Aimé Césaire’s Discourse on Colonialism Analytical Essay

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Introduction

The rise and spread of colonialism is one of the significant themes in world civilization. Colonialism is an old phenomenon that emerged during the ancient period in Europe. It can be divided into two phases. The first phase is called old imperialism. It occurred between the fifteenth and the nineteenth centuries. During this timeframe, European powers such as Britain and France conquered small states in Europe.

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New imperialism began after 1870 due to the rise of capitalism in Europe. Indeed, the Europeans argued that they colonized America, Asia, and Africa to solve social, economic, and political challenges. Nonetheless, they wanted to achieve their economic ambitions.

Colonialism led to serious challenges in the world. Thus, various scholars such Walter Rodney, Karl Marx, Aimé Césaire, and Adams Smith have tried to analyze colonialism. “Aimé Césaire’s Discourse on Colonialism is a moving examination of the cruelty, impassiveness, and dehumanizing consequence of colonization on both colonizer and colonized” . This essay discusses the historical context of Césaire’s essay.

Origins of Colonialism

Colonialism has been analyzed from various perspectives. According to Césaire, the European civilization caused myriad challenges, which it could not solve. Thus, the Europeans had to seek external solutions to their domestic problems. Césaire argues that the European civilization was debauched because it could not solve the challenges it created. The following factors led to the emergence of colonialism.

Imperialism

Imperialism refers to the extension of social, economic, and political supremacy of a superior nation to an inferior one. Imperialism was an idea of superiority that was perpetrated by the Europeans.

Thus, the Europeans conquered the entire world based on the concept of superiority. The Europeans believed that they were the most civilized in the world. Thus, they had the moral obligation to extend their civilization to other parts of the world.

Economic imperialism was caused by the rise and development of capitalism in Europe . Capitalism is an economic model that emerged after mercantilism. It began in Europe during the Industrial Revolution. Capitalism is an economic system in which citizens own the primary modes of production. In this economic system, people invest their resources to make more profits.

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The Industrial Revolution began in England in the second half of the eighteenth century. Britain pioneered industrialization because of social, economic, and political stability. Nonetheless, other European countries such as France and Germany faced social, economic, and political upheavals in the eighteenth century.

Thus, between 1750 and 1850, Britain was the leading producer of manufactured goods in Europe. The strong economic position of Britain enabled it to dominate other European countries.

After 1850, other European countries such as Germany and France began to industrialize. Thus, the spread of the Industrial Revolution in Europe led to over production of manufactured products.

This led to lack of markets for manufactured goods since major European powers were producing their own products. Lack of markets led to trade barriers in Europe. Moreover, the spread of the Industrial Revolution led to competition for raw materials and investment opportunities.

Capitalism caused serious social and economic challenges in Europe. First, it led to over production of goods and investment of capital. Second, there was concentration of income in a few hands. Thus, majority of the Europeans did not have the purchasing power. The bourgeoisie also reduced the amount of wages they paid the proletarians . All these factors led to a serious economic recession.

Due to the economic decline, the capitalists advised their governments to introduce economic reforms to foster economic growth. They also pressurized their political leaders to acquire colonies to enable them access cheap raw materials, markets, cheap labor, and investment opportunities.

Thus, imperialism emerged as result of capitalism. Consequently, “imperialism has been defined as the highest stage of capitalism”. Imperialism led to the rise of colonialism in various parts of the world.

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European Colonialism

European colonialism became intensive towards the last quarter of the 19th century because of the following factors. European countries were interested in fulfilling their capitalist ambitions. Therefore, they colonized various parts of the world because they wanted cheap raw materials. They wanted to access more markets because of stiff competition in their domestic markets.

The capitalists were looking for better investment opportunities because they had extra capital to invest. They were looking for cheap labor to facilitate production of raw materials . In addition, they wanted to occupy strategic territories such as India, Egypt, and the African seaboard to secure important trade routes. All these factors led to colonialism.

Liberalism

After the French Revolution, the spread of the ideas of equality and liberty led to nationalism in Europe. Thus, there was a serious struggle for nationalism in Europe in the 1870s. For example, the unification of Germany in 1870 and Italy in 1871 led to political upheavals in Europe. Before the rise of Germany, England and France were the most dominant political powers in the European continent.

Thus, the rise of Germany interfered with the balance of power in Europe. For instance, the rivalry between France and Germany led to the Franco Prussian War. After this war, France began to acquire overseas colonies because it lost two provinces to Germany. This event marked the onset of the serious scramble for colonies among European powers.

