The colonial lens. Setting aside the more straightforward exploitation of land and labor that colonialism embodied, images like this one remind us of the powerful geographical imaginations that also characterized modern conquests of the world. More than just a picture of the exotic “Other”, look at how this advertisement implicitly critiques modernity. Modern life is boring and mundane, yet overly complicated at the same time. It’s not sufficiently manly either, even though the East African alternative pictured here doesn’t exactly display a conventional image of masculinity, with an elegantly dressed and bejeweled male figure who shows no obvious sign of being a “warrior”. (Perhaps because that would make him appear too threatening to the would-be traveler from the North?) As an escape from the tedium of the modern city, British East Africa offers the apparent allure of both simplicity and novelty, of peaceful repose and (violent) adventure. A beautiful and fascinating image. dynamicafrica: Selling Africa: Uganda Railway - British East Africa on Flickr. via oldads
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The colonial lens. Setting aside the more straightforward exploitation of land and labor that colonialism embodied, images like this one remind us of the powerful geographical imaginations that also characterized modern conquests of the world. More than just a picture of the exotic “Other”, look at how this advertisement implicitly critiques modernity. Modern life is boring and mundane, yet overly complicated at the same time. It’s not sufficiently manly either, even though the East African alternative pictured here doesn’t exactly display a conventional image of masculinity, with an elegantly dressed and bejeweled male figure who shows no obvious sign of being a “warrior”. (Perhaps because that would make him appear too threatening to the would-be traveler from the North?) As an escape from the tedium of the modern city, British East Africa offers the apparent allure of both simplicity and novelty, of peaceful repose and (violent) adventure. A beautiful and fascinating image.

dynamicafrica:

Selling Africa: Uganda Railway - British East Africa on Flickr.

via oldads

(via )

Source: vintascope

The Political Geography of Africa: 1900 to Today

Earlier this week, South Sudan became the world’s newest sovereign state (i.e., independent country), as recognized by the United States and the rest of the global community. Along with the 192 current members of the United Nations, Kosovo, and the Holy See (i.e, the Vatican), South Sudan brings the official, recognized count of countries to 195. UN membership for South Sudan appears to be just a formality at this point, while Kosovo’s application is still blocked by Russian veto; indeed, fewer than half of the world’s countries (but significantly including the U.S. and most of the EU states) recognize Kosovo’s independence from Serbia. As for the Holy See, it is a unique historical sovereignty—global headquarters for the Roman Catholic church—and thus not a modern “national” state appropriate for membership in the UN.

All of this is just background, though, to the main purpose of this link: a wonderful new interactive graphic from the Guardian of Africa’s dynamic political geography over the last 100-plus years. It is as good a cartographic primer on Africa’s changing geography of colonialism and nationalism as you’ll find. Below is just a sample: where the story begins.

Map of Africa's political geography, circa 1900

The Problem of Historical Apology: The Case of the British PM and Kashmir

Far more than most (U.S.) Americans realize, the world is a postcolonial place. But the legacies of that colonial past, and reverberating neocolonial present, are complex. This piece by Peter Oborne in The Telegraph is an interesting commentary on the use of history and the continuing relationship of the old powers to their former colonial possessions.

While Oborne’s commentary comes in response to David Cameron’s recent remarks in Pakistan, Oborne notes that Cameron is hardly alone among Britain’s contemporary political leaders:

Tony Blair, who had little or no sense of British history and institutions, was a past master at this kind of stunt. He never apologised for the lies and the errors of judgment that took Britain into our war with Iraq. Yet at one point in his premiership he apologised for the Irish potato famine, and at another for British involvement in slavery.

Rather than about Cameron or Blair specifically, Oborne’s commentary is primarily an argument in favor of rich historical (and geographical) understanding. Sadly, in a modern age so obsessed with “math and science” education and with simplifying political philosophies that emphasize grandiose concepts that are reducable into a 140-character Tweet or sound bite, such as the “free market” and “social justice”, the wisdom and nuanced perspective that comes from deep historical-geographical knowledge is in short supply.