This research study examined perceptions of contemporary effects of colonialism among education professionals in Ghana, and the extent to which education professionals express awareness of colonialism in Ghanaian school systems and contemporary Ghanaian society. An overview of literature in Critical Race Theory, Social Justice Education Theory, Oppression Theory and Post-Colonial Theory provided the theoretical foundation that was used to guide this study. Five factors emerged from this literature review as a framework for analysis of study data. These five factors included discourse, cultural imperialism, linguistic hegemony, racism and internalized racism, and oppression. The study participants included education policy makers, administrators, counselors, teachers, and teacher educators in the educational system of Ghana. A set of thirty-two individual interviews and six focus groups comprised of twenty-seven participants were conducted in which educators described their perspectives of Ghanaian society and Ghanaian educational systems in their own words in response to a predetermined set of twelve questions. A document analysis established a baseline of data regarding the curriculum of Ghanaian schools as presented in curriculum guides, textbooks, and policy statements, handbooks and reports that describe the educational systems in Ghana today. Ghanaian educators expressed the most awareness of colonial legacies related to cultural imperialism, linguistic hegemony, internalized oppression and discourse. The findings suggest that educational professionals in Ghana demonstrate limited awareness of colonial legacies of racism and internalized racism, sexism, classism, ethnoreligious oppression and neocolonialism.

In 2018, the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers (OCSWSSW) implemented an additional screening question for prospective social workers registering with the College, requiring applicants to indicate if there is any sign they have a physical or mental condition or disorder that “could affect [their] ability to practice social work in a safe manner.” This Health Declaration policy was created within a broader context of increasing surveillance and punishment of social workers conducted by the College, on the grounds that fitness to practice social work is a bio-moral-medical quintessence that some possess and others lack, and which social work elites must identify in order to “protect the public.” This thesis undertakes a critical discourse analysis of publicly available documents provided by the College. I draw from critical disability studies, anti-colonial scholarship, and postmodern work to establish the College as an organ of the Canadian settler colonial project. I use the term “safe-ability” – distilling the Health Declaration’s language and that of their other rules, communications, and decisions – calling attention to ideological fiction operating within ableist/sanist and colonial logics, the basis of its authority to punish social workers and “protect” the public. The College uses terms like unfit, incapacity, and incompetence to conjure threat of risk throughout their documentation, showing significant investment in broadcasting lies about disabled people. College disciplinary documents show that social workers have been found to be unfit on the basis of statements about their health, inherent abilities, mental/physical examinations, and even charges of unfit conduct outside the scope of their duties as social workers. Legal and medical discourse is invoked to give the appearance of objectivity and to authorize power. I show that the OCSWSSW perpetrates abuses under cover of the fictitious entity “safe-ability” – a colonist ableist/sanist fabrication used to justify and valorize such professionalizing institutions that ought to be abolished. / Thesis / Master of Social Work (MSW)

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This dissertation explores the importance of colonial carcerality to International Relations and Canadian politics. I argue that within Canada, practices of imprisonment and the production of carceral space are a foundational method of settler colonial governance because of the ways they are utilized to reorganize and reconstitute the relationships between bodies and land through coercion, non-consensual inclusion and the use of force. In this project I examine the Treaties and early agreements between Indigenous and European nations, pre-Confederation law and policy, legislative and institutional arrangements and practices during early stages of state formation and capitalist expansion, and contemporary claims of “reconciliation,” alongside the ongoing resistance by Indigenous peoples across Turtle Island. I argue that Canada employs carcerality as a strategy of assimilation, dispossession and genocide through practices of criminalization, punishment and containment of bodies and lands. Through this analysis I demonstrate the foundational role of carcerality to historical and contemporary expressions of Canadian governance within empire, by arguing land as indispensable to understanding the utility of imprisonment and carceral space to extending the settler colonial project. In particular, in this dissertation I focus on demonstrating the relationships between historical and contemporary logics, institutions, and everyday practices of imprisonment and carcerality, and the role they play in the reproduction and maintenance of settler colonial governance within the Canadian context. The central contribution I make in this project is the concept of ‘colonial carcerality,’ which I argue is a governance strategy that relies on inflicting ongoing harm to land, and to Indigenous, gender non-conforming and poor people of colour through criminalization. Drawing on the concept of colonial carcerality provides a framework to understand land as integral to the production of carceral space through the racialized, gendered, sexualized and classed hierarchies that make Canada possible as a settler state within empire. I show how that the criminalization of Indigenous persons through relationships to land occurs alongside the production of settler innocence, and that a carceral apparatus is produced through the preservation white heteropatriarchy alongside the subjugation of land. Drawing from the contributions of Indigenous resurgence and Indigenous feminist literature, this concept provides a theorization of carceral space beyond governance that highlights ongoing harm to land, waters and other living beings as a condition of possibility for carcerality within settler colonialism. It further draws from these insights to begin to imagine possibilities for restorative justice that value the life of all living beings as an entry point into understanding decolonial abolition within the settler colony. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Pigmentocracy or colorism refers to the practice of intraracial groups applying a preferential valuation to lighter skin, resulting in a system of contextual privileges and discriminations based on skin color. In India, this phenomenon is informed by numerous factors, including colonialism, the caste system, media, cultural practices, and patriarchy. The fundamental forces contributing to pigmentocracy are explored independently as well as in conjunction with each other in order to elucidate the multifaceted aspects of social organization in India, specifically, the larger effects of imperialism, capitalism, globalization, racism, and sexism as they relate to colorist ideology. Everyday practices and attitudes informed by caste, class, religion, language, region, and customs are also examined in relation to pigmentocracy. Although there are numerous mechanisms that contribute to the complexity of examining pigmentocracy, larger patterns also prevail that allow for a comprehensive understanding of how pigmentocratic notions influence and are influenced by multiple background and demographic conditions. Benefits for those who are on the lighter end of the skin color spectrum are recognized and leveraged in accordance with the systemic logic of being naturally superior. Conversely, often those on the darker end of the spectrum are perceived as inferior, thus perpetuating the superiority of whiteness. Pigmentocracy is detrimental psychologically, physically, and socioeconomically due to the ways in which darker skin is often viewed (by society, media, lighter individuals as well as darker people who subscribe to the belief that white is better) as less attractive, less valuable, less pure, and less clean. For those perceived to be darker, the consequences can include violence, marginalization, and discrimination in areas of employment, education, government, access to resources, psychological trauma, disparities in marital opportunities and conceived notions of beauty, and underrepresentation in media. / Ph. D.

