Colonialism and Migration as Global Forces

The Global Impact of Human Migration ANTH 2301 Colonialism and Migration as Global Forces The worldwide movement that defines our historical moment is not predestined. Specific historical dynamics are linked to the dynamic and potent nature of the global movement's international cultural transformation and economic exploitation. Colonialism, an exploitative relationship between two societies in which one has political authority over the other, largely for economic profit, was one of the most significant early global powers. Colonialism created global alliances and long-lasting social, political, and economic transformations in addition to having an impact on the nations involved in colonial relationships. Some academics believe that the city-states of Mesopotamia in western Asia—which is now partially controlled by Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Kuwait, and Syria—are where colonialism first appeared. Based on available data, the northern and southern areas were connected by violent and protracted conflict as well as exploitative trading links by 3500 BCE. During their excavations in Uruk in ancient Mesopotamia, US archaeologists Guillermo Algaze and Clemens Reichel (Algaze 2013; Wilford 2007) have discovered trade products that point to a large network of exchange involving goods like pottery, jewellery, metalwork, and even alcohol. Along with the flow of people and trade items, there is also a pattern of devastation and battle at Uruk and, more recently, at Tell Hamoukar in modern-day Syria. As early as 4500 BCE, Tell Hamoukar was a significant location for the production of obsidian tools and blades, with raw materials arriving from as far north as present-day Turkey, around 100 miles distant. Some of the oldest artefacts of organised combat known to exist are fallen walls and a huge number of piercing clay bullets, most likely fired from slingshots, at Tell Hamoukar. The archaeological sites show that there was movement of individuals in groups and that there was violent fighting. The patterns of destruction observed at these different sites indicate that populations were probably fighting for control over production sites and resources, akin to conflicts associated with more contemporary colonialism, which were also primarily defined by a desire for political control over resources and raw materials. Following these modest starting points, colonialism grew, leading to the establishment of European and Mediterranean communities in northern Africa. To regulate and ease commerce throughout the Mediterranean region, the Phoenicians, who originated in what is now Lebanon, founded the city of Carthage in what is now Tunisia. From the time of its establishment in the ninth century BCE until the Roman Empire destroyed it in 146 BCE, Carthage was a significant centre for trade. Alexandria was built in 331 BCE by the Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great in what is now modern-day Egypt. Due to its dominance over the Mediterranean trade routes, Alexandria had a fast rise in political and economic importance; within the Greek confederation of city-states, only Rome possessed more authority. The goal of colonising nations was to increase their access to other cultures' natural resources and labour while they solidified their political and economic dominance. The colonial era was characterised by violence on several occasions. Many European nations were actively searching for new lands by the end of the 15th century, when Christopher Columbus set off on the first of what would be four trips (1492–1504) to the New World. This period of time is now known as the Age of Discovery (1500s–1700s). In an effort to increase their influence worldwide during this time, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, and Great Britain all provided funding for land and sea expeditions to explore for new areas. The colonisation that started during the Age of Discovery gave rise to the developed and developing states that make up the contemporary European global order. Generations of Indigenous peoples challenged European colonists all across the world. Indigenous people frequently migrated from one area to another, leaving behind land and crops. They were also known to fight with less effective weapons, have little or no immunity to Old World diseases like smallpox, measles, typhus, and cholera, which decimated their populations, and balance efforts to defend their homelands and families with the desperate need to maintain agricultural production to fend off famines. Indigenous peoples known as forasteros became nomads in the Andes to escape tyranny. As soon as European nations asserted their ownership and authority over regions and populations with limited ability to resist, they swiftly built colonies across North and South America, the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia. Political unrest plagued most colonies, including the Great Rebellion of Tupac Amaru II in Cuzco, Peru, which lasted from 1780 to 1783 and almost saw the Andean peoples overthrow the Spanish authority after over 250 years of persecution. Along with the emergence of new sociocultural structures and rituals fusing Indigenous and colonising cultures throughout this time, food and religious beliefs also got entwined (Carballo 2020). Creolization is the term used to describe this mixing. Indigenous languages, religions, and other institutions are still being destroyed at a tremendous cultural cost. Often referred to as "classic colonialism," late European colonialism, which lasted from the 18th to the 20th century, saw the standardisation of extraction and control structures, particularly in Africa. During this phase of colonialism, certain objectives, regulations, and mindsets are prevalent. The colonial connection was portrayed symbolically as one of beneficence between the colony and the "mother country," with settlers, missionaries, entrepreneurs, instructors, and counsellors cooperating to further the colony's economic growth and