I said I'd do this, so I am.

The book I read for last week was Imperialism and Postcolonialism by Barbara Bush. It was a very good read and I enjoyed it much. Here is the paper I wrote for that book. It is a very "heady" book in that it is full of poli-sci jargon and is very abstract so I had a hard time forming the ideas I wanted to say but this is it. Sorry for the uneven paragraphs and page breaks, it didn't translate well to blogger mode.

Imperialism and Postcolonialism (2006) by Barbara Bush is a critical study of what is imperialism, empire, and colonialism both in what is considered the modern sense and the historical sense. She examines the links between these three human experiences and their interplay with capitalism, modernity, culture both globally and locally, and the power relations inherent in them. She starts the book by looking at empire and imperialism in a historical sense while juxtaposing it against the modern incarnation,

“Empires emerged with the great civilizations of antiquity such as Old Babylonia (1800 B.C.), which bequeathed mathematics, science and the written word to future Middle Eastern and European cultures. The Greek Empire (c. 750-550 B.C.) created colonies around the Eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea and established some of the essential characteristics of later European empires, including an early form of orientalist discourse." (p. 10)

It is in this fashion that Bush lays out for the reader the idea that new builds on old. Just as the Babylonians laid the foundations for later empires, each successive group built on and enhanced the tools and ideas of empire used before them. In the same fashion resistance builds on and learns from both its self and imperialism. In quoting Fowden Bush states, “Antiquity’s contribution to the technique of empire… was the discovery of a ‘non-military… partially political basis for self perpetuation’. This was facilitated by the emergence of monotheism… rooted in the unifying religions of Christianity and Islam that justified the exercise of imperial power and made it more effective” (p. 12). As discussed above the Greeks were some of the first imperialists to use the idea of “othering” in order to bring about the building of their empire. Later other empires would build on this idea as a justification for their own empire building.

Bushs’ focus is on European empire and it’s development. When discussing the difference between European and other non-European forms of empire she states,

… the Renaissance instilled new vigour into Western European society and economy. The reconquista, the expulsion of Islamic influence from the Iberian Peninsula, combined with improvements in navigation, facilitated the Spanish and Portuguese seaborne empires (Boxer, 1969; Scammel, 1989) and the European remapping of the world… The epochal moment was the conquest of the Americas. (p. 13-14)

This idea that technological advancement (European improvements in navigation and seamanship) along with ideological changes (the idea that Europe was the center of the known world ‘remapping’) enhanced European Empire though modernity and much like the Greeks, Romans and many others, an idea of othering, of dehumanization. With the European conquest of the Americas we see the differences between the old imperialism and New Imperialism, the main difference being that of navel power; again this technological advancement by Europe building upon the advancements of other empires.

There is no question that the reason for empire is the exploitation of others in order that the imperial power can obtain the resources controlled by them. It is this that has driven all empires, the need to control resources. A key idea in this is that in each Empire there is the metropolitan center, the base of power for the Empire, and the periphery, the outlying colonies and resource rich areas of the empire that have been invaded and conquered by the armies of the Empire. This is where the reader will see that as Bush tells them, “Informal imperialism can exist without colonialism but colonialism cannot exist without imperialism” (p. 46). This idea of an almost symbiotic relationship between imperialism and colonialism illustrates that the ideas of domination and repression are key to both, yet one requires the other.

When discussing the relationship between colonialism and imperialism Bush reminds the reader that, “Some theories rely too much on mono-causal explanations foe European imperial conquest – for instance, technological and scientific superiority (Headrick, 1981) or the economic determinism of conventional Marxist studies… Arguably, the most plausible explanations of imperialism need to account for the interaction of the economic, political, social and cultural factors operating at both the local (periphery) level and within the metropolitan centre of imperial power” (p.47). This need to have an inclusive framework with which to study imperialism is what led to the use of both Marxist theory and Postmodernism like in Edward Said’s work Orientalism. Like the work of Fanon it is this inclusive understanding of both political/economic and social/cultural impacts that allow for a deeper understanding of the impacts of both colonialism and imperialism.

Bush points out for the reader that, “when evaluating theories and conceptual frameworks, one needs to bear in mind a number of key questions. What definition of imperialism is used? How does this influence the way imperialism was/is conceptualized? What is the purpose of the theory? Is it a conceptual tool of the historian (Robinson and Gallagher, Cain and Hopkins) or linked to political critique and/or activism (Lenin, Chomsky, Hobson)?” (p.48). For Bush the answers to the above questions when asked about colonialism have only enlivened and “enriched controversies” (p.50) about imperialism and reawakened the study of imperial history.

