeley

Modernity and Colonialism
Stoler, A. L., (1995) Race and the Education of Desire, Duke University Press, Durham
Torgovnick, M., (1990) Gone Primitive, University of Chicago Press, Chicago
Anderson, Benedict (1991) Revised Ed: Imagined Communities, Verso.
Ram, K. &. Jolly, M. (eds), (1998) Maternities and Modernities: Colonial and Postcolonial Experiences in Asia and the Pacific, Cambridge University Press

Colonialism and Culture:
Cooper, F. & Stoler A., (1997), Tensions of Empire: Colonial Cultures in a Bourgeois World,University of California Press
Chakrabarty, Dipesh (2000) Provincialising Europe: Postcolonial thought and historical difference, Princeton University Press, Princeton and Oxford.
Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs and Steel, Vintage, London 1998.
Dirks, Nicholas (1997) Colonialism and Culture Routledge, London
Docker, John and Gerhard Fischer Race, Colour & Identity in Australia and New Zealand UNSW Press, Sydney 2000
Fanon, Frantz, (1968) A Dying Colonialism, New York, Grove
Fanon, Frantz, Black Skins, White masks (various editions)
Fanon, Frantz, The Wretched of the Earth (various editions)
Goodall, H., (1996) Invasion to Embassy: Land in Aboriginal Politics 1770 to 1972, Allen & Unwin
Louis, William Roger (Editor–in-chief), The Oxford History of the British Empire Oxford University Press. Volume I The Origins of Empire: Volume II The Eighteenth Century.
Nandy, A., (1983) The Intimate Enemy: Loss and Recovery of Self Under Colonialism, OUP, Bombay,
Spivak G. & Guha R. (eds), (1988) Selected Subaltern Studies, OUP, New York
Berman, M., (1982) All That Is Solid Melts Into Air, Simon & Schuster
Featherstone M., Lash, S. & Robertson, R. (eds), (1995) Global Modernities, Sage, London and Thousand Oaks, California
Polanyi, Karl The Great Transformation Beacon NY 1975 [first pub 1944]
Viastos, S. (ed), (1998) Mirror of Modernity: Invented Traditions in Modern Japan, University of California Press

Gender and Colonialism
McClintock, A, Mufti, A and Shohat, E (eds) 1997: Dangerous Liaisons: Gender, Nation and Postcolonial Perspectives, U. Minnesota Press, Minnesota and London, esp Chandra Mohanty: pp255-277: 'Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourses' and Ann Laura Stoler, pp 344-373: 'Making Empire Respectable: the politics of race and sexual morality in twentieth-century colonial cultures',
Hall, Catherine (1992) White, Male and Middle Class: Explorations in Feminism and History, Routledge, New York.
Locher-Scholten, Elsbeth 2000: Women and the Colonial State: Essays on Gender and Modernity in the Netherlands Indies, 1900 - 1942, Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam.
Stoler, A. L., (1995) Race and the Education of Desire, Duke University Press, Durham
Ram, K. &. Jolly, M. (eds), (1998) Maternities and Modernities: Colonial and Postcolonial Experiences in Asia and the Pacific, Cambridge University Press
Minh-ha, Trinh T. (1989) Woman, Native, Other: Writing Postcoloniality and Feminism, Indianna University Press, Bloomington and Indiannapolis.
Davies, M (ed) 1983: Third World, Second Sex: Women's Struggles and National Liberation, Zed Books Ltd, London
Parker, A, Russo, M, Sommer, D and Yaeger, P [eds] (1992) Nationalisms and Sexualities, Routledge, New York and London.

Colonialism, Environment, Place and Modernity
Griffiths, T. and Robin, L. [eds] (1997) : Ecology and Empire: Environmental History of Settler Societies, Keele University Press, Edinburgh, 1997.
Grove, Richard H (1995) Green Imperialism: Colonial Expansion, Tropical Island Edens and the Origins of Environmentalism 1600 - 1860, Cambridge Univ Press, Cambridge.
Dunlap, Thomas R. (1999) Nature and the English Diaspora: Environment and History in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Mager, Anne Kelk: (1999) Gender and the Making of a South African Bantustan: A Social History of the Ciskei, 1945-1959, Heinemann, James Currey, London
Clifford, J., Routes: Travel And Translation In The Late Twentieth Century, Harvard University Press

