Colonialism??
Current Concept of Colonialism
‘Colonialism,’ defined as “domination of a people or a area by a foreign state or nation: the practice of extending and maintaining a nation’s political and economic control over another people.”[1] Before any further discussion, I believe that ‘colonialism’ is embedded within the human nature; I would say that it comes from the human nature’s basic instinct of survival, to have, to dominate or to control. And this practice, as known among the major countries such like Great Britain, Spain, Germany and the others, was also a practice among the small island tribes as well.
In the history of the Micronesian Islands, even before the times it was discovered, claimed, or even colonized by Spain, Germany, and Japan, other smaller neighboring islands have claimed, or exploited the islands and its resources.[2] Even during the colonization in the Micronesian Islands, the smaller Micronesian islands were still fighting against each other for domination or control.
‘The War Against the Past’
“Dr. Frank Furedi, author and social commentator is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Kent. Author of more than 26 books, Furedi’s studies have been devoted to and exploration of the cultural developments in western societies. In recent years he has published several studies on the impact of Culture Wars on family life, socialization, education and public life….’The War Against the Past, mounts a fierce defence of the past and calls for a fight back against the delegitimization of its ideals and accomplishments.” [3]
From the inspectional reading, several statements have caught my attention, however, I would like to share couple in this posting. First, the goal of the book, which is to give the reason why the ‘the war against the past’ must be overcome. Secondly are the concepts of ‘anachronism’ and ‘presentism.’ In his arguments, the western’s cultural history, gives meaningful presents. “For when the past is contaminated, it becomes, it becomes near impossible to endow people’s life with meaning in the presents.” [4]
Secondly are the concepts of anachronism and presentism. Anachronism as defined, “(1.) error in chronology, (2.) a person or a thing that is chronologically out of place, and (3.) the state or condition of being chronologically out or place.”[5] For example, in the current time, others looked to the past histories or events, and claimed the bases of categories of gender, identity, queering, and even racism.[6] Presentism is defined as, “an attitude toward the past dominated by present-day attitudes and experience.”[7] One example of this was during Canada’s 150th birthday celebration that the plan to honor their first prime minister John A. McDonalds was opposed by signed petition by several representatives of the native organization, citing the reason for which he was racist against the aboriginal people.[8]
Relating to My Current Concept of Colonialism
The Empire of Japan was also one of the major colonialists of the Micronesian islands. After Germany, after the seizure of the Micronesian islands in 1914, the Japanese moved into Micronesia to explore what they could be beneficial to them. It was during the early period of Japanese rule (1914-1922) that they began to explore the Sugar Industry and the Fishing Industry.[9] Later during the occupation, by the mid-1930’s, Islanders were outnumbered by Japanese; on the eve of the war, there were more than 80,000 Japanese compared with 50,000 Micronesians.[10]
My tiny Island, Satowan Atoll, was made into a military base. It was an airfield for the Imperial Navy war planes. My grandmother told us stories of how they and many families were forced to leave their home and fled to neighboring small islands for safety. Whenever, I heard the story, it brings tears, my grandmother was pregnant with my mother. So, whenever I heard colonialism, I always dwell on the negative aspects of it. Nowadays, people from my Island celebrates a day that commemorated the returned of our people to their Island as the World War II ended in the Micronesian Islands, and it was always time of mixed emotions.
Conclusion
Dr. Furedi encouraged the West to prevail against the “War Against the Past” and gives the reason for the West to keep its history. When I looked into the history of my home, Micronesia, it was filled with colonialization. Then I asked myself, is the called to fight for (their) history only for the colonists and not the colonized?
Then within the perspectives of ‘anachronism and presentism,’ should I say that it was appropriate back then? And that I see it ‘inappropriate’ now because this was a different time and if it was back then, this would be, ok?
[1] Meriam-Webster. Definition of Colonialism. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/colonialism. Retrieved February 13, 2025.
[2] Hezel, Francis X. Early Encounters. https://micsem.org/video-listing/history-i-early-encounters/. Accessed February 13, 2025.
[3] Furedi, Frank. https://frankfuredi.org/. Accessed February 14, 2025.
[4] Furedi, Frank. The War Against the Past: Why the West Must Fight For its History (p. 6). Polity Press. Kindle Edition.
[5] Merriam-webster Dictionary. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anachronism. Accessed February 14, 2025.
[6] Furedi, Frank. The War Against the Past: Why the West Must Fight For its History (p. 140). Polity Press. Kindle Edition.
[7] Merriam-webster Dictionary. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/presentism.
[8] CBC Radio. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/sunday/the-past-is-not-the-present-do-food-animals-have-rights-alberto-manguel-s-curious-mind-the-great-hunger-1.3497315/the-allure-and-the-dangers-of-presentism-1.3497463. Accessed February 14, 2025.
[9] Hezel, Francis X. A Brief Economic History of Micronesia. 1984. https://micsem.org/article/a-brief-economic-history-of-micronesia/. Accessed February 14, 2025.
