Evan Cook
Methods of Decolonial and Historical Analysis
This module’s goal is to introduce learners to decolonial analysis. The module does not focus on content. Instead, it enables learners to increase their forensic learning and critical analysis skills and to build towards the combination of historical and decolonial analysis seen at the university level.
Anyone can use this module, but it will be most useful for early or mid-career high schoolers. Especially in the U.S., high schools closely adhere to traditional analysis, making the jump from high school-level analysis to university-level analysis difficult. Through examining contrasting resources, learners will be able to challenge encountered ideas and formulate their own viewpoints. With both these skills and traditional skills in their analytical toolkits, learners will be well-prepared for the transition into college.
Structure
The module is organized into case studies centered around historical events. These case studies are not intended to be exhaustive but are structural examples for further case studies as desired. Learners will read historical sources that are in opposition to each other not to decide which one is correct or true, but to try to detect common manifestations of coloniality, and how to identify them in historical sources and apply them to new sources.
After completing this module, learners will be able to critically apply decolonial analysis to historical sources. While engaging with case studies, learners will be invited to describe (or hypothesize about) an author’s interests, differentiating colonial interests from non-colonial interests: why might an author say or do the things they say or do? What are their motivations?
Evan Cook is studying Computer Science and Mathematics at the University of Chicago.
Learning Resources
Case Study I: America in the Philippines
Kipling, Rudyard. 1899. “The White Man’s Burden.” [Available online] This source is relatively short and easy to read while hinting at Western interests behind America’s presence in the Philippines. It thus serves as a good introduction to the case study.
Taft, William H. William H. Taft Papers: Series 8: Letterbooks, 1872–1921; Philippine Commission, Vol. 1. Manuscript/Mixed Material. [Available online] This source introduces readers to the American perspective of events in the Philippines. This source should be read with “The White Man’s Burden” in mind.
Go, Julian, and Anne L. Foster, editors. 2003. Global Perspectives on the U.S. Colonial State in the Philippines. “Introduction.” [Introduction available online] This source introduces readers to the concept of colonialism, directly challenging the above source with an anticolonial perspective. The “Introduction” is sufficient on its own, but essays further in the book may be of use as well.
Lasco, Gideon. 2018. “‘Little Brown Brothers: Height and the Philippine-American Colonial Encounter, 1898–1946,” Philippine Studies 66 (3). [Available online via JSTOR] This source elaborates on the anticolonial perspective, discussing the fallout of American presence in the Philippines. Being an extension of the case study’s core focus, this source should be read last.
Case Study II: The Great Bengal Famine
Mallik, Senjuti. 2023. “Colonial Biopolitics and the Great Bengal Famine of 1943.” GeoJournal 88: 3205–3221. [Available online] This source is intended as an introduction to the Great Bengal Famine, being relatively easy to digest. It provides historical context into the events, as well as introductions to the British and Indian perspectives.
Office of Population Inquiry Research. 1946. “India. The Famine Inquiry Commission.” Population Index, 12 (3): 171–73. [Available online via JSTOR] This source elaborates on the British perspective, and particularly into their justifications for the Famine. This text is large, so excerpts should be centered around British arguments and read with Mallik in mind.
Sen, Amartya. 1983. “The Great Bengal Famine,” In Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation. [Available online] This provides the primary anticolonial argument, directly challenging the earlier British source. Special attention should be given to deconstructions of arguments/excerpts read for the Famine Inquiry Commission.
Das, Debarshi. 2008. “A Relook at the Bengal Famine.” Economic and Political Weekly 43 (31): 59–64. [Available online via JSTOR] This source directly elaborates on Sen, analyzing his arguments and British arguments in further detail. Being an extension of the case study’s core focus, this source should be read last.