The Role of Postcolonial Geography in Dismantling Colonialism

“Postcolonialism and geography are intimately linked, there intersections provide many challenging opportunities to explore the spatiality of colonial discourse, the spatial politics of representation, and the material effects of colonialism in different places”. (Blunt and McEwan, 2001) Postcolonial geography is an area of geography that looks at the effects and legacy of colonialism through a critical geographical lens, the term itself is very much contested and debated as it can be interpreted in two different ways, the post of postcolonialism gives rise to two different interpretations, post can refer to “a temporal aftermath after colonialism and a critical aftermath- beyond colonialism” (Blunt and Wills,2000). These two interpretations have allowed for different ways of researching various elements regarding post-colonial geographies to be explored by geographers such as Edward Said with his book Orientalism which other geographers in this field credit as being the foundation for many of the philosophies and theories that circulate within this field of research. This essay will explore the post-colonial approach to doing critical human geography using the examples thoroughly to explore how the post-colonial approach has contributed to researching the decolonizing of knowledge and postcolonial London.

Legacy of colonialism

The field of post-colonial geography has derived from the legacy of colonialism, people such as Edward Said are credited for being pioneers in this particular field. Said details the importance and relevance of imaginative geographies of places that are considered “other” and this influences the outlook that the West has on the rest of the world. Other prominent researchers in this field also argue that “colonial cultures are not simply ideologies that mask, mystify or rationalize forms of oppression that are external; they are also expressive and constructive of colonial relationships in themselves (Thomas, 1994:2), in this, Thomas reemphasizes what Said highlights several times in his 1978 book, Orientalism and has been reiterated countless times by specialists in the field of post-colonial geographies, a legacy of colonialism is that it has severely shaped relationships and power dynamics between particular countries, it has also impacted our perception of particular countries. Said states that “imperial conquest is never purely military: ‘it is not only about soldiers and cannons but also about forms, about ideas and imaginings'” (Said, 1993:7 quoted in McLeod). “Orientalism opened the floodgates of postcolonial criticism” (Prakash,1991 quoted in McLeod,2004). A critical approach is what is most commonly used in the field to dissect and analyze the various impacts of colonialism, as researchers such as Said have highlighted, colonialism had wide-ranging deep- rooted effects, the motivation that drove colonial powers such as Britain to advance their territory across the world was not only military but also affected the foundations of the countries such as the economic and political systems of particular countries, one aim of research in the context of post-colonial geography is to research how these areas are related and affected by colonialism, researcher Loomba argues that “colonial discourse indicates a new way of thinking in which cultural, intellectual, economic or political processes are seen to work together in the formation, perpetuation and dismantling of colonialism”, the aim of the field is “to widen the scope of studies of colonialism by examining the intersections of ideas and intuitions, knowledge and power” (Loomba,1998:54).

