SYA4011/AFA 4930

POSTCOLONIAL THEORY
Spring 2018

Instructor: Professor Percy C. Hintzen

LC 308
phintzen@fiu.edu
305-348-4419

Time: Monday 2.00 pm –5.00 pm. Friday, 1.00 pm–3.00 pm.

Place: Ocean Banks Convocation Center 121

Course Description and Objectives

The objective of the course is to provide advanced undergraduate students with an introduction to post-
colonial theory, its concepts, problems, and debates. The course examines how contemporary global,
regional, national, and subnational conditions are influenced and partly determined by the strong legacy of
colonialism. The course will focus on theories that examine the relationship among history, society,
politics, and economics. The problem posed by the course relates to the persistence of colonial forms after
the formal dissolution of Europe’s overseas empires during the latter half of the twentieth century, and
particularly after 1947. Notwithstanding the granting of independence, the various campaigns of anti-
colonial resistance and challenges at all levels to colonialism, Western influence continues to shape post-
colonial formation through the use of economic, military, and political power and ideology.

The course will introduce students to discussions about the experiences of various historical and
contemporary realities that form the complex of post-colonial thinking. It engages post-colonialism as a
continuing process of reconstruction and resistance. It is impossible to examine the post-colonial without
taking into account its antecedents and its consequences. And a significant portion of the course will deal
with both. The course considers European colonialism as an “historical fact” that has produced diverse
material effects everywhere. The imperial force of Europe continues to intrude everywhere, as does the
legacy of colonialism in Europe and European settler societies. So post-colonial theory has universal global
applications that the course will examine. The course will engage with theories of imperialism and neo-
colonialism as aspects of post-colonial thinking.

The course will proceed through engagement with selected readings on colonialism, imperialism, neo-
colonialism, anti-colonialism, and post-colonialism. The field is an inter-disciplinary one that engages
multiple analytical frameworks.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS
2 Mid Term Examinations 20%
Final Take Home Review Paper 40%
Weekly submission Assignments 28% (14x2%)
Class Participation 12%

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Grade Assignments
A 100 - 93
A Minus 92.9 – 90
B Plus 89.9 – 87
B 86.9 – 83
B minus 82.9 – 80
C plus 79.9 – 77
C 76.9 - 70
D plus 69.9 - 67
D 66.9 – 63
D minus 62.9 - 60
F 59.0 - 00

Grading Policy and Practice

All assignments will be graded out of 100 and weighted according to their assigned value. No late
assignment will be accepted nor make up exams graded without a valid excuse related to illness or personal
and family emergency or for the accommodation of a religious holiday. Documentation must be presented.

Class Attendance
Students are expected to be early for class and to attend every class unless their absence is excused because
of personal illness, or personal and family emergency or for the accommodation of a religious holiday.
Documentation must be provided for an excused absence.

After three (3) unexcused absences, one (1) point will be deducted for each subsequent absence up to a total
of 10 percentage points. These deductions will show up on the marks for class participation.

Mid-Term
There will be two mid-term in-class essay-0type examinations. Each exam will count for 15 percent of the
grade. The essays that test familiarity with and understanding of the readings and capacity for critical
reflection,

Final Take Home Summary Review Paper

THIS IS YOUR ONLY PROMPT
DUE APRIL 12TH AT 2.00 PM ON CANVAS. MS WORD DOC

Students will be required to write a not less than 6 page summary review paper (double spaced 12 font)
focused on their understanding of the post-colonial condition. The purpose is to assess your
comprehensive understanding of post-colonial theory, post-colonial practice, and post-colonial
critique. You can choose a number of approaches:
1. A "literature review of the readings covering what you think are the main points and making
references to the authors who make them and who engage in critiques of those who make them. It has
to be comprehensive.
2. A case study (country, region, organization, etc.) to highlight critical issues covered in the reading and
how the case elucidates or problematizes these issues.
3. A theme from the readings that you explain, analyze and discuss thoroughly. You must make
reference to other class readings that may be relevant to the theme.

In all three cases, the readings must be covered in a comprehensive way that is relevant to your
approach to the paper.

Reading Summaries
Each student is required to post a two-paragraph synopsis of the week’s readings on Blackboard by
Wednesday midnight of each week. Each student is also required to post a critical question about the

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readings for class discussion. There will be a one percentage point deduction each time a student fails to
submit a reading summary. Each summary is worth 2 percentage points.

Class Participation
Students will be expected to participate in class discussion. The basis for participation is attendance.
Students who do not participate will be given the opportunity to do so by the instructor in the form of
answers to questions specifically directed to them. Fridays are reserved for reviews and discussion of the
week’s readings. Questions for discussion will be selected from those posed by the students in the week’s
reading summaries.

