Gobbet

Gobbet

‘Colonialism has also its modern dress, in the form of economic control, intellectual control, actual physical control by a small but alien community within a nation.’ (Sukarno, Bandung, April 1955)

This sentence is from a speech of Sukarno during  the Asian-African Conference, on the 18th of April 1955. A former president of Indonesia between 1945 and 1967. Sukarno was a revolutionary and nationalist who was fighting for the freedom of his country. This sentence is very relevant and important as it was stated in a context of emancipation and freedom from countries of the third world. Indeed, if we look at this sentence more in details, we can see that Sukarno is talking about Colonialism. By saying “Colonialism also has its modern dress” he points out the fact that colonialism has adopted a new form of control over countries of the third world. He is talking about Colonialism has something changed for a reason. Indeed, this speech comes from the Asian-African conference. This conference shows us that the geopolitical context at the time was about change in power and cooperation. Indeed, Counties of the third world were cooperating in order to build strength in their freedom. The control of colonial countries was widely rejected as well as any forms of colonialism. In this sentence it is important to note that Sukarno is talking about the few forms in which “new colonialism” is acting. He says that it has the “form of economic control, intellectual control, actual physic control”. Indeed, with the wave of independence around the world also came a reshaping of international cooperation and agreements. He mentions the economic sector because with this reshaping a lot of rules were made by the powerful countries and often to keep a certain control over the economic system. This shows that Sukarno was highlighting the fact that a more hidden control was taking place. For example, this “neo-colonialism” and all the economics arrangements around it is a reason why France succeeded in maintaining its pre-eminence in sub-Saharan colonies. As an example, the Zone Franc had an impact on the influence of France in Africa. This agreement was made during the independence wave in order to bring the stability of the French currency to these countries. But after the 1960 round of independence, they all decided to keep the Franc CFA as their national currency. In this document Sukarno brings the important point of economic control as a new form of colonialism. Just as important as the economic point of this sentence we can also notice that Sukarno was talking about a new form of colonialism with an intellectual control. This is a particularly important point as it shows that a colonial intellectual influence was still occurring after the independence. Indeed, this shows that colonial countries had for politic to let an influence in the country. This was done through education or literature, etc. Still regrading France, there is a very relevant example which is the “Francophonie”. This term come from the French elites like Jules Ferry who saw a civilizing mission for the French republic towards the colonized countries. Francophonie represents a colonial heritage that had as its goal, and particularly through education, to transmit the values of the French republic. This point is also very important as it enabled a colonial influence to stay very present in the new independent countries. At the end of this sentence Sukarno talks about this new colonialism as being controlled by a small amount of people. This shows how colonial politics are led by a minority of elites in the colonial countries and it gives a colonial image to the nation. By highlighting this he is criticizing the fact that this new colonialism comes from decisions and politics of “passive control” made by the elites that are governing the countries. This document is showing us how after the wave of independence a new form of colonialism was occurring. A more passive and less violent colonialism that was trying to have its root in the economic and intellectual sector of those new governments. It also shows how this new colonialism was led by the elites and by a very small amount of people in the governments. This document is particularly relevant as it shows that all of these aspects were important concerns in a context of fight for freedom. This then is still relevant nowadays as it displays important points to understand the actual geopolitical scene.

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