The desire to spread the European civilization was another factor that led to colonialism. The Europeans wanted to propagate their culture based on the idea of cultural imperialism. Indeed, the Europeans felt that they had the best civilization in the world. Thus, they deemed other races barbaric. Socially, “the Europeans wanted to spread Christianity”.

Impacts of European Colonialism

A part from the causes of colonialism, Césaire also highlights the consequences of colonialism on the subjugated. He wrote the Colonial Discourse in the last days of colonialism. Thus, Césaire’s manuscript demonstrates the practice of colonialism and its outcomes. Colonialism had the following consequences on the colonized.

Economic exploitation was the main reason for the European colonialism. The Europeans exploited precious raw materials such as gold, diamonds, and iron in the conquered territories. These raw materials were exploited to fulfill the economic ambitions of the Europeans.

During the colonial period, the colonized became proletariats who offered cheap labor to the Europeans. Indeed, forced labor was rife during the colonial period. It led to economic under development of the colonized. Land alienation became endemic in the European colonies.

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Hence, the colonized experienced serious economic challenges . The colonialists imposed heavy taxes on the colonized, but they did not provide public services to them. Moreover, the Europeans disrupted the indigenous modes of production such as trade, agriculture, and industries. Therefore, European colonialism led to under development in the colonies.

European colonialism led to social challenges in various societies. For example, they conquered various territories through military attacks, which led to massive loss of lives and destruction of property. Therefore, various scholars have criticized the brutality of the Europeans during the colonial period.

For instance, Césaire contends that the Europeans were uncultured because they were inhuman during the colonial period. Moreover, the Europeans introduced racial segregation in various territories. For example, the practice of apartheid in South Africa led to immense suffering of the natives.

Colonialism led to cultural alienation of the vanquished. For instance, the Europeans undermined various civilizations in the world because they believed that they were the most cultured. Thus, they compelled the colonized to espouse and practice their culture. In this case, colonialism led to cultural erosion in various societies. For example, the British colonization of India led to the destruction of the Indian civilization.

Cultural erosion was witnessed in Africa and Asia. The Europeans claimed that they wanted to solve social challenges such as witchcraft, incest, and illiteracy. Nonetheless, they were interested in spreading their own cultural practices and religion. For example, “they wanted to spread Christianity”. Thus, they undermined other religious practices and rituals.

Colonialism led to serious political challenges in various parts of the world. The colonialists disrupted indigenous political structures in the colonized territories. They introduced authoritarian systems of administration in the conquered territories. During the colonial period, the colonized did not participate in political administration.

Furthermore, they did not have rights. Hence, the Europeans undermined the dignity of the colonized. The Europeans applied the policy of divide and rule, which led to the rise of ethnicity in various societies. Today, ethnicity is a major political challenge in many developing countries. In the postcolonial era, many political challenges such as authoritarianism have been witnessed in the former European colonies.

Conclusion

Colonialism was a manifestation of the challenges that occurred in the European civilization. Césaire asserts that the European civilization failed to surmount the challenges it created. Thus, it was a debauched civilization. According to Césaire, European imperialism led to the rise and spread of colonialism in the world. The Europeans felt that they were the most cultured; hence, they conquered other races to civilize them.

The Europeans masqueraded as philanthropists who were interested in improving the social and economic conditions of the colonized. However, they used treachery to colonize and exploit other races.

Therefore, Césaire is one of the critiques of the European colonialism because it failed to improve the social, economic, and political conditions of the conquered. Undeniably, colonialism led to the spread of racism, violence, and poverty in the world. It also destroyed many civilizations.

At present, “the Europeans have not been able to find lasting solutions to the problems of the proletariats and the bourgeoisies”. Moreover, they have not been able to deal with the effects of colonialism. Thus, colonialism was the historical context of Césaire’s essay.

Works Cited

Césaire, Aimé and Joan Pinkham. Discourse on Colonialism. New York: Monthly Review Press, 2001. Print.

Fanon, Frantz and Richard Philcox. Black Skin, White Masks. New York: Grove Press, 2008. Print.

Lenin, Vladimir. Imperialism the Highest Stage of Capitalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011. Print.

Memmi, Albert and Susan G Miller. The Colonizer and the Colonized. London: Beacon Press, 2000. Print.

Rodney, Walter. How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. London: Black Classic Press, 2011. Print.

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IvyPanda. 2022. "Aimé Césaire's Discourse on Colonialism." April 23, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/colonialism-2/.

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