Reading and Class Assignments

A course-reader will be used that contains all the required readings.
It must be purchased from RICOH in Graham Center

January 7th.
I. Introduction to the Class

II. What is Postcolonialism?

January 9th
Reading
Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths, and Helen Tiffin.
Post-Colonial Studies: The Key Concepts.” 2nd Ed. Routledge, 2007.
“Post-Colonialism/Postcolonialism. Pp. 168-173
“Post-Colonial Reading” Pp. 173-174.
“Post-Colonial State.” Pp. 174-175.
“Postcolony.” Pp. 175-178.

January 11th
Submit Summary of reading and questions about reading and lectures by 2.00 pm on Canvas

January 14th
Robert C. Young. Postcolonialism: An Historical Introduction. Blackwell, 2001.
Chapter 1. “Colonialism and the Politics of Postcolonial Critique”. Pp. 1–11
Chapter 5. “Postcolonialism”. Pp. 57-69.

January 16th
Reading:
Patrick Williams and Laura Chrisman. Eds. Colonial Discourse and Post-Colonial Theory: A Reader
Columbia University Press, 1994.
Patrick Williams and Laura Chrisman “ Colonial Discourse and Post-Colonial Theory: an Introduction” pp.
1-20
Ch. 8. Aijaz Ahmed. “Orientalism and After.” Pp. 162-171.

January 18th
Submit Summary of reading and questions about reading and lectures by 2.00 pm on Canvas

January 21st
Martin Luther King Holiday

January 23rd
Reading
Patrick Williams and Laura Chrisman. Eds. Colonial Discourse and Post-Colonial Theory: A Reader
Columbia University Press, 1994.
Part Four: Theorising Post-Coloniality: Intellectuals and Institutions:
“Introduction.” Pp. 271-275
Ch. 15. Vijay Mishra and Bob Hodge. “What is Post(-)colonialism? Pp. 276-290

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January 25th
Submit Summary of reading and questions about reading and lectures by 2.00 pm on Canvas

January 28th
Reading
Patrick Williams and Laura Chrisman. Eds. Colonial Discourse and Post-Colonial Theory: A Reader
Columbia University Press, 1994.
Ch. 9. Aime Cesaire. “From Discourse on Colonialism”. Pp. 172-180.
Ch. 10. Anthony Giddens. “From The Consequences of Modernity.” Pp. 181-189.

January 30st
Reading
Achille Mbembe. On the Postcolony. University of California Press, 2001
Ch. 1. “Of Commandment.” Pp. 24-65.

February 1st
Submit Summary of reading and questions about reading and lectures by 2.00 pm on Canvas

III. Colonialism and Resistance

February 4th
Reading
Patrick Williams and Laura Chrisman. Eds. Colonial Discourse and Post-Colonial Theory: A Reader
Columbia University Press, 1994. Part One: “Theorising Colonised Cultures and Anti-Colonial
Resistance”
“Introduction.” Pp.23-26
Ch. 1. Leopold Sedar Senghor. “Negritude: A Humanism of the Twentieth Century”. Pp. 27-36.
Ch. 2. Franz Fanon. “On National Culture”. Pp. 36-52

February 6th
Reading
Patrick Williams and Laura Chrisman. Eds. Colonial Discourse and Post-Colonial Theory: A Reader
Columbia University Press, 1994.
Ch. 3. Amilcar Cabral. “National Liberation and Culture”. Pp. 53-65
Ch. 5. Homi Bhabha. “Remembering Fanon: Self, Psyche, and the Colonial Condition.” Pp. 112-123.

February 8th
Submit Summary of reading and questions about reading and lectures by 2.00 pm on Canvas

February 11th
IV. Freedom Struggles.
Reading
Robert C. Young. Postcolonialism: An Historical Introduction. Blackwell 2001.
Ch. 12. “The National Liberation Movements: Introduction”. Pp. 161-166
Ch. 13. “Marxism and the National Liberation Movements.” Pp. 167-181.

February 13th
Reading
Robert C. Young. Postcolonialism: An Historical Introduction. Blackwell, 2001.
Ch. 14. “China, Egypt, Bandung.” Pp. 183-192.
Ch. 18. “Africa II. Nkrumah and Pan-Africanism.” Pp. 236-252.

February 15th
Submit Summary of reading and questions about reading and lectures by 2.00 pm on Canvas

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V. The Postcolonial Problem
February 18th
Reading
Patrick Williams and Laura Chrisman. Eds. Colonial Discourse and Post-Colonial Theory: A Reader
Columbia University Press, 1994.
Ch. 16. Anne McClintock. “The Angel of Progress: Pitfalls of the Term ‘Post-colonialism’” pp. 291-304.
Ch. 18. Arjun Appadurai. “Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy.” Pp. 324-339

February 20th
Reading
Jerry Mander and Edward Goldsmith. Eds. The Case Against the Global Economy. Sierra Club Books.
1996. Chapter 34. Satish Kumar. “Gandhi’s Swadeshi: The Economics of Permanence.” Pp. 418-424.

