politics, could be reinterpreted and reassessed in a historical context where formal empires largely ceased to exist. The imperial formation of modernity is a major issue for postcolonialists, while the capitalist drive for imperialism remains the ground for a long debate among Marxists. Our main argument profits from both. We suggest empires should not be analytically understood only by their formal political institutions, but also by the articulation they have historically produced between the colonial difference and accumulation by dispossession. The examination of
47 THREE Indigenous peoples: dispossession, colonisation and discrimination Introduction This chapter reviews the experience of indigenous peoples, that is, those who are also referred to as aboriginal or native peoples. It identifies some of the major populations of indigenous peoples living in rural areas within Westernised welfare structures, including: the Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders of Australia; the Maori of New Zealand; the Inuit, Métis and the First Nations (Indians) of Canada and the US. Currently, the proportions of these indigenous
‘ indvandrerdrenge ’ to highlight its specific contextual meaning, yet in quotation marks to problematise it. Frederiksen’s attack on ‘ indvandrerdrenge ’ and proposal to confiscate their belongings is illustrative of a broader trend within western states’ reception of refugees ( Ziadah, 2016 ) and treatment of racialised migrants more broadly ( Bhandar, 2016 ; Cahill et al, 2016 ; Farris, 2016 ). In this chapter, I situate Frederiksen’s attack within the Danish state’s ongoing use of dispossessive practices to manage, control and eliminate racialised groups. Through a close
The understanding that a system is responsible for these pains. The executioner is an exploitative, patriarchal, pyramidal, racist, thievish, and criminal system: capitalism. The EZLN To understand extractivism, it is essential to realise it is rooted in dispossession, has its historical origins in colonialism, and is now facilitated primarily by corporations and states. Extraction has traditionally and continues to be a hallmark of (neo)imperial domination and neoliberal policies (for example, ‘cash crops’, fossil fuels, minerals, biofuels, precious
projects, can precipitate the rapid, and very visible, decantation of the existing population to make way for incomers. In either instance, the lives of people in existing communities, and their modes of habitation, are threatened and undermined. Such threats and corresponding modes of displacement can be considered to be part of inherently anti-democratic processes and indicative of construction as a form of violence against people and nature. I develop the understanding that construction, as implicated in displacement and dispossession, is a form of violation that
aware of the Rohingya refugee crisis and may press the Myanmar government to take back Rohingyas and guarantee their safety and citizenship, improve the living conditions, and assist the Bangladeshi government in finding a solution to the issues caused by the presence of Rohingyas in Banglashesh. As the current Rohingya refugee crisis has become an enormous burden for this developing and overpopulated country, such a move would surely benefit the Bangladeshi government and people. Conceptualizing displacement and dispossession Displacement The global issue
101 SIX Rethinking gentrification in India: displacement, dispossession and the spectre of development Sapana Doshi Introduction Over the last decade, a surge in scholarship on the displacement of the urban poor in Indian cities has highlighted the need for post-colonial engagement with theories of gentrification. While urban projects and en masse displacement warrant the kind of political concern that a globally minded gentrification studies offers (see Smith, 2002), this chapter follows others (see Lees, 2012) in arguing for the need to push the
various forms of dispossession and precarity. The lockdown and the urban poor As COVID-19 spread around the world in the beginning of 2020, urban societies, as nodes of international connection, concentration of economic activities, and public life, came to a standstill in order to contain the spread of the virus. Consequently, most countries around the world imposed lockdowns and suspended a host of economic activities, rules which were heavily monitored by governments. In India, a countrywide lockdown was enforced on March 25, 2020 (Gettleman and Schultz, 2020
including Nancy Fraser, David Harvey and Silvia Federici, accumulation not only takes place in the production process, but also through dispossession, when areas, spaces and activities that were not previously market-organised are made accessible for the purpose of profit. This concerns natural resources, as well as housing markets and services relating to social reproduction. The insight that capitalism relies on extra-economic spheres to sustain itself – particularly on the sphere, or tasks, of social reproduction – needs to be applied to social struggles. Social
population of the South Hebron Hills from dispossession by state-backed Jewish settlers, who are turning an area of high plateaux, slopes and valleys, seasonal pasture and bountiful springs into a militarised place of danger to human and non-human life. The chapter then explains the Palestinian experience of progressive and violent dispossession, displacement and fragmentation before introducing the collection of stories which are at the heart of the chapter. These stories were recorded during 2018–19 by Palestinians aged 18–30 living in the South Hebron Hills as part of
