Criticism of Colonialism and the Colonial Memory Work in Germany

• 作者: Jacob Emmanuel Mabe
• 来源期刊: 哲学研究:英文版
• 学科: 历史
• 关键词: COLONIALISM Pan-Africanism Eurocentrism MEMORY WORK PESSIMISM OPTIMISM
• 年，卷（期）: 2019,（6）
• 页码范围: 310-317
• 页数: 8页
• 分类号: K35

摘要

Colonialism is an ideological system that was not only contrary to traditional African law(family law,popular law,etc.),but was also incompatible with the dignity of man.Colonial tyranny in Africa began with the political implementation of the decisions adopted at the Berlin Conference of 1884/85,its essential principles of international law being the inviolability and the purity of colonial borders.Thus the European colonial powers managed to avoid wars of aggression and prevent uprisings by African people.Since the dominant theories of colonialism were Eurocentric,they could scarcely contribute to adequately investigating the nature of colonialism,let alone adequately describing its dimension in Africa.Instead of examining the shades of the colonial system from different cultural perspectives to inform people objectively,Eurocentric theories prevented any attempt at truth about colonial injustice.Unfortunately,some Europeans still tend to endorse the colonial injustice system in Africa with cheap and cynical Downplaying terms.The fact that colonial policy has a long history,however,in no way indicates that it should necessarily be accepted or legitimized.On the contrary,since its inception colonialism met with violent and intellectual opposition until African countries attained national sovereignty and territorial integrity.This article demonstrates the significance colonialism has in Africans’intellectual discourse and shows how the colonial question is discussed in Germany.