Postcolonial Perspective and Shashi Tharoor:
Former Union minister Shashi Tharoor made a scathing attack on the former British empire.
Shashi Tharoor is an Indian politician, writer. Shashi Tharoor is member of parliament, he given postcolonial argument. He written a book on that 'An Era of Darkness'. He asserts that Britishers are not developers of any colonies. According to him real Thugs Of Hindustan are Britishers, in the name of free trade they are looting the Indians.
Tharoor treats colonialism as a moral phenomenon of the past, one that existed in a vacuum, while it is actually a phenomenon with an ongoing material impact on the lives of people.
Tharoor profoundly misunderstands the nature and legacy of colonialism. This issue comes up most clearly in his famous Oxford Union debate. During the debate, having skillfully dismantled the claims of his opponents, Tharoor demands a single symbolic rupee from the British as reparations for colonialism.
In making this demand, I believe that Tharoor makes a fundamental error: he separates the legacy of colonialism from its very materiality. What this means is that he treats colonialism as a moral phenomenon of the past, one that existed in a vacuum, rather than as a phenomenon with an ongoing material impact on the lives of people.
The appeal of Tharoor and his politics to liberal elites is clear. A politics of moral debt and individual action – as opposed to structural oppression and collective struggle – allows liberals to ignore their very real part in the perpetuation of the legacy of colonialism.
Shashi Tharoor is an Indian politician, writer. Shashi Tharoor is member of parliament, he given postcolonial argument. He written a book on that 'An Era of Darkness'. He asserts that Britishers are not developers of any colonies. According to him real Thugs Of Hindustan are Britishers, in the name of free trade they are looting the Indians.
Tharoor treats colonialism as a moral phenomenon of the past, one that existed in a vacuum, while it is actually a phenomenon with an ongoing material impact on the lives of people.
Tharoor profoundly misunderstands the nature and legacy of colonialism. This issue comes up most clearly in his famous Oxford Union debate. During the debate, having skillfully dismantled the claims of his opponents, Tharoor demands a single symbolic rupee from the British as reparations for colonialism.
In making this demand, I believe that Tharoor makes a fundamental error: he separates the legacy of colonialism from its very materiality. What this means is that he treats colonialism as a moral phenomenon of the past, one that existed in a vacuum, rather than as a phenomenon with an ongoing material impact on the lives of people.
The appeal of Tharoor and his politics to liberal elites is clear. A politics of moral debt and individual action – as opposed to structural oppression and collective struggle – allows liberals to ignore their very real part in the perpetuation of the legacy of colonialism.
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