Horrors of colonialism: The African Experience

In the course of history, colonialism is an aggressive and disturbing experience, especially for places like Africa where its legacy lingers and casts a long shadow over the present. African societies underwent irreversible transformation as a result of colonial domination, which changed their social structures, economic systems, and modes of existence. Even if colonial powers have left the continent, the effects of exploitation and tyranny are still felt, as seen in the continent's fight for economic security and independence.The imposition of colonialism on Africa altered the history of Africa forever. As we know the Empire altered the functioning of colonies in order to serve its interests. Africa which we know now is a very poor continent unable to develop itself and at the mercy of foreign aid at times.

Prior to colonialism, African trade was not cut off from the rest of the world. Africa was actually self-sufficient in terms of food production and was trading with other nations by exporting gold and earned wealth by collecting taxes and customs.Prior to Africa's split, economic integration across the continent had grown.

After the imperial invasion of Africa the systems started to change.The infrastructure that was built was intended to take advantage of the colonies' natural riches. Moreover, colonialism's imposition halted Africa's already-occurring industrial and technological advancement. Africans had access to a vast array of consumer goods before the continent's split due to domestic production.The colonial policies compelled African manufacturing to collapse and increased dependency on imported commodities from Europe. After the colonial invasion, Africa was forced to shift to a cash crop agriculture system linking the total economic output of the region to the colonizing state. A series of unbalanced trades continues today as a result of this alteration.

Slave trade also played a key role. The slave trade affected population dynamics and gender ratio, whose effect can still be felt. In addition to this, there was a surge in polygamy and sex-based violence.

Now that we have some sort of idea of what happened in Africa let us relate it to issues of security. The primary issue that arises is that of economic security. The question of whose security part is easy, is the African subcontinent in terms of development and exploitation. Here this is the referent object. The threat object in this case would be colonial powers and also the international systems that were put in place post-colonialism.  For what purpose do they need to be secured? To answer this it is first important to understand that history is essential to understand the processes of the world. (Cox, 2010). It is because of 300 years of exploitation, the African subcontinent still hasn’t been able to get its economy back on track. 

From a neocolonialism lens we can see how the trade rules still favor the West without taking into account the colonial past of states like those in Africa. Moreover, these systems are still exploitative, making the gap between rich and poor wider. The post-colonial security studies approach provides a critique of both practices of International Relations and systems of knowledge production. There is material violence that occurs by either promotion of democracy, debt trap, or forcefully opening up. In Africa’s case, there were instances of debt trap during the slave trade that pushed Africa to be inferior or subordinate to the imperial power. Forcefully opening up by selling cash crops is also an example of material violence that happens.  In order to “civilize” the natives who were seen as undeveloped and barbaric as compared to the West, the West changed the entire course of political structures present in these nation for their own political gains. (Barkawi, 2004). International Relations tries to universalize the experiences of the West and assumes that the progression towards development can only be achieved by the democratic institutions and capitalist market economies. This is exactly what colonial powers tried to do and hence there is a need to provincialize the universal. 

Therefore, it is critical to see outside the traditional security studies framework. Threats to post-colonial governments can come from a variety of sources, such as economic instability or concerns regarding territorial integrity. It is crucial to stress that the personal being the international, drawing on feminist theory. The criticism leveled by scholars is that the discipline is influenced by Western experiences, which often fail to take post-colonial experiences into consideration. This results in a distinct form of knowledge creation that fosters epistemic violence.

In conclusion,Africa finds itself at a turning point as it deals with the intricate issues of post-colonial security while also acknowledging the lasting effects of colonialism. Deep-seated wounds from exploitation have shaped social and political dynamics in addition to economic institutions. Theorists of post-colonial security push for a reassessment of international systems and a move away from Eurocentric viewpoints in favor of a more nuanced comprehension of the unique challenges and experiences of former colonized countries.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Krause, Keith, and Michael C. Williams. 2018. “Security and ‘Security Studies’:

            Conceptual Evolution and Historical Transformation.” In The Oxford Handbook of

             International Security, edited by Alexandra Gheciu and William Curtis Wohlforth.

             Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.

1. Robert Cox. 2010. Robert Cox on World Orders, Historical Change and Purpose of Theory in International Relations. Theory Talks #37. E-IR. http://www.theorytalks.org/2010/03/theory-talk-37.html

2. Barkawi, Tarak. 2004. ‘On the Pedagogy of “Small Wars”’. International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs 1944-) 80 (1): 19–37.

3. Settles, Joshua Dwayne. "The impact of colonialism on African economic development." (1996).