FURTHER REFERENCES

Classic texts
Beaglehole, J., (1955-74) Journals of Captain Cook Cambridge, CUP
Beaglehole, J., (1963) The Endeavour Journal of Joseph Banks 1768-71, Sydney, Public Library of NSW, Angus & Robertson
Clastres, P., (1984) 'On Ethnocide' in Art and Text
Columbus, C., (1930-33) Selected Documents Illustrating the Four Voyages of Columbus, Hakluyt Society 2nd ser 65 and 70, London
Engels, F., (1972) Origins of the Family, Private Property and the State, Lawrence and Wishart, London
Foster, J. R., (1778) Observations Made during a Voyage around the World, London
Gandhi, M. K., (1983) 'The Liberty March' in Fischer, L. (ed) The Essential Gandhi, Vintage Books
Ghosh, R., (1985) John Stuart Mill on Colonies and Colonization, University of Western Australia, Discussion Paper
Lenin, V. I., (1965) Imperialism The Highest Stage of Capitalism, Foreign Languages Press, Moscow
Mandeville, J., The Fable of the Bees (various editions if you can find it)
Mannoni, D.O., 1990, Prospero and Caliban: The Psychology of Colonization, Ann Arbor Paperbacks, Michigan
Mao Tse Tung (n. d.) Collected Works Vol 2 Foreign Languages Press, Moscow pp 310-315
Marx, K., (1964) Capital: Volume 1, esp Chapter XXX1: 'Genesis of the Industrial Capitalist'; Chapter XXX11: 'Historical tendency of Capitalist Accumulation'; and Chapter XXX111: 'The Modern Theory of Colonization' pp. 774-800. Lawrence Wishart (note there are various editions of Capital)
Memmi, A., (1974) The Colonizer and the Colonized, Souvenir Press, New York
Morgan, L. (1974) Ancient Society Gloucester, Mass, Smith,
Reynolds H (1982) The Other Side of the Frontier Penguin Books
Rousseau, J-J., (1913) The Social Contract and the Discourses, London, Dent (chapter 'On the origins of Inequality')
Spencer H (1992) Selected Works on Social Evolution, Chicago University Press, Chicago,
Trevelyan C (1838) On the education of the People of India London
Weber M The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (various editions)

Other sources
Fiction

Bronte, C. Jane Eyre Buck Pearl The Good Earth Carpentier Alejo The Lost Steps Conrad J Heart of Darkness Ghosh, Amitav: The Glass Palace Greene, Graham: The Quiet American Han Suyin A Many Splendoured Thing Hornung A W Raffles Hughes T Tom Brown's Schooldays Johns W. E Biggles novels Kipling R Kim Marquez Gabriel Garcia One Hundred Years of Solitude

McCarthy Cormac Blood Meridian Naipaul VS A House for Mr Biswas Orwell George Burmese Days Toer, Pramodeya Ananta: This Earth of Mankind Rohmer Sax Dr Fu-Manchu novels. Rushdie S. Midnight's Children Scott Paul The Jewel in the Crown Tanizaki J The Makioka Sisters Wallace Edgar Sanders of the River Woodrell D Woe to live on Yahp Beth Crocodile Fury

Films

Aguirre: the Wrath of God Babakiueria (Barbeque Area) Bridge over the River Kwai Christopher Columbus Elephant Walk Fifty-Five days at Peking First Contact, Joe Leahy's Neighbours and Black Harvest Gandhi Heat and Dust Hiroshima Mon Amour Jedda King Solomon's Mines Lousy Little Sixpence Mau Mau

Northwest Frontier (also known as Flame over India) Out of Africa Passage to India Raiders of the Lost Ark Sepukku Shanghai Express The English Patient The Jungle Jim Films The King and I The Mission The Quiet American The Thief of Baghdad Trobriand Cricket White Mischief Zulu

WEBSITES

Students are encouraged to seek out internet resources for this course. However websites must be evaluated carefully by students to assess their authenticity and their validity. All uses of websites in the course assignments must be fully referenced.

A VERY useful website for this course is Fordham University's Internet History Sourcebooks <http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/> (especially the Sourcebooks in Modern, Indian, African, Women's and Global history).