Raymond Williams’ social and historical analysis of language investigates systems of signification that exceed the boundaries of language itself. Drawing on examples from Williams’ Keywords, Discussion of how a word’s meaning is inextricably bound up with the problems it is being used to discuss, based on the examples from Williams’ Keywords
Words are used in society to give meaning to the state of the people at a particular time. Thus, words can be used to show what society was going through at the time of their usage. A word’s meaning is inextricably bound up with the problems it is being used to discuss. This is clear from the keywords that Williams gives in his book. To begin with, we have the world culture. This word has gone through historical development and today it is used in various ways each with a distinct meaning. The word originated from Latin colere that had various meanings such as honor, protect, cultivate and inhabit. The various meanings eventually developed into different words but culture took the meaning of cultivating. People would be cultivated into a culture through their way of life. The Germans also borrowed the word from French in the eighteenth century and it was used as a synonym of civilization. Civilization has been a process of enlightenment of simple or native cultures towards achieving the European culture. Some people had a problem with this meaning because they felt that it was unfair to assume that one culture was superior to all other cultures. In this case, the European culture was considered superior and needed to be transferred to the rest of the human beings. This process is well documented in history through the process of colonization. The European powers colonized and considered the culture of the people they colonized backward and inferior. The European’s assumption that there is one superior culture is wrong and it was important to refer to cultures as different people had different cultures during different times. The fight for emancipation from the grip of superior cultures has led to many revolutions all over the world against oppression that resulted from the domination of the superior culture. For example, in America, there was the movement called the Black Panthers that fought for the rights of the minority and the working class (Baggins, 2002). This shows that people want to enjoy practicing their own cultures too.
Discussion of the relevance of one of the following keywords from Raymond Williams in relation to an issue of social justice
Equality signifies a relationship. The relationship can be between people, countries, and objects and so on. In this case, people in a relationship have same things in common but not in all aspects. The word implies similarity instead of sameness. For example when we say all men are equal, we do not mean they are the same. The concept is broad in its meaning because it encompasses a number of issues in social justice such as social, moral, political and gender equality.
In the mid eighteenth century, the word got emphasis and this was seen in the French and American revolutions that followed. The evolutions were fighting for equality as “all men are created equal (Williams, 1985, p. 118). The revolutions came about as people protested inequalities in the system. The inequalities led to social inequality in the society. The inequalities there made people want to seek equality where all men would have an equal opportunity in life regardless of their race, gender, health status or age.
The Black Panther represented an American revolution of a group of people who could not take ill-treatment anymore based on their skin color. The party was established by Bobby Seale and Huey Newton in 1966. The party’s agenda was to revolutionize the society and bring about political, economic and social equality to all. This required equalization in order to remove all the conditions elevated that some men and gave them power to dominate the others. In this sense, the underprivileged people would get an opportunity to improve their lives if the levels for all people were set at an equal level (Williams, 1985). The Black Panthers integrated Malcolm X’s practices in the party. Malcolm advocated for a revolutionary to fight for the equality of the oppressed and do it with dignity. The revolution was supposed to bring about positive changes in the society that would favor all of its inhabitants. The Panthers worked together with other like-minded white groups to equality to the working class. The party also dealt with the issue of capitalism, which was exploiting the working class to benefit a few capitalist leaders. The workers had to be given power in order to avoid further exploitation as they continued to live in squalid conditions.
Protests organized by the Panther party saw people pour into the streets to oppose the states effort to ban loaded weapons. This is because the party believed in a military revolution. The leaders of the protest were arrested and this kindled a fire among minority workers across America to form Panther Chapters in other areas to continue the revolution. The party faced stiff resistance from the government and eventually the party dismantled after its leaders were either shot or imprisoned and others went into self-exile. However, the seed of revolution had been planted and people demanded for equality more than ever. They wanted to be free from the oppressive rule of the white.
The fight for equality continues to date and people in the society are still fighting for equal opportunities. For example, the Guerrilla Girls, a movement that was formed in 1985 in New York fights for equal opportunities of women in art. This is because in the art world there is inequality and sexism against the women. This means that few women get an opportunity to participate fully in the art world as the field is dominated by the males. The group has gone into great lengths to bring awareness of racial and gender inequalities. Their goal is to bring economic change to the women who are sidelined economically (Lefes-Tetenes, n.d.).
