cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/53658167e

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/53658112

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/53658112

Hey comrades,

(apologies for the repost it was originally posted in r/TankieTheDeprogram)

I want to open a discussion about decoloniality and postcolonial theory, specifically as they are deployed in Western European academia. I want to explore how these debates relate, or fail to relate to Marxist-Leninist theory, revolutionary praxis, and materialist anti-colonial analysis. Im mostly going to talk about postcolonialism in my text body, but I also state that scholars at my university have been using both decoloniality and post colonialism (even interchangeably)

According to ProleWiki, postcolonialism is described as:

“Postcolonialism is a form of anti-colonialism that focuses on attitudes and culture instead of material conditions. It claims that Marxism is Eurocentric. Post colonialists believe colonialism has so much of an impact that it is impossible to overcome it without returning to the past. By the 1990s, it became popular in imperial core universities because it believed revolution was impossible.”

ProleWiki: https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/Postcolonialism

From my experience, this matches what I have observed. In many academic contexts, “postcolonial thought” is used less to advance materialist or anti-imperialist analysis and more as a tool to attack Marxist theory. Marxism is labelled “Eurocentric,” while actual revolutionary or materialist analysis of colonialism, exploitation, imperialism, and class struggle is ignored, dismissed, ridiculed, or even banned.

In my own experience, I have even seen this personally: a white Dutch scholar (who conducts research in the Caribbean who mixes up decoloniality and postcolonialism) actively targeted me for my Marxist views while openly promoting (a Flemish) Christian conservative and (north Italian) fascist students and Dutch “anarchists.” This is a clear example of how postcolonial discourse can be used to protect reactionary politics while silencing revolutionary perspectives.

It often feels like postcolonial and "academic decoloniality" discourse has become a smokescreen for liberal or reactionary politics, allowing scholars to present themselves as “radical” while actively marginalizing proletarian, anti-imperialist, and revolutionary perspectives.

Discussion points:

• Is postcolonial theory in academia primarily an ideological weapon against Marxism and revolutionary class struggle?

• How have you experienced the use of “decoloniality” in academia? Is it counter-revolutionary or monopolizing the discourse? Should it even exist in its current form?

• Also how do we deal with academics appropriating the political decolonial discourse to stay “en vogue” whilst not actually being leftists?

• Isn’t the “Eurocentric” label misleading? While Marxism originated in the West, many successful non-Western revolutions were founded on Marxist principles and materialist analysis.

• What do people think of Olufemi Taiwo’s work? How useful do you find his analysis from a Marxist-Leninist perspective?

• Gramsci was a Marxist who wrote extensively about cultural hegemony. How do Marxist-Leninists here view his ideas? Are there lessons to take from him, or is his focus on culture and ideology too reformist compared to revolutionary Marxism? ( i have not read gramsci genuine question)

In my view, genuine decoloniality can only take place outside of academia; the real decoloniality that actually liberates people. This can only happen if we actively fight capitalism and imperialism, with the voice of the global working class leading the conversation and the struggle. Unlike the liberal ‘academic decolonization,’ which primarily serves the scholars themselves, revolutionary decoloniality is rooted in material struggle and praxis.

N.B.: I understand that decoloniality and postcolonialism are two separate concepts, though at my university scholars often conflate or use them together.

Anyways, drop your thoughts below. Let us build a space where committed leftists can debate, share perspectives, and recommend literature on decoloniality rooted in Marxist-Leninist analysis.

This year, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz pledged to build Europe’s strongest army – a tall order for a country whose military has undergone years of neglect.

The coalition government is hoping a new bill agreed upon last week will help make this a reality, bolstering Germany’s forces in the face of the perceived threat from Russia and a significant shift in US foreign policy.

The sweeping new reforms will see Germany attempt to boost its numbers to 260,000 soldiers, up from around 180,000 currently, in addition to an extra 200,000 reservists, by 2035.

Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of the Tunisian capital to protest against what they call President Kais Saied’s escalating authoritarianism and the jailing of government critics.

At least 2,000 people, wearing black and carrying whistles and red ribbons, marched through Tunis on Saturday, chanting slogans, including “the people want the fall of the regime” and “no fear no terror, the street belongs to the people”.

Some held placards that read, “Enough repression” and “Not my president”.

The rally – under the slogan “against injustice” – brought together activists, NGOs and fragmented parties from across the spectrum in a rare display of unity in opposition to Saied.

It came weeks after a Tunisian court handed a five-year prison sentence to former administrative judge Ahmed Souab, a vocal critic of the politicisation of the judiciary.

So secure was the annual contest to fill three director and four officer positions that when one trustee lost his cryptographic key to unlock the results, the error made it impossible.