Europeanization. The stated rationale for these actions was that it was the responsibility of European Christians to carry the "White man's burden" of spreading civilization across the globe. But underneath all of this rhetoric, dominance and power were the real objectives. Colonialism was a social system intended to dehumanise Indigenous peoples, as well as an extractive and exploitative commercial enterprise. Using low-paid Indigenous labour, raw resources were taken out of the colonies and transferred to European countries to be turned into items that were subsequently sold back to the colony and its Indigenous peoples for a huge profit for the Europeans. Local customs suffered grave harm or were completely eradicated. In order to make room for huge numbers of European immigration, Indigenous peoples were often forced off their ancestral lands and relocated to reserves or areas that were less useful to Europeans. Selected based on their abilities and ability, a large number of young Indigenous people were transferred to Europe for education and acculturation in order to become future colonial leaders. This strategy of preparation was designed to break the power of Indigenous cultures and establish long-lasting pro-European institutions in the colonies. Additionally, it weakened the Indigenous communities by dividing them. In other instances, Native Americans were taken from their languages, customs, and families and exchanged as commodities. Between 10 and 12 million Africans are thought to have been taken as slaves and sent from Africa to the Americas during the transatlantic slave trade, which took place between the 16th and the 19th centuries. The globe was altered economically, linguistically, culturally, and ethnically by the vast scope of this forced migration. Millions of Africans lost their lives throughout the slavery process, shattering cultures, families, and communities. The migration and intermarriage of so many diverse peoples led to widespread cultural innovation in domains like cuisines, languages, religions, and customs, but at an unimaginably high cost in terms of human lives and potential, resulting in challenges and wounds that persist to this day. Two instances of how colonialism moved people onto new territories and into new cultures are these policies: forcing people from their homelands and sending young people far away for education and enculturation. People and cultures moved around continents as colonies developed into empires, with several nations falling under the authority of a single European nation, like Great Britain, which possessed colonies in far-flung locations like Kenya, Australia, and Canada. European nations were also impacted by colonisation, which had a wide range of effects on modern identities. Throughout World War II and its aftermath, Germany and Russia colonised the region that is now Poland and divided it into many smaller nations. Migration and change have had a lasting influence on Poland's self-perception in this country of eastern Europe. Poland feels unhappy with its own history and national identity as a result of the numerous people and cultural movements. Sociocultural anthropologist and curator Erica Lehrer (2020) examines the contested narratives within the legacies of collecting, classifying, and exhibiting objects in postcolonial countries where national identity has been transformed by previous migrations. Her research focuses on culture-focused museums in Poland. Regarding its neighbouring states in eastern Europe, Poland has historically been both the coloniser and the colonised (due to its lengthy history as a Russian colony and its subsequent occupation during World War II). Poland's population has been greatly reduced by conflict, out-migration, territorial adjustments, and genocide, and is now significantly more homogenous by race, class, and religion than it was before World conflict II. Illustrations of Polish culture and national identity in museums have given rise to a variety of things Lehrer refers to as "awkward objects" (2020, 290) that have historical resonance but can occasionally evoke darker themes. Some of these items depict ambiguous racial stereotypes; others are hybrid objects that could have been artefacts of either Jewish or Catholic communities but are depicted by object origin and associated with only one of those communities. These include museum pieces created by non-Jewish Poles representing their memory and imagination of Jews in the pre-World War II era. A set of kid's noisemakers, for instance, were shown in the museum as objects from a Catholic Polish society, despite the fact that Jewish Polish children would have played with comparable toys at the same period. And what about more sombre and unpleasant artefacts like Auschwitz gas chamber sculptures that a Polish cultural institution would want to display? Museums and other cultural organisations across the world have an obligation to consider the roles and obligations that modern civilizations have in narrating these portions of their past. Colonial artefacts are frequently shown in museums. Consider the historical and cultural museums you have been to. In what way did they narrate the events of the darkest periods of history? Are certain historical eras underappreciated or underdeveloped? According to Lehrer, museums should not only describe an object's cultural origins but also explain how it was acquired and how it relates to other cultural communities. This is known as pluralist contextualization. She states that ethical curatorial principles are necessary and that strategically arranging artefacts may serve as a catalyst for ethical inspiration and empathy, encouraging individuals to recognise and confront histories that have not been selected by societal or governmental authorities. This museum's decolonization is not about making amends. These "awkward objects" are most useful to us when they are curated in compassionate, continuing dialogues where past hurts still ring true, serving as a constant reminder that our scars bind us together. (307, 311)