The mass migration of immigrants

London is currently widely known as one of the major global financial capitals of the world however it was once known as a major part of Britain’s involvement in the transatlantic slave trade. Empire SS Windrush bringing over 482 immigrants in 1948 from the West Indies marked the beginning of the making of London that we know today. The mass migration of immigrants from the former British colonies from the 40s onwards contributed to making London into the diverse multinational metropolis we are very much familiar with today. “It is impossible even to begin thinking about Kilburn High Road without bringing into play half the world and a considerable amount of British imperial history’ (Massey, 1992 in McLeod,2004), Massey emphasizes such how important and influential the historical and cultural legacy has been in shaping London as a city. Approaches to colonial discourse analysis have arguably changed over time, arguably prior to the 70s and the advent of Said’s influential Orientalism in 1978, research in the field was often racially biased and had ignorant undertones, for example, Sheila Patterson, an anthropologist recounts a bus journey to Brixton in South London that she took in 1955, she describes being shocked to find that “almost everyone in sight had coloured skin”, she also describes her coming across the immigrants once she has crossed the street as “confronting a scene of strangeness” (Patternson,1965 quoted in McLeod, 2004) and then goes onto describe “the multiracial children playing outside the nursey with recourse to French”, this view is seen as problematic by a large percentage of post-colonial geographers today, for example, geographers in the 21st have looked at Patterson’s work and have critiqued it, for example, post-colonial geographer, McLeod argues that “Patterson made an important attempt to expose and address many of the difficulties facing new comers in the city” (McLeod,2004), her study revealed that Caribbean in 1950s London “were within but not a part of London’s economic and social fabric” (McLeod,2004), McLeod highlights that “her vocabulary often imitated something of the imaginative assumptions and barriers that would impact upon the lives of London’s newcomers for many years to come (McLeod,2004). Patterson’s outlook on the changing face of Britain as a result of immigration is now from a 21st-century lens criticized because attitudes to race and immigration have changed. However, although attitudes to race and immigration have changed, there is still progress that needs to be made, London is now arguably a microcosm of the country’s changing attitudes to migration, events such as the Brexit vote in 2016 illustrate how migration is still very much politicized. Researcher Les Back argues that “migrants try to escape the bad ‘geographical luck’ of being born in the poor world by migrating to London however as immigrants in London, they are subjected to further confinement, exclusion and surveillance that negatively affects their health and safety”. Beck and Sinha’s research found “many cases where the precarious nature of being undocumented or living as an asylum seeker in London has resulted in declining health, depression and risk of suicide” (Back and Sinha, 2018). This research is more reflective and critical compared to Patterson’s observations of 1955 Brixton. Research in the field in the context of post-colonial London has arguably changed over time and become more critical, this could be possibly as a result of research done in other areas of the field such as decolonizing knowledge, as the researchers become more educated, they are able to apply a more critical approach when evaluating their work.

Legacy of colonialism

Colonization was an integral part of the formation of society as we know it, a legacy of colonialism is that it is entrenched in our education in all areas of the world, it is entrenched in our national curriculum, with Britain once being one of the biggest colonial powers in the world, the recounting of colonization and its wide-ranging impacts on the world is in at times biased and does not explicitly detail the atrocities of British Colonial rule or as stated in orientalism creates a false narrative or encourages misconceptions of different countries/ cultures in the world. The critical approach that is regularly applied to post-colonial geographical research aims to dismantle misconceptions and false narratives in an overall attempt to decolonize knowledge and rightly educate people about the consequences of colonialism. Linda Tuhiwai Smith describes the process of decolonizing knowledge as “a long-term process involving the bureaucratic, cultural, linguistic and psychological divesting of colonial power (Smith, 2010) “Postcolonial and decolonial scholars ‘knowledge production and everyday relations are informed by European colonial modalities of power and propped up by imperial geopolitics and economic arrangements” (Collard et al. 2015, 323 quoted by Radcliffe,2017). Researchers have concluded that “racism is generally more subtle in university spaces than other public spaces, they remain profoundly unequal racially”, academic geography is an area that researchers are currently particularly focused on decolonizing. The Royal Geography Society was established in 1830 and has been criticized on multiple occasions for at times arguably glorifying Britain’s colonial past, the society hosts a conference with the theme of decolonizing geographical knowledge, the fact that the society hosts this conference is an indicator of knowledge being decolonized, research by geographers such as Smith has allowed academic spaces to reevaluate their way of teaching.

Overall post-colonial geographies look at geography from a particularly critical point of view particularly in a historical context, this helps to shape how geographers approach and deal with particular subjects, research in the field has changed over time and has become more critical and evaluative over time, this is arguably partly as a result of the research that geographers such as Smith have taken part in towards decolonizing knowledge and spaces of academic geography that have been criticized in the past such as the Royal Geographical Society holding conferences on decolonizing knowledge illustrates self-evaluation and progress, this have arguably shaped how approaches to research in the field have changed over time.

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