Post Colonialism

Post colonialism is the thoery in which it looks at the effects and aftermath of a new globalised society after the Colonialism era where everyone is supposedly equal.

Edward coined the term, Orientalism, describing the binary between the Orient and the Occident. This binary, also referred to as the East/West binary, is key in postcolonial theory. Said argued that the Occident could not exist without the Orient, and vice versa. In other words, they are mutually constitutive. Notably, the concept of the East i.e. the Orient was created by the West, suppressing the ability of the Orient to express themselves. Western depictions of the Orient construct an inferior world, a place of backwardness, irrationality, and wildness. This allowed the ‘West’ to identify themselves as the opposite of these characteristics; as a superior world that was progressive, rational, and civil. The West’s claim to knowledge of the East gave the West the power to name, and the power to control. This concept is essential to understanding of colonialism, and therefore recognising postcolonialism.

Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak's main contribution to Postcolonial theory came with her specific definition of the term subaltern. Spivak also introduced terms such as 'essentialism', 'strategic essentialism'. The former term refers to the dangers of reviving subaltern (when you're out of the heirachy in society) voices in ways that might simplify lower groups, creating stereotyped impressions of their diverse group. Spivak however believes that essentialism can sometimes be used strategically by these groups to make it easier for the subaltern to be heard and understood when a clear identity can be created and accepted by the majority. Spivak also created the term 'epistemic violence' which refers to the destruction of non-western ways of knowing and thereby the domination of western ways of understanding. This concept relates to Spivak's "Subaltern must always be caught in translation, never truly expressing herself" because of the destruction and marginalization of her way of understanding.

Frantz Fanon is one of the earliest writers associated with postcolonialism. Fanon analyzed the nature of colonialism and those subjugated by it. He describes colonialism as a source of violence rather than reacting violently against resistors which had been the common view. His portrayal of the systematic relationship between colonialism and its attempts to deny "all attributes of humanity" to those it suppressed laid the groundwork for related critiques of colonial and postcolonial systems.

Post colonialism fits in with my study because it looks at why and how ethnic minorities in sport have come a long way in British society.