The Change Which Remains the Same: Towards a Decolonisation Which Does Not Recolonise

In his celebrated study of colonisation, The Intimate Enemy, Ashis Nandy observes of Indian responses to British colonisation: ‘The pressure to be the obverse of the West distorts the traditional priorities in the Indian’s total view of the…universe…It in fact binds him (sic) even more irrevocably t...

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Autor principal:	Steven Friedman
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	University of Johannesburg 2021
Materias:	colonisation decolonisation ashis nandy south africa Social Sciences H
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/5148b0dd871d456da9c32b607c3cbcf1
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id	oai:doaj.org-article:5148b0dd871d456da9c32b607c3cbcf1
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:5148b0dd871d456da9c32b607c3cbcf12021-11-14T16:03:21ZThe Change Which Remains the Same: Towards a Decolonisation Which Does Not Recolonise2075-24582616-907Xhttps://doaj.org/article/5148b0dd871d456da9c32b607c3cbcf12021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/The_Thinker/article/view/685https://doaj.org/toc/2075-2458https://doaj.org/toc/2616-907XIn his celebrated study of colonisation, The Intimate Enemy, Ashis Nandy observes of Indian responses to British colonisation: ‘The pressure to be the obverse of the West distorts the traditional priorities in the Indian’s total view of the…universe…It in fact binds him (sic) even more irrevocably to the West.’ This problem stems, he adds, from a tendency by both coloniser and anti-colonial thinker to ‘absolutise the relative difference between cultures’. This article will argue that Nandy’s observation is an essential element in a South African response to colonisation which does not repeat colonialism’s assumptions in the name of replacing them. In particular, it argues against an essentialism in which a reified ‘Western culture’ is replaced by an equally reified ‘African culture’ which is just as constraining and just as likely to be used as a rationale for domination as the colonial ideology it purports to reject. It will further argue that we avoid the trap of which Nandy warns if we define intellectual colonisation as an ideology which seeks to suppress or eliminate modes of thought which do not conform to a dominant set of values and its antidote, decolonisation, as the removal of this constraint, not as its replacement by new constraints. This decolonisation does not seek to abolish ‘Western culture’ but to integrate it into a world view in which it takes its place alongside African, Asian, and Latin American cultures. It therefore recognises the syncretic nature of all cultures and views of the world and seeks to enhance, rather than obstruct, conversations between them. Steven FriedmanUniversity of Johannesburgarticlecolonisationdecolonisationashis nandysouth africaSocial SciencesHENThe Thinker, Vol 89, Pp 8-18 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	colonisation decolonisation ashis nandy south africa Social Sciences H
spellingShingle	colonisation decolonisation ashis nandy south africa Social Sciences H Steven Friedman The Change Which Remains the Same: Towards a Decolonisation Which Does Not Recolonise
description	In his celebrated study of colonisation, The Intimate Enemy, Ashis Nandy observes of Indian responses to British colonisation: ‘The pressure to be the obverse of the West distorts the traditional priorities in the Indian’s total view of the…universe…It in fact binds him (sic) even more irrevocably to the West.’ This problem stems, he adds, from a tendency by both coloniser and anti-colonial thinker to ‘absolutise the relative difference between cultures’. This article will argue that Nandy’s observation is an essential element in a South African response to colonisation which does not repeat colonialism’s assumptions in the name of replacing them. In particular, it argues against an essentialism in which a reified ‘Western culture’ is replaced by an equally reified ‘African culture’ which is just as constraining and just as likely to be used as a rationale for domination as the colonial ideology it purports to reject. It will further argue that we avoid the trap of which Nandy warns if we define intellectual colonisation as an ideology which seeks to suppress or eliminate modes of thought which do not conform to a dominant set of values and its antidote, decolonisation, as the removal of this constraint, not as its replacement by new constraints. This decolonisation does not seek to abolish ‘Western culture’ but to integrate it into a world view in which it takes its place alongside African, Asian, and Latin American cultures. It therefore recognises the syncretic nature of all cultures and views of the world and seeks to enhance, rather than obstruct, conversations between them.
format	article
author	Steven Friedman
author_facet	Steven Friedman
author_sort	Steven Friedman
title	The Change Which Remains the Same: Towards a Decolonisation Which Does Not Recolonise
title_short	The Change Which Remains the Same: Towards a Decolonisation Which Does Not Recolonise
title_full	The Change Which Remains the Same: Towards a Decolonisation Which Does Not Recolonise
title_fullStr	The Change Which Remains the Same: Towards a Decolonisation Which Does Not Recolonise
title_full_unstemmed	The Change Which Remains the Same: Towards a Decolonisation Which Does Not Recolonise
title_sort	change which remains the same: towards a decolonisation which does not recolonise
publisher	University of Johannesburg
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/5148b0dd871d456da9c32b607c3cbcf1
work_keys_str_mv	AT stevenfriedman thechangewhichremainsthesametowardsadecolonisationwhichdoesnotrecolonise AT stevenfriedman changewhichremainsthesametowardsadecolonisationwhichdoesnotrecolonise
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The Change Which Remains the Same: Towards a Decolonisation Which Does Not Recolonise

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