The intentions of Galeano and Francis when they describe historical events in Canada and Latin America
Galeano and Francis had the intention of showing how colonial powers exploitation of its colonies led the problems the countries in Latin America faced and still face today. Galeano explains how Latin America historical events shape the region. When the colonizers arrived in Latin America, the local population declined in numbers drastically. This was due to diseases such as smallpox that the foreigners brought and the natives did not have a cure for them. The Spanish colonizers forbid the natives from practicing their culture and religion through repression. The native codices were burnt as they were considered evil and today the region continues its effort of regaining its identity. The natives also lost their land as it was taken over by the Spanish and they were given pieces of land amongst themselves. The natives had to provide labor for the colonialist. In turn, the economic growth of the region was stunned and today even though Latin America has vast reserves of natural resources it does not compete at the same level with other world leading economies. The rich raw materials of the region such as hide, cotton, cacao, rubber, coffee, fruits and minerals such as iron, nickel, copper, tin, aluminum ore and tin found their way into Europe and America (Chasteen & Wood, 2004). The region also delayed from attaining independence from its colonizers and this prolonged colonization was detrimental to the region in terms of culture and economics. On the other hand, the French wanted fur, which was in high demand then and thus moved into Canada to look for this commodity leading to its colonization.
Today the discourse about extraction of raw materials is different from the past. The debate centers on why a region that is endowed with a variety of natural resources has done poorly economically over the years. The region had a rough time during the nineteenth century due to political instability and thus the region’s economic growth declined. The political instability has led to civil wars and power struggles. Therefore, the region has to address these issues if it wants to compete with the rest of the world or a have a bigger say in the world affairs such as America, China and Europe.
The exploitation of rubber in the region is facing challenges due to its impact on the region. Forests have been destroyed and the region does not benefit for the extraction. Some bishops in the region urge that “Today the natural wealth of Latin America and the Caribbean is being subjected to an irrational exploitation that is leaving ruin and even death in its wake, throughout our region” (Natural Resources and our catholic response, n.d). On the other, a large number of people do not own land for example in Brazil. This has led to the formation of a movement called the Landless Workers’ Movement (MST). This movement fights for the rights of the people who were dispossessed of their land (James, 2007). This can in turn reduce poverty levels as people get land to farm.
The culture of Canada and Latin America changed after the colonizers come into their land. In Latin America, the Spanish empire imposed its cultural practices allover the region and even today Spanish is widely spoken in Latin America. The people are struggling to find their identity, which was almost wiped during the colonial rule. The traditional religious practices of Latin America were abandoned and today the region is predominantly catholic as it adapted the religion of its colonizers.
What is Global Apartheid and the purpose of this term
Global apartheid comes from the term apartheid that was used to describe the rule in South Africa before it gained independence in 1994. During the apartheid era, black South Africans faced discrimination from the whites who were in power. They were treated as second-class citizens. The whites dominated over them with their oppressive rule. The word has gained a broader meaning and become global apartheid. The term global apartheid came into use during the 1980s but it gained fame when the then South Africa president Thabo Mbeki used in 2001 to express his disappointment of failing win the bid to host the 2006 world cup. The word was used again during a world summit in 2002 on sustainable development. The term referred to the disparity between the rich and poor countries and the continued lording of the poor nations by the rich ones. The rich nations continue to dominate the poor nations indirectly and this has led to the rich nations becoming richer and the poor ones poorer (Tandon, 2010). The rich countries control the wealth of the world and are in charge of such bodies as International Monetary Fund, the World Bank among others. Through these bodies, the elite countries control the world system, which favors them.
Global apartheid is intertwined with globalization. Globalization has led to opening up of markets at the international arena however; the poor nations do not get the full benefits of these markets due to poor policies. On the other hand, the rich nations continue to expand their wealth through trading with the poor nations as they reap maximum benefits from the international trade. This has led to formation of organizations such as Zapatistas in Mexico, which opposes the capitalist political and economic policies (Zapatistas in Cyberspace, 2003). The movement opposes neo-liberalism, which can be equated to global apartheid.
The term is useful because it captures people attention. Many people in the world can relate to apartheid because the freedom struggle in South Africa caught the globe’s attention. Through the media and human rights activists, the world learnt about the atrocities that were being unleashed on the minorities. This will make people rise and oppose global apartheid as it does more harm than good to many countries of the world. Global apartheid continues to perpetrate inequalities between the rich and poor nations and it must be brought to an end just as apartheid in South Africa was.
References
Baggins, B. (2002). History of the Black Panther Party. Web.
Chasteen, C.J., & Wood, A.J. (2004). Problems in modern Latin American history: sources and interpretations : completely revised and updated. New York: Rowman & Littlefield.
James, D. (2007). Gaining Ground? Rights and Property in South African Land Reform. New York: Routledge Cavendish.
Lefes-Tetenes, M. (n.d.). Guerrilla Girls. Web.
Natural Resources and our catholic response. (n.d.). Web.
Tandon, Y. (2010). What is global apartheid and why do we fight it? Web.
Williams, R. (1985). Keywords: A Vocabulary of culture and society. New York: Oxford University Press.
Zapatistas in Cyberspace. (2003). Web.