Books Books and More Books!!!... Oh Yeah Let's Not Forget Bikes and Music Too!

So last weeks book was a complete and total failure on my part. I read MAYBE a third of it; wish I had been able to read more but sadly I had the hardest time sitting still for more then five minutes at one go (I've never really had this problem before but last week really was my WORST week ever, performance wise since I've been at Evergreen).

So this week I resolved to do much better, and I think I am. I was late getting the book for many reasons that really only boil down to I'm a dumbass and didn't take care of the things I should have before going down to Portland last weekend. I feel I've got a good handle on the reading so far and am very impressed with what the author has to say. It's hard to really write about because I've not formalized what I'm thinking just yet. I think what I'll do is post my paper when I'm done with it on Thursday night. That should be interesting for ya'll to see what I do every week. The papers themselves aren't really that hard or strenuous to write; it's a two page (single spaced) paper that summarizes the authors points. The hard part is keeping to the two page limit.

Last quarter was a little different, we had a four page paper that was two pages devoted to the conclusions of the author and two pages responding to the work. I was happier with that format but they have said that we can respond to the work if we so wish. I'd like to do that with this book so what I think I'll do is after the study group meeting tomorrow night, I'll start working on the paper and seeing if I can't get some of the ideas outta my head and on to the metaphorical paper.

Also in other news, my rear light died today which made for a mildly spooky ride home from work, but thanks to the fact we've pasted the winter solstice, the days are getting longer and it has stopped getting dark at 4 PM here. It now waits till 4:45 PM. Which if I leave work at 5 doesn't help much but if I leave a little early, say around 4:30 I get home with enough sunlight to not worry too much.

Again I forgot to say that I've been going in earlier to work lately. On Monday's and Tuesdays when I don't have class, I've gone in at around 9 AM. Thanks to my being in Salt Lick Shitty for almost three weeks there was an enormous backlog of filing to be done, I've almost finished it and hope to have it 95% done by Friday.

In music related news, Chris and I have started work on our Grind project entitled U.S. Marine Corpse. Chris wrote, and totally finished our first song, and we started polishing it up last week. We've also wanted to start a stoner/drone band in addition to the doom/noise/drone that is Breaker of Men. Creatively I've got a lot on my plate what with school, BoM, U.S. Marine Corps and our as yet untitled stoner band, but I'm happier playing music then I am working so I figure it's a trade off. Spend the 30 or so bucks a week to drive down to Portland on Friday and jam then drive home Sunday and still have my homework done for the coming week. Playing music and hanging out with my friends really does make my week all worth it.

Looking for an Apartment...

So after much hand wringing (not really) and careful planing (not really) I've decided that I kinda fucking hate living the in dorms. It's not for me, really, REALLY not for me. I searched craigslist.org (yay yet another reason why I like them) and emailed some other Greeners that had posted an ad looking for a roommate. It's cheep, about 175 a month and I should have a loan check coming in soon (if not I'm moving back to Salt Lake as I don't have the money for next quarter) and that will help with any deposits that I need to make.

In other CL news, I posted an ad looking for people to play in a stoner/drone band and got a response from a drummer. I emailed him back and hope to start playing in another (the 3rd to be completely truthful) band shortly.

I can't really think of anything else worthy of blog time. Besides I'm swamped with homework (but what else is new). Wow I really love parentheses (see I told you).

You Take Your Car to Work and I'll Take my Bike

The new quarter is upon me, I've once again been immersed in the scholarly duties of being a student. Yet today finds me listless and unable to sit still for more then a few minutes at a time, which when you're in class from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM can be a problem. I think part of it might be the fact that yesterday found me riding my bike more then I have in the last four months.

I took my fixed gear to work after class which is about a 4 mile ride, then back to campus from work for an EARN meeting (again another 4 mile ride), then downtown for a study group (which had I read the book more I would have been more useful to the others. Oh yeah that's about 6 miles, for a grand total of 14 miles which is about what I used to ride in Shit Lick every day.). Sadly my ride back to campus was not to happen as the rear tire (yet again, fuck that pisses me off) was flat. After 8:00 PM the buses only run every hour so I had about half of that to kill before I could get back to my house. It was raining as well...

