Assignment on Colonialism, race and development

Running head: COLONIALISM, RACE AND DEVELOPMENT
Colonialism, race and development
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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1. Pailey, 2019
Pailey (2019) is of the opinion that the aspect of development has been categorized in to
various fields such as that of political development, socio-economic development and that of
cultural processes. In the article, the author has argued that certain groups of people, especially
those belonging to the countries of the Global South consist of people who belong to the ‘black’
ethnic population. They face a regressive attitude in the society in the context of the individuals
belonging to the nation states of the Global North. This is due to the existence of the issue of
racism which has its base in the period of colonialism. The main argument of the author in this
respect it that the aspect of de-colonization forms an integral part of the process of development.
It requires the changing of the ‘white gaze’ of the colonial people. In the contemporary society,
certain movements have emerged which tries to protests against the prevalence of the colonial
issues. For instance, the social agitation known as #BlackLivesMatter have sought to bring in
front of the public the different forms of racial segregation that is being done in the society and
the adverse impact that they have on the ‘black’ ethnic population.
A critical reading of the article evidences that the author has sought to find a relation
between the Critical race studies with that of the Critical Development Studies. The author has
attempted to understand how the various policy makers of the society, the scholars and the
practitioners have either succeeded or failed on their endeavor to subvert the ‘white gaze’ of the
colonizers and lead to the path of development. The strength of the article lies in the fact that
Pailey (2019) has been able to understand the issue of racism and its linkage to colonization by
analyzing both the concepts through the critical lens of theoretical perspective. For instance, the
article makes mention about the rise of China in the spheres of both politics and economy. This
is significant because an Asian country belonging to the Global South, an area designated to be

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underdeveloped by the countries of the Global North, has managed to challenge the power of the
hegemon, the United States of America. Furthermore, it has also made reference to several social
and cultural movements brought about by the people of the society such as that of
#BlackLivesMatter. The article has traced its growth and seen the points of failures and success
of the movement so as to make the readers understand about the effectiveness of such social
movements. However, one of the main weakness of this article is that the author has failed to
take in to consideration the psychological aspects that play an important role in determining the
social outlook of the two ethnicities. The ‘black’ ethnicity, as a result of continued oppression,
have started to have an inferior outlook to life. The author has failed to understand that this needs
to be changed in order to bring about effective development in the community.
2. Wolfe, 2015
In the article written by Wolfe (2015), the author has sought to understand the new
approach taken to analyze the aspect of race and racism within the field of comparative colonial
studies. The nature of racism has arisen within the human civilization during the times of
colonialism. The author has sought to understand the historical perspective on the character of
racism that the European and other ‘white’ colonizers have attempted to impose on the
Aboriginal individuals living in the continent of Australia, the United States of America, in
Western Europe and other parts of the world. In this respect, the author has tried to trace the rise
of racism since the times of colonization. The origin of colonialism can be traced to the continent
of Europe where the imperial masters had the intention of expanding their hold over territories
and the resources of the world in order to develop a firm hand over their political security. The
justification of such colorism was based on the concept of racism whereby the idea of racial
superiority and ‘white imperialism’ were advocated. In this respect, the book has tried to show

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how the factor of race has led to the reproduction of various relationship of inequality in which
the people of Europe have been successful to coopt the subaltern population.
A critical reading of the work of Wolfe (2016) reveals that it has been successful in its
understand of the idea of race. The concept of racism is a social construct which means that it
was developed by the individuals of the society during the progress of human civilization. The
idea took a firm foot hold within the community of people and mainly within the psychological
set up of the individuals. Wolfe was competent in dealing with the question of racism through
the use of theoretical lens by representing it with an intense historical detail in his work. He
undertook a survey of the instances of the occurrences of racial discrimination which spanned for
nearly four centuries across four different continents, namely those of the United States of
America, Africa, Western Europe and that of Australia. The strength of the work lies in the fact
that Wolfe was successful in revealing the birth of the idea of racism and its operation in human
civilization as a part of a specific historical process. Furthermore, he has been able to trace its
development in the context of the struggle which existed among the people in their attempt to
control the factors of production like those of land, power, labor and culture. This has allowed
the author to impart a new lens to the field of social construction of race. However, a weakness
of the article can be seen in the context of understanding the present scenario of the idea of
racism. The tracing of the historical development of racism has left the author with limited scope
to make a comparative analysis to understand how racism has changed over the years in it basic
characteristics.
3. Anievas and Nişancioğlu, 2015
The authors Anievas and Nişancioğlu (2015), in their book, have tried to udnertsand the
rise of capitalism in the human society. The book provides the readers with an international and