Thought experiment:

If the world was going to get reconfigured in 2026 for maximum benefit to people with ADHD, what would it look like?

The US has once again changed the status of terrorists of its own creation to open allies with the head of Al Qaeda in Syria (Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham aka Jabhat al-Nusra), Abu Mohammed al-Jolani (now “Ahmed al-Sharaa”) recent visit to the White House;

The new narrative includes US-al-Jolani cooperation to “fight” the so-called Islamic State, a pretext to maintain US military forces in Syria well into the future, ensuring the survival of the nascent terrorist-led client regime;

The narrative change reflects past US pivots where Al Qaeda was hailed as “heroes” during their war with the Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the 1980s before being rebranded as terrorists turning them into a convenient, global pretext for US military interventions from Africa to Asia and everywhere in between (including Afghanistan);

Having used Al Qaeda and its subsidiaries/adjacent organizations including the so-called “Islamic State,” as both proxies and a pretext to invade, occupy, and overthrow both the Iraqi government from 2003-present and Syria from 2014-present, the organization and its leadership including al-Jolani, are being transformed into open allies of the US for use in a much larger campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Iran, and Iranian-friendly militias across Iraq;

The US also plans on employing its state-sponsored terrorists-turned-allies to export terrorism targeting Russia and China’s peripheries;

This includes thousands of Uyghur extremists the US exported to Syria and now plan on redeploying across Eurasia to target Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) infrastructure as well as China itself;

Grenfell United and the TV architect George Clarke are calling on businesses and homeowners to take a “moral decision” and boycott the companies criticised in the Grenfell inquiry for “systematic dishonesty”.

Clarke, best known for his series George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces, said he had made the decision not to use products from Arconic, Kingspan and Celotex, three companies that were heavily criticised in the findings of the Grenfell inquiry published last year and who have continued to deny wrongdoing.

He lives close to the tower block in west London where 72 people were killed by the 2017 blaze which was fuelled by combustible insulation and cladding that did not comply with regulations.

Inside a dim locker room at the Nablus municipal stadium, in the occupied West Bank, the television rarely goes dark, streaming day and night the relentless news from Gaza. Gathered in front of it are a group of men from Khan Younis. For more than two years, they have lived in this stadium converted into a refugee camp, their lives suspended between exile and the war they watched on a screen.

They are mostly construction workers who were in Israel on the morning of 7 October 2023 when Hamas launched its attack. As Israel rounded up Palestinians from Gaza, they fled to the West Bank, where they remain – cut off from wives and children living in makeshift tents inside the strip. With very few exceptions, civilians are not currently allowed in or out of Gaza.

“They killed my nephew and his two children,” says Baker Majjar, 37, who before the conflict split his time between a month in Gaza and a month working on construction sites in Tamra, in north-eastern Israel. “They were seeking food at an aid distribution point near Khan Younis. I’ve lost more than a hundred people – relatives and friends – to Israeli attacks since the war began. Then I stopped counting.”

European countries proposed a radical alternative Ukraine peace plan on Sunday that omits some of the pro-Russia points made in the original US-backed document and calls for Kyiv’s sovereignty to be respected.

The counter-proposal emerged as US, Ukrainian and international negotiators met in Switzerland. The 28-point US document leaked last week demands Ukraine hand over territory to Russia, limits the size of its army and agrees not to pursue the Kremlin for alleged war crimes.

Having been blindsided by Washington’s initiative, Ukraine’s European allies published their Kyiv-friendly plan on Sunday. It says negotiations over territory should take place after a ceasefire is agreed and should start from the line of contact – the existing frontline.

It says both parties would agree how any truce would be monitored “under US supervision”. Unlike the White House text, the European alternative does not call for Kyiv to withdraw from cities it controls in eastern Donbas. Nor does it rule out Ukraine’s membership of Nato, but points out there is no consensus over its membership.

• A recent study in Thailand finds that raising native tree seedlings inside repurposed bottle crates improves performance compared to standard methods in community-run nurseries.
• Saplings grown in bottle crates had better root formation and superior growth when planted out in a deforested site, thanks to better air circulation for the roots.
• Crating the saplings also saved on labor costs, which more than offset the cost of purchasing the crates.
• Adoption of the new method could improve the quality of saplings grown in community nurseries, a benefit for reforestation projects where sapling survival is key to success.

archived (Wayback Machine)

They bloom at night, this was the first one (on the full moon) and hand-pollinated since there aren't many pollinators at night. Looks like it worked since the fruit is developing.

https://amazonrestore.codeberg.page/volunteer/finca-del-soul/

(Selenicereus megalanthus)