Postcolonial optics of global community formation

Aibek Adilov

Postcolonial optics of global community formation

Aibek Adilov

Abstract

This article explored complex processes that arose from colonial rule and their long-term effects on modern societies. The study aimed to analyse the impact of colonial history on contemporary societies and the global community. To achieve this, historical documents, legal acts, theoretical studies, and statistical data were analysed. The analysis covered various aspects of colonial influence, including legal, economic, cultural, and social changes. Special attention was given to the consequences of colonisation in Africa and Brazil, as well as labour migration to Europe after the Second World War. The study found that colonialism contributed to the artificial formation of national borders, leading to the emergence of multinational states with complex ethnic and cultural structures. The economic exploitation of colonised countries has left deep scars on their development, further exacerbating global economic inequality. Cultural transformations, driven by the introduction of colonial languages, religions, and cultural practices, resulted in the loss of many traditional elements and the creation of hybrid cultures. The research findings demonstrated that colonialism significantly influenced the formation of national identities and often contributed to the emergence of ethnic conflicts, as seen in South America. The economic exploitation of colonies led to long-lasting consequences, such as economic dependency and unequal relations, which continue to impact the development of post-colonial nations, as exemplified by Brazil. Cultural transformations involved the imposition of colonial languages, religions, and cultural practices, resulting in the loss of traditional elements and the creation of hybrid cultural forms. Social changes included the development of social hierarchies and discrimination, which remain relevant today. Labour migration to Europe after the Second World War also caused significant demographic and social shifts. The findings from this research on colonialism can be utilised by governments, international organisations, and educational institutions to develop decolonisation policies, implement programs of historical redress, and enhance curricula to increase awareness of colonial legacies

Keywords

postcolonial societies; economic dependency; social hierarchy; national revival; ethnic conflicts; geopolitics

References

[1] Asngar, T., Zambo, C.C.A., & Ongo, N.B.E. (2022). Does colonisation explain the low level of growth in African financial markets? Economic Systems, 46(5), article number 101013. doi: 10.1016/j.ecosys.2022.101013.

[2] Barbosa, A.M., & Pimentel, L. (2024). Decolonialism, Paulo Freire and the triangular approach. In Colonial heritage, power, and contestation (pp. 243-258). Cham: Springer.

[3] Berriedale, K.A. (1919). Conference of Berlin (1884-1885). Oxford: Clarendon Press.

[4] Bhambra, G., & Ornelas, M. (2023). A decolonial project for Europe. doi: 10.13140/RG.2.2.32261.63201/2.

[5] Castles, S., De Haas, H., & Miller, M.J. (2005). The age of migration: International population movements in the modern world. American Foreign Policy Interests, 27(6), 537-542. doi: 10.1080/10803920500434037.

[6] Cohn, B. (2021). Colonialism and its forms of knowledge: The British in India. Princeton: Princeton University Press. doi: 10.2307/j.ctv1h9dgs1.

[7] Condos, M. (2024). Emergency, exception, and the colonial rule of law: The case of British India. First World War Studies, 14(1), 29-50. doi: 10.1080/19475020.2024.2307056.

[8] Council of the EU. (2002). Seville European Council 21 and 22 June 2002: Presidency conclusions. Brussels: European Commission.

[9] Daly, S. (2023). Friends and foes: Aliens and migrants in the era of the Great War. The Journal of Modern History, 95(1), 149-172. doi: 10.1086/723415.

[10] Demmer, A. (2024). Normalizing relations from the Cold War to the present: Continuing war, pursuing peace, and building empire. Modern American History, 7(3), 343-362. doi: 10.1017/mah.2024.17.

[11] Eurostat. (2023). Migrants in Europe. Retrieved from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/interactive-publications/ migration-2023.

[12] Fanon, F. (1952). Black skin, white masks. London: Pluto Press.

[13] Frazer, A. (2023). Britainʼs audacity to exploit Sierra Leone – the argument for reparation. SSRN Electronic Journal. doi: 10.2139/ssrn.4361522.

[14] Government of India Act. (1858, August). Retrieved from https://statutes.org.uk/site/the-statutes/nineteenth-century/1858-21-22-victoria-c-106-government-of-india-act/.

[15] Grimmer-Solem, E. (2024). The Versailles Treaty and the German imperial mindscape: The navy, the colonial East, and the impossible peace in postwar Germany. In The making of a world order: Global historical perspectives on the Paris peace conference and the Treaty of Versailles (pp. 33-54). London: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003213703-5.

[16] Holley, J. (2024). The (anti)colonial limits of solidarity: History, theory, practice. In Solidarity – nature, grounds, and value. Manchester: Manchester University Press. doi: 10.7765/9781526172693.00010.

[17] Jeronimo, M. (2023). “Welfare” policies in the Portuguese Empire in Africa (1960s). Varia Historia, 39(81). doi: 10.1590/0104-87752023000300015.

[18] Koehler-Derrick, G., & Lee, M.M. (2023). War and welfare in colonial Algeria. International Organization, 77(2). doi: 10.1017/S0020818322000376.

[19] Koller, C. (2008). The recruitment of colonial troops in Africa and Asia and their deployment in Europe during the First World War. Immigrants & Minorities, 26(1-2), 111-133. doi: 10.1080/02619280802442639.

[20] Kouega, J-P. (2022). Long-term social effects of colonisation on the culture of the colonised. European Journal of Language and Culture Studies, 1(3), 1-11. doi: 10.24018/ejlang.2022.1.3.14.