In the face of catastrophic climate change, scholars and activists have sought to fundamentally transform the existing food system in the United States. One solution being offered, repeasantization, seeks to reinvigorate the idea of the small farm accompanied by principles of ecological production. While invoking the term "peasant" promises something potentially new in the US context, where the farmer is hegemonic, this movement could end up reenacting the failures of the homesteading and back-to-the-land movements which reconstituted settler colonial and capitalist relations in the US imaginary. Using literature from peasant studies, development studies, and Marxist theory, I develop a theoretical orientation towards this potential problem which focuses on how the ideas of the peasant and the farmer are part of a dialectic which has regularly reinforced the existing dominant paradigm. Imagining a new way of thinking, I introduce the concept of the "peasant+ imaginary" in order to outline the ways that the general way of thinking about farming and farmers in the US serves the ideological function of 'othering' alternative practices and subjectivities. Through a historiography which focuses on the structural logic and compulsions of settler colonialism and capitalism, I reconstruct the history of the peasant-farmer dyad in the US context. Through a critical discourse analysis of Farmers' Bulletins, I also show how the United States Department of Agriculture reinforced a settler-capitalist farmer subject-formation in the interest of a "national agriculture" which served to marginalize Black, Indigenous, and non-capitalist ways of being. This dissertation is my contribution to literature which seeks to reimagine the US food system, with the goal of creating a truly sustainable agriculture which nourishes the land and the people who work and live on it. / Doctor of Philosophy / In the face of catastrophic climate change, scholars and activists have sought to fundamentally transform the existing food system in the United States. This dissertation seeks to reinvigorate the idea of the small farm in the US by paying attention to important concerns related to environmental justice. Using writings from a range of scholarly disciplines, I develop theory which focuses on how the ideas of the peasant and the farmer are part of an often problematic relationship in the popular imagination. Imagining a new way of thinking, I introduce the concept of the "peasant+ imaginary" in order to outline the ways that current thinking about farming and farmers in the US often reinforced existing "us versus them" thinking, sidelining alternative, more ecological practices. By highlighting three key moments in US agricultural history and excerpts from United States Department of Agriculture's Farmers' Bulletins, I show how the structural logics and compulsions of settler colonialism and capitalism reinforce conventional ways of thinking about agriculture. I also show how the project of building a "national agriculture" after the Civil War served to marginalize Black, Indigenous, and non-capitalist ways of being. This dissertation is my contribution to literature which seeks to reimagine the US food system, with the goal of creating a truly sustainable agriculture which nourishes the land and the people who work and live on it.