Taking the bus ended up being good because once we got close to campus it started snowing. I laughed a little then cried when I remembered that I had done so because my fucking tire was flat... AGAIN.

So now I'm in the midst of writing a paper about Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq, and I'm having trouble writing it. I've got a little over half of it done but really I'm fighting tooth and nail to get it down and done.

Going back to class earlier today, we did a workshop review of the fall quarter at the end of which we were to make an artistic representation of what Colonialism means to us. I drew a picture of the Earth on fire. My new faculty asked me about it and I explained that I see Colonialism, Imperialism and Globalization not as problems unto themselves but as examples of a larger problem. When she asked me what I simply told her civilization is the problem. As I've not fully explored this idea I fumbled with it a little but was able to get her to understand my idea for which she told me she wanted me to do that as my final project. I'm excited about it and need to start working on it.

Oh yeah, because of all the riding, which included a very large hill in the rain on a bike with no brake, my ass hurts. Looks like it's time to hit the gym.

If you want to have a good time check craigslist

So one thing I left out about my trip home from Portland Yesterday was the fact I did a rideshare. For those of you who don't know what this means is I checked Craigslist.org for people who wanted to leave Portland on the same day I did and who wanted to go to Oly. Well I found a person.

It was really nice, I had someone to talk to the way back to Oly and she chipped in on gas (the real reason I did this). All in all it was good, we discussed dogs, cats, shitty roommates, and bad movies. I hope that it will work out in a similar fashion next time.

I'm kinda in love with craigslist at this point. For one I found my current job and two, I got a cool traveling companion outta it.

Oh yeah, so the whole reason I wrote the above is that the person who drove back with me talked about doing a travel log. She talked about driving across the States and writing a book about it. I'm thinking about riding my bike from Oly to Pasadena soon. I thought it could be cool to write about it and maybe try and get it published (as she suggested I do), or just write about it here. We'll see.

For now I'm thinking I'll just ride my happy ass down to Portland in the summer. It's only about 100 miles, which I did no problem last summer. The only thing is last summer I had ridden all year and really didn't take any time off from riding. This year (school year is what I guess I mean) has been more then a little different. So if I want to ride to P-town I need to really start riding more and riding longer. It's just hard to find time what with work and school and tons of homework. Oh well I'll work something out.

Olympia an't just a cheep beer.

So I got back in to oly about two hours ago. I unloaded all my shit, put my bike back together and took a shower. I left Salt Lake on the 2nd rather then the 3rd because as much as I liked seeing all my friends and family, it was very much time to leave. Marleigh and I left Hate-01 at about 9:30 AM and tore ass across Idaho and eastern Oregon. It was as boring as it sounds until we hit Baker City. In Baker we were blasted by high winds and icy roads and did not have a break from that until we hit Le Grand. From Le Grand to Portland it was rainy but not too bad.

We rolled in to Portland around 11 PM and started drinking with all the lovely people we well, love in Portland. I don't think there was one night while I was in Portland that I wasn't drunk, and one of the first things I did was hug Chris and Lacy and tell them how good it was to be home.

All in all the trip was good, I saw Peter, Charlotte, Cassie, Neda, my Family and got to eat some good food I missed.

I love you all.

Salt Lake City an't just the title of a Dwarves song anymore.

That's right kids, I'm flying home tomorrow night. I leave Sea-Tac airport at 4:50 PM and arrive in Shit Lick at 7:50. I'll be there until the 3rd when I drive back to Oly via Portland. Classes start on the 7th and much like last quarter I'm very much looking forward to next quarter. Also I've decided to go to Law School and will start to study for the LSAT this break which I will be taking in the spring.

The three schools I'm looking at are Fordam (thanks Scotty for giving me the idea), Loyola and Seattle University. Fordam and Loyola are both outside of Washington State, Fordam is in New York (Not too excited to go to New York), Loyola is in L.A. (another city I'm not too keen on), and as I'm sure you can tell where Seattle University is. All three are Jesuit schools with a strong social justice program. The really cool part about Evergreen is that 85-90% of the grads get in to their first choice for grad school. So no matter where I decide to go I've got a good chance to get in if I do well on the LSAT's. I'm not too worried about the LSAT because I know if I study for it and take a practice test I've gained a lot of the skills I need to do well on it already, it's just a matter of further developing those skills.