The Unconquered: In Search of the Amazon's Last Uncontacted Tribes was one of my favorite books of 2011. The Fleicheiros (“Arrow People”) seem like the logical endpoint to the concept of “decolonization,” as their original manner of living remains unchanged. They possess an extraordinary set of skills that enable them to survive in the Amazon, skills that in most of the human population have atrophied to the point of disappearing entirely.
Ten countries have never been colonized by Europeans, but when people think of “decolonization” I doubt the bustling Tokyo metropolis comes to mind as the goal. Decolonization seems to refer to a variety of practices and beliefs ranging from a nation breaking free of a colonial power, to settler removal (which in the U.S. could create an interesting paradox of activists welcoming immigration while advocating for emigration, or supporting refugees while creating them), to, as Eyers writes, understanding ourselves “as we existed before modern civilization, and that implementing holistic solutions and traditional earth-emergent ways of life are vital to the survival of the human race.”
And yet. With a global population of 7.9 billion people, a large percentage of whom are tethered to their smartphones and unable to grow a single tomato (myself included), I cannot foresee a return to pre-modern living for the majority of people absent mass starvation. Our lives are too dependent on complex systems for anything but slow and partial adoption of pre-modern practices. Additionally, fears regarding neofeudalism are not unfounded.
Before we decolonize our collections, we might begin with the question of the endgame.
I would like a source that provides all the names of people and places through history. Kyrgyzstan, for example, was ceded to the Russian Empire by Qing China through the Treaty of Tarbagatai. Soviet power was established in the region in 1919, and the Kara-Kyrgyz Autonomous Oblast was created within the Russian SFSR. The Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic was established as a constituent Union Republic of the Soviet Union in 1936. It became the Republic of Kyrgyzstan in 1991. This is just one example of the challenge of decolonizing a nation, region. Maybe libraries can take the lead.
I would like a source that provides all the names of people and places through history. Kyrgyzstan, for example, was ceded to the Russian Empire by Qing China through the Treaty of Tarbagatai. Soviet power was established in the region in 1919, and the Kara-Kyrgyz Autonomous Oblast was created within the Russian SFSR. The Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic was established as a constituent Union Republic of the Soviet Union in 1936. It became the Republic of Kyrgyzstan in 1991. This is just one example of the challenge of decolonizing a nation, region. Maybe libraries can take the lead.
The topic of colonization is definitely complex! And from what I can tell there isn't any agreed upon definition of "decolonization."