What has caused the. African continent to remain fragmented, underdeveloped, and lacking liberal democracies? The present study attempts to quantitatively and qualitatively assess the effect European colonialism has had on sub-Saharan Africa democratic development. The research finds that problems of democratic consolidation in sub-saharan Africa are not necessarily due to the primitiveness of government institutions or trivial ethnic tensions, as generally believed. Instead the case is made that decades of absolute and arbitrary rule under European colonizers has hampered democratic development. Disregard for humanity and civility by the European colonial states made a peaceful transition after independence nearly impossible. The current complex challenges obstructing democratic consolidation in sub-Saharan Africa can be understood by examining the region's colonial history. This research project takes into account the uniqueness of Africa's experience by steering away from the traditional Western approach to truly understand Africa's democratic plight. Extensive qualitative research was conducted in order to determine the reasons why democracy is lacking in a majority of sub-Saharan Africa. The effects of European colonialism, the necessary factors for democratic transition, and why democratization is still limited in the region were all examined. While colonialism may not be the sole reason for sub-Saharan Africa's failed democracies, this research finds that it is the instigator of centuries of social, political, and ethnic strife.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 1. PROBLEM OF THE DISSERTATION The problem of the dissertation is to define, analyze, and evaluate the social response of Christianity to slave trade, forced labor, and nationalism in Angola. Foremost to the problem of the dissertation are two questions: First, "What were the factors which influenced the response of Christianity to the selected issues?" And second, "Were the responses of Christianity to the selected issues unequivocal?" 2. METHOD OF THE DISSERTATION The principal method of this study is historical-sociological. The historical aspect is concerned with time, place, and events; the sociological describes the social behavior of institutions and peoples. The dissertation will also be a critical examination of the norms inherent in the missionary enterprise. The sources are in Portuguese and in English. 3. CONCLUSIONS i. Responses of Christianity The responses of Christianity to the selected issues were characterized by policies of co-operation, acceptance, avoidance, and opposition. The response of Catholicism to slave labor and forced labor was similar, acceptance which eventually led to a policy of co-operation with the state, slave traders, and labor recruiters. As the Protestant movement in Angola was founded after the heyday of the slave trade, its response could not be measured. On forced labor, Protestantism's response was one of qualified acceptance, respecting the political rights of the Portuguese to govern its overseas territories. Prior to the March 1961 revolt, the policy of both Catholicism and Protestantism on nationalism was avoidance of the issue. After the March 1961 disturbances, Catholicism co-operated with the Portuguese state, a policy to crush the rebellion. The response of Protestantism was one of opposition to the position of the Portuguese state. Within these general patterns of responses, there were always exceptions to the prevailing response of Christianity to each of the selected issues. ii. Factors Shaping Christianity's Response A first factor was Catholicism's identification with the state's colonial policy. For Protestantism, separation from the state placed her in a problematic position; Protestant missions were conscious of their precarious legal position in a Catholic state. But the problematic position was abandoned when Protestantism was confronted by an abrupt disruption of church-state relations after the 1961 revolt. A second factor was that of motivation. Three motivations, often conflicting, predominated in Catholic mission work: the economic, the civilizing, and the Christianizing. For Protestantism, two motivations seemed important, the humanitarian and the evangelizing. A third factor was the colonial situation. Catholicism identified itself with the cultural policy of the colonial state. Protestantism also adapted itself to the colonial situation; its response was existential and expedient. A fourth was the time factor, especially pertinent for Protestantism. In many instances Protestant missionaries refrained from criticizing the contract labor system because previous protests were ineffective. A fifth was the factor of Africanization. The Catholic hierarchy was predominantly European. Consequently, Catholicism's response to nationalism was European oriented. Protestantism's strength was distinctly African; this is one reason why Protestant Africans were suspect after the northern revolt in 1961. iii. Dilemmas In a broad sense the dilemmas for Catholicism and Protestantism were analogous. On the one hand, opposition to the policies of the state involved a rupture in t he relationship between Christian groups and the state, disaffection by European settlers, and the threat of expulsion from the country by the state. Christianity's support of the policies of the state, on the other, invited a compromise on the ethical position of Christianity on these problems; it prolonged the colonial situation; it made the church an instrument of the state's aim to civilize; and, it alienated the African population from the Christian church. / 2999-01-01

Boston University. University Professors Program Senior theses. / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2999-01-02

This dissertation is a theoretical and interpretative exploration of the prominent themes which are developed in the novel Die olifantjagters by Piet van Rooyen. The study focuses on the spatial aspects of the narrative and attempts to indicate how the novel contributes to the contemporary discourse on ecology and eco-critique. In the analysis of spatiality in the novel, special attention is paid to the dimension of Africa and African ecological issues. These include the typical ecological problems of developing countries, the Western presence in Africa and the dilemma of the indigenous people such as the Bushmen in a rapidly changing environment. Centering around the hunt on one of the last great elephants, the novel is deeply concerned with conservation of natural resources and related issues. The multi-cultural social structures of Southern African countries and the problems arising from cultural interaction, form an integral part of the novel and these are discussed extensively in the dissertation. In addition, the identity crises which the characters experience as a result of the processes of cultural interaction and environmental change, are explored against the backdrop of the political transformation of the subcontinent. Issues of identity are concerned with individual as well as group dynamics and almost the characters are thus involved in the redefinition of their own roles and their places in the world. Colonialism has been replaced by postcolonial ism, but power struggles continue to plague previously colonized countries such as South Africa and Namibia. The novel deals with this situation by depicting the conflicting ideas and ideals of people from developed countries who intend to do good and the viewpoints of the indigenous people of Africa. The novel presents a fresh and honest view of the contemporary situation in Southern Africa and thus contributes to the discourse on post-colonialism ecology, cultural change and the ways in which change affects identity, human relationships and the relation between man and Nature. An interpretation of Die olifantjagters therefore needs to take cognisance of Eco criticism, the debate on post colonialism and the dynamics of the power struggle. In conclusion, the contribution of literature to the contemporary ecological discourse is indicated. In spite of the fact that the novel is part of Western discourse in Africa and as such also part of the system of power relations in modern society, it does highlight the "green issue" and this novel will most probably lead to a greater awareness of ecological issues. / Thesis (M.A. (Afrikaans and Dutch))--Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education, 2001