Places and forms of power

The purpose of my presentation is the notion of “places and forms of power”. I propose you to study this subject in two parts. On one hand I’ll talk about places of power. To illustrate that, I’ve chosen the Commonwealth that covers 53 countries with a symbolic government by the British Sovereign. And on the other hand, I’ll take the examples of India and Australia to show that the forms the power aren’t similar in each country. How is the power of the British government accepted?

Let’s start with a short reminder of the organization of the Commonwealth. The members are former colonies which became independent but remain united by common interests. This why today Queen Elisabeth II is the chef of this community. On the power side, each country has its autonomy because they are not linked by any treaty.

The Queen of England is a significant and popular figure representing the British power worldwide. Besides she has been reigning for more than 60 years thus conforming her highly respectable image.

Since the end of World War II, most members of the Commonwealth, further to India in 1950, became sovereign republics. In India, Gandhi acted as a non violent guide leading step by step his country to independence. He is recognized as the father of the Indian nation. Nevertheless India as most of other members of the former British Empire keeps obvious consequences of its long existence a British colony: official languages, administration, laws, schools, symbols…

Also after the second World War, the Australian’s authorities were allowed to relocate children. Because they were half cast, most of the time born from an aborigine mother and a white father; they were stolen by the government to be educated by white people. From their young age they were separated from their community. Remember the film Rabbit Proof Fence were Molly, Gracie and Daisy escaped and then tried to find back their mother.

To sum up, even if each country history is different, all of them keep something that reminds that they used to be a British colony and that they still belong to the Commonwealth. This means that the British influence has been strong for years in several continents.

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