[21] Maastricht Treaty. (1992, February). Retrieved from https://www.europarl.europa.eu/about-parliament/en/in-the-past/the-parliament-and-the-treaties/maastricht-treaty.

[22] Manela, E. (2023). The Wilsonian moment: Self-determination and the international origins of anticolonial nationalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/oso/9780195176155.001.0001.

[23] Mitchell, P. (2024). Colonisation, conquest, resistance. In The archaeology of Southern Africa (pp. 393-431). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/9781009324724.013.

[24] Mulle, E., & Bieling, M. (2020). Homogenising tendencies: Majority-minority relations in Italy, Spain and Belgium from Versailles to the Second World War. Current Affairs in Perspective, 2.

[25] Mulle, E., Prott, V., & Ambrosino, A. (2024). The Paris system in Western Europe: Minorities, self-determination, and the management of difference in the “civilized West”. Nationalities Papers. doi: 10.1017/nps.2024.24.

[26] Muojama, O. (2023). The staff question in German plantations in the British Cameroons during World War II: The employment of staff from Jamaica and Malaya. European Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 3(3), 1-10. doi: 10.24018/ejsocial.2023.3.3.397.

[27] Novakov-Ritchey, C. (2022). Locating the peasant in decolonial analysis. The Slavic and East European Journal, 66(2), 185-205.

[28] Ongo Nkoa, B.E., & Atangana Zambo, Ch., Désiré, A., & Kamdoum Kamwa, U.K. (2024). Colonial origins and growth of financial markets in Africa: A comparative analysis based on institutions. Journal of Government and Economics, 13, article number 100099. doi: 10.1016/j.jge.2024.100099.

[29] Panayi, P., & Manz, S. (2020). Enemies in the Empire: Civilian internment in the British Empire during the First World War. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/oso/9780198850151.001.0001.

[30] Prutsch, U. (2014). Migrants on the periphery: Indigenous Brazilians, European and Japanese immigrants in the state of Paraná during the early decades of the twentieth century. História Ciências Saúde-Manguinhos. doi: 10.1590/S0104- 59702014005000005.

[31] Roudaire, R., & Zouache, A. (2022). The review of political economy and the colonisation of West Africa (1887-1920). Journal of Political Economy, 132(1), 149-179. doi: 10.3917/redp.321.0155.

[32] Rubner, N. (2024). African intellectual and cultural revanchism – the predicament of black disalienation. In The African charter on human and peoplesʼ rights (pp. 281-374). Martlesham: Boydell & Brewer.

[33] Said, E. (2001). Orientalism. Kyiv: Osnovy Publishing House.

[34] Schierup, C-U., Castles, S., & Hansen, P. (2006). Migration, citizenship, and the European welfare state: A European dilemma. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/0198280521.001.0001.

[35] Schmitt, C., & Shriwise, A. (2023). The Great War and the warfare – welfare nexus in British and French West African colonies. Social Science History, 47(4), 565-584. doi: 10.1017/ssh.2023.14.

[36] Six, C. (2021). Transnational perspectives on a global secular age - a secular age beyond the West: Religion, law and the state in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. Journal of Law and Religion, 36(2). doi: 10.1017/jlr.2021.22.

[37] Smith, L.V. (2020). Revenants of the German Empire: Colonial Germans, imperialism, and the League of Nations. German History, 38(3), 505-507. doi: 10.1093/gerhis/ghaa052.

[38] Sohret, M., & Eryilmaz, M.M. (2023). Causal relationship between colonialism and migration. In Bilsel international Turabdin scientific researches and innovation (pp. 194-208).

[39] Statistical abstract relating to British India. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://dsal.uchicago.edu/statistics/.

[40] Stein, J. (2021). Nationalism and buddhist youth groups in the Japanese, British, and American Empires, 1880s-1930s. Journal of Global Buddhism, 22(2), 341-359. doi: 10.5281/zenodo.4727657.

[41] Sultan, M. (2024). What is colonialism? The dual claims of a twentieth-century political category. American Political Science Association, 119(1), 435-448. doi: 10.1017/S0003055424000388.

[42] Tampere European Council. (1999). Retrieved from https://www.europarl.euro5pa.eu/summits/tam_en.htm.

[43] The Hague programme: Strengthening freedom, security and justice in the European Union. (2005). Retrieved from https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2005:053:0001:0014:EN:PDF.

[44] The Stockholm programme – an open and secure Europe serving and protecting citizens. (2010). Retrieved from https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2010:115:0001:0038:en:PDF.

[45] Treaty of Amsterdam. (1997, October). Retrieved from https://www.europarl.europa.eu/about-parliament/en/in-the-past/the-parliament-and-the-treaties/treaty-of-amsterdam.

[46] Van Mol, C., & de Valk, H.A.G. (2016). Migration and immigrants in Europe: A historical and demographic perspective. In Integration processes and policies in Europe. Contexts, levels and actors (pp. 31-55). Cham: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978- 3-319-21674-4_3.

[47] Zouache, A. (2017). Institutions and the colonisation of Africa: Some lessons from French colonial economics. Journal of Institutional Economics, 14(2), 373-391. doi: 10.1017/S1744137416000503.

Suggested citation

Adilov, A. (2025). Postcolonial optics of global community formation. Foreign Affairs, 35(1), 53-63. https://doi.org/10.59214/2663-2675.35(1).2025.53