[10] Poyer, Lin. https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/cc07ced7-8639-405d-bf3a-bcdc40eb2d63/content. Accessed February 14, 2025.
About the Author
Noel Liemam
13 responses to “Colonialism??”
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Noel, thanks for weighing in the perspectives from the Colonized and the Colonizer. As you asked yourself, “is the call to fight for (their) history only for the colonists and not the colonized?”
As a parallel, I found that in Curaçao, one of the former colonies in the Dutch West Indies of the Southern Carribean, that the Islanders tell their slavery past with chilling “matter-of-fact-ness”, not to garner sympathy, but to use the past as a way of creating the future. In Canada, there are some incredible Christian Indigenous leaders who offer prayers of forgiveness to living white people / settlers and are not bound by the past.
From the Micronesian context, what insights do you have on how the Colonized can model a way to a flourishing future?
Thank you, Joel, for your comment. Well, the past had passed, so look to the future optimistically. For the people of Island, whenever we celebrated the ‘our grandparents return to our island, we talked about our gratefulness and to make our lives count. In other words, to aspire to live a better live to make our grandparents struggle counts. Thanks, Joel.
Hi Noel, Reading your post makes colonialism feel “more real” than simply reading about it from a historical point of view. Your view was real. Thank you for that. Do the Micronesian Islands still carry remnants of the Japanese occupation? If so, have they be integrated into Micronesian culture or are they still considered an outsider influence?
Thank you, Diane, for your comment. Yes, there are Japanese decedents in Micronesia and on my Island as well. They are well integrated into our culture too. Some of them even traced and found their Japanese family in Japan and are connected.
From what I heard, it was during the war that tension existed between the Micronesians and the Japanese occupation, but not before. Nowadays, there are some Micronesians that you would think they are Japanese, they are the decedents. In fact, our first Micronesian President, his name is Tosiwo Nakayama, a Japanese decedent. Thank you, Diane.
Thank you for sharing this very personal perspective Noel. I’m wondering if you have been able to identify how most countries in the West have dealt with colonization in their past, compared to the East, especially Micronesia, since that is your personal experience?
Thank you, Debbie, for you comment. I have not thought about that. The only thing I am thinking about is that the common thing would ‘colonialism is way for them to advance the interest of their nation.
Micronesia was colonized by Spain, Germany, Japan, and in some ways the United States since the time we were considered as Territory of the United States. I could only guess that colonialism still existed, but it is in different wordings such like international relation. Thank you, Debbie.
Hi Noel! I appreciate your personal perspective. You also touch on the concept of presentism. Given your personal connection to Micronesia’s colonial history and the forced displacement of your ancestors, do you think acknowledging past injustices conflicts with preserving historical narratives, or can both perspectives coexist?
Thank you, Daren, for your comment. With regards to your question, personally, I would say it is hard. We acknowledge that it happened, but when we talked about it, it brings emotions. It is part of our history that nothing we can do about it. Thank you, Daren,
Noel, Thank you for sharing about your country’s long history of colonialism. Concerning your question, “is the called to fight for (their) history only for the colonists and not the colonized?” What would it look like for Micronesians to fight for their history?
Thank you, Kari, for your comment. Personally, I need to acknowledge that our God is the Lord over history, the past, the present and the future; He is in control. Therefore, we must acknowledge the past, learn from and live for today, and pray and plan for the future. Thank you again,
Hi Noel, thank you for your thought-provoking post. First, let me say I am sorry for the way that the Japanese Empire colonized your island and forced displacement, especially for your grandmother. Being half-Japanese, I still have a lot to learn about Japanese history – but I know that there is a dark side to it. When I was in Japan last year, I visited a history museum and was fascinated to see the stark differences between the American and Japanese perspectives on historical events such as WW2. On the flip side, we are moving into a time in which we only remember the bad in history and discredit any of the good. How do you balance between the two?
Thank you, Christy, for your comment. We always look at the displacement in a negative way. However, that was during war, therefore, the displacement happened so that the people of the Island would be out of harm’s way. The part of the full story was that when they were off the island and settled onto the neighboring islands, they started seeing cloud of smokes as the warplanes bombed the islands. They felt sad since before the war, they knew many of the soldiers and the those who worked for them. And as you said, we only tend to remember the negative side, but not the good part. So, the flip side of the displacement was the main purpose, to get them out of harm’s way. Some other positive side of the Japanese Occupation that I heard stories of were, they educated our people in skills such like farming, carpentry, and the fishing industries.
Hi Noel,
Thank you very much for your post. I’ve been thinking about whether the practice of foreign powers dominating a particular group of people, along with the extension of their economic and political influence, still qualifies as ‘colonialism’ when considered outside of the context of Western Europe. How would you characterize any sense of victimization among your grandma’s generation (if there is that sense). In what ways have they been defined by it and in what ways has it become part of the bigger story?