Suchergebnisse

The vast output of Carlo Cattaneo contains no works specifically on the theme of colonialism. Nevertheless, this author, who is often represented as the historian of the triumphant bourgeoisie, frequently makes observations on the relationship between Europe, at the height of its splendor & its capacity for expansion beyond the continent, & the peoples & civilizations of the non-European world. His essays on India & China are particularly illuminating in this respect. Cattaneo's analyses contain an original mixture of historical reconstruction, cultural comparison & armchair anthropology. One is continuously aware of his perception of the need to reconcile the process of universalization emanating from Europe with the specific practices & values found in other nations & other forms of state. Racialist perspectives are completely alien to Cattaneo's work, & this guarantees an attitude of respect, though without ruling out a realistic recognition of the superiority behind Europe's position of dominance. Moreover, Cattaneo was not in a position to take into account "real" colonialism: having died in 1869 -- the year of the opening of the Suez Canal & the purchase of the Assab Bay by an Italian company -- he was not able directly to witness the emerging experience of Italian colonialism. In this sense, the more direct point of reference for Cattaneo's work is British colonialism. Adapted from the source document.

This work examines the political legacy of colonialism in Kenya and the knock-on effect this has had on the current crisis of citizenship in Kenya. In colonial times, the British introduced indirect rule through the Provincial Administration, a hierarchical structure that imposed upon the urban and rural populace two distinct forms of political and legal identities: that of citizens and that of natives. In the rural areas, natives were governed according to "customary law" (which the colonisers called "tribal tradition"). This paper concentrates on this sphere of the colonial State because its consequences can still be felt today in rural areas -- in particular in terms of the recurrent violence resulting from a crisis of citizenship. In rural provinces, land represents the main source of income and means of survival. Land was managed by the Provincial Administration according to the logic of colonial power and, of course, to its benefit. During decolonisation and after independence, the same logic was applied by the African elites. An analysis of how Britain and post-colonial governments have ruled Kenya shows the need for a radical change in the approach originally adopted by the Provincial Administration. The European colonial outlook underpinning this approach is outmoded and dangerous as it fans the flames of contemporary social violence, which the media often characterises over-simplistically as ethnic conflict. Adapted from the source document.

In a round-table discussion held at the U of Pavia on 22 April 2002, in collaboration with the Foreign Affairs Ministry & the university's political science department, the following participants offered their opinions on the effort to reconstruct Afghanistan & Italy's place in it: Enrico De Maio (special envoy to Afghanistan), Anna Dell Croce (embassy adviser), Sergio Romano (Corriere della Sera), Giovanni Porzio (Panomrama), & Giampaolo Calchi Novati (U of Pavia). They offered overviews of Afghanistan's history & the colonial experience in Central & South Asia, US foreign policy, & the war on terror. A. Siegel

Historically the Mediterranean has been crossed by civilizations, peoples and goods which interacted, not always peacefully, respecting pluralism and mutual acknowledgment. The colonial expansion was a rupture which introduced the European hegemony all over the basin denying the "other". France and Italy were the most relevant beneficiaries. Italian colonialism started in the Red Sea and founded the Empire in the Horn but landed in the Northern Africa with Libya's conquest in 1911-12. Not even decolonization, with the access to independence of the colonial possessions after the Second World War, entirely filled the gap between North and South opened by colonialism as such because of the asymmetry at the level of power and the economic and commercial dependence. Italy pursued its international alliances in a perspective focussed on the Atlantic Ocean. Despite the Cold War strains Rome tried to save a good neighbouring with the Arab states. Europe has its border -- as a place where the diverse actors meet -- in the Mediterranean. However, the united Europe failed in all the attempts to bring about a real cooperation with the South shore. The Euro-Mediterranean partnership setup in 1995 did not survive the evaluation Conference ten years later. Is the cooperation season over? Italy too has been involved in the coalition that waged a war to accelerate the collapse of Qadhafi's regime under attack from an internal upsurge covering the will of France to reaffirm a post-colonial influence after the liberty wave (Arab Spring) that is going to change the profile of North Africa. Adapted from the source document.

Ethiopia has been ever the icon of sovereignty for Africa and the blacks of the whole world. The process of formation of modern statehood paved the way to a born-again state reinforcing the central authority and absorbing the proto-states of the southern regions. The territorial expansion undertaken by Menelik in the last decades of XIX century encompassed into a multination Empire peoples and nations who didn't share the same values, religions and languages with the dominating stock. Hence, the image of a an alien occupation in order to exploit the work of the groups out of power and often deprived of the lands. Actually the Christian elites dwelling the highlands, the so-called Abyssinians, treated the "indigenous" peoples, especially of the south, with arrogance and paternalism as backward and pagan ones. Besides, tension between Islam and Christianity was a permanent factor in the history of Ethiopia. The oppression has been more visible as far as the eastern frontier, which has been garrisoned employing force instead of flexibility and assimilation. In such a context a special issue of contention has been the role of Amhara, who according to some historical versions and in the grievances of the communities put in a subject or servile condition were responsible to exercise an hegemony in their exclusive advantage. The Amhara themselves deny to be an ethnic group and pretend to be actually the true Ethiopian nationals. Amhara can be seen rather as a metaphor for power whereas Oromo (Galla in the Italian colonial sources) is a metaphor for the relative lack of it. Any way, it should be a mistake to draw analogy with European colonialism even at the level of stereotype. Adapted from the source document.