Robert C. Young. Postcolonialism: An Historical Introduction. Blackwell, 2001.

Ch. 23. “India II. Gandhi’s Counter-modernity.” Pp. 317-334.)

February 22nd
Submit Summary of reading and questions about reading and lectures by 2.00 pm on Canvas

VI. The Postcolonial Crisis

February 25th
Reading
Percy C. Hintzen. “After Modernization: Globalization and the African Dilemma” in Modernization as
Spectacle in Africa_ Edited by Peter J. Bloom, Stephan F.
Miescher, and Takyiwaa Manuh. Indiana University Press, 2014

February 27th
Reading
Suzanne Bergeron. Ch, 2 “Mapping Modernization and Growth” in Fragments of Development, Nation,
Gender and the Space of Modernity. Univ. of Michigan Press, 2006. Pp 30-67

Mar 1st
Submit Summary of reading and questions about reading and lectures by 2.00 pm on Canvas

March 4th
Reading
Reading Rita Abrahamsen. Ch.5 “Whose Democracy” in Disciplining Democracy: Development
Discourse and Good Governance in Africa. Zed. 2000. Pp. 86-111.

March 6th
Mid Term Exam In Class.
Bring a Blue Book.

March 8th
Submit Summary of reading and questions about reading and lectures by 2.00 pm on Canvas

MARCH 11TH TO MARCH 16TH SPRING BREAK (NO CLASSES)

March 18th
Aihwa Ong, “Introduction: Neoliberalism as Exception, Exception to Neoliberalism” in Neoliberalism as
Exception: Mutations in Citizenship and Sovereignty. Duke Univ. Press, 2006. Pp. 1- 27

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March 20th
Reading
Aihwa Ong. Flexible Citizenship: The Cultural Logics of Transnationality. Duke Univ. Press. 1999.
Introduction. “Flexible Citizenship: The Cultural Logics of Transnationality.” Pp. 1-26.

March 22nd
Submit Summary of reading and questions about reading and lectures by 2.00 pm on Canvas

VII. Challenging Postcolonialism

March 25th
Reading
Dipesh Chakrabarty. Provincializing Europe: Postcolonial Thought and Historical Difference.
Princeton University Press. 2000.
Introduction: “The Idea of Provincializing Europe.” Pp. 3-23.
Ch. 1. “Postcoloniality and the Artifice of History”. Pp. 27-46.

March 27th
2nd in Class mid-term Examination in Class
Bring Blue Book

March 29th
Submit Summary of reading and questions about reading and lectures by 2.00 pm on Canvas

April 1st Reading

Andreas Hernandez, Ch 14: “Challenging Market and Religious Fundamentalisms: the emergence of
“Ethics, Cosmovisions, Spiritualities” in The World Social Forum” in in Contesting Development: Critical
Struggles for Social Change. Philip McMichael, 3d. Routledge, 2010 pp. 214-229

Philip McMichael and Karuna Morarji, Ch 15. “Development and its Dilemmas” in Contesting
Development: Critical Struggles for Social Change. Philip McMichael, 3d. Routledge, 2010 . pp 233-241.

April 3rd
Reading
Robert C. Young. Postcolonialism: An Historical Introduction. Blackwell, 2001.
Ch. 25. “Women, Gender and Anti-Colonialism”. Pp. 360-382.

April 5th
Submit Summary of reading and questions about reading and lectures by 2.00 pm on Canvas

April 8th
Reading
Sylvia Wynter, “The Pope Must Have Been Drunk, the King of Castille a Madman: Culture a Actuality,
and the Caribbean Rethinking of Modernity” in Caribbean Political Thought: Theories of the Post-
Colonial State. Aaron Kamugisha (ed) ,. Ian Randle Publishers 2013. pp 490-507

April 10th
Reading: Chandra Talpade Mohanty.Ch 9 “Under Western Eyes” Revisited:,Feminist Solidarity through
Anticapitalist Struggles” in Feminism without Borders: Decolonizing Theory, Practicing Solidarity,
Chandra Mohanty. Duke Univ. Press, 2004. Pp. 331-251

April 12th
Submit Summary of reading and questions about reading and lectures by 2.00 pm on Canvas
Submit Final Paper on Canvas. Microsoft Word Doc

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April 15h
Reading
Amartya Sen. Development as Freedom. Anchor (Reprint Edition) 2000.
Introduction. “Development as Freedom” pp. 3 – 12
Ch. 12. “Individual Freedom as a Social Commitment” pp. 282-298
Arturo Escobar, Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World. 2nd ed.
Pages vii-xxxiii and Chapter 6. Pp 212-226

April 17th
Class Discussion.
FINAL EXAM REVIEW

April 19th
Submit Summary of reading and questions about reading and lectures by 2.00 pm on Canvas