THE THREE PHASES OF DECOLONIZATION: LESSONS FOR SCOTLAND

THE THREE PHASES OF DECOLONIZATION: LESSONS FOR SCOTLAND

Alf Baird

Self-determination is the process by which colonized and hence oppressed peoples become independent. In this regard we have a great deal to learn from postcolonial theory which explains this process in some detail, and from which much of the UN approach to self-determination and decolonization is based. 

Postcolonial theory is drawn from the common experiences of many peoples and nations that have become independent from imperial rule, mostly since the end of WWII and the founding of the United Nations. It is therefore very much an applied body of literature. In this it is important for an oppressed people to understand the different ‘phases of decolonization’ which colonized peoples’ have to go through in order to secure independence and liberation from oppression, which is never an easy or straightforward process.

PHASE 1: THE RISE OF THE DOMINANT NATIONAL PARTY

Within the first phase of decolonization, the naivety and inexperience of the newly elected national party is exploited to the full by the colonial power. New to assuming any kind of power, the national party elite ‘attach a fundamental importance to the fetish of organisation’, which takes precedence over any reasoned study of colonialism.

Because the national party elite has never undertaken a detailed analysis of colonial society, the leaders do not yet understand what independence really means (i.e. decolonization) or why it is necessary. This also leaves the understanding of the mass of the people at a rudimentary level as they likewise also remain ignorant of what independence means.

The colonial power plays on the relative inexperience of the national party elite using its long experience of imperial administration and the very solid government and justice system it has created. The colonial power also uses traditional means such as divide and rule of the oppressed, manipulation, and the deployment of confidential agents pensioned off at ransom prices.

It soon becomes clear to the people that, inside the nationalist parties, the will to break colonialism is linked with another quite different will: that of coming to a friendly agreement with it. At the decisive moment, such as the election of a majority of nationalist members of parliament, the party elite lacks the courage to declare independence.

Instead, the national party chooses ‘neutrality’, it depends on slogans and for the most part leaves the question of independence to future events. It therefore takes the movement up a blind alley, delaying independence. The dominant national party elite then becomes part of the colonial racket, it behaves like a gang, feathers its nest and builds up its pensions. Colonialism, which is always a co-operative venture with native elites, effectively draws the national party leaders under its wing.

PHASE II: THE RUPTURE IN THE MOVEMENT

As time goes by, the people begin to realise that all is not well with the dominant national party in whom the movement has placed its trust. The dominant national party opted for neutrality instead of liberating the people, which is the clearest sign that its intentions are no longer aligned with the masses. The party elite then suffers from a kind of petrifaction, it becomes calcified and immobile. Unable to serve two masters, that is both the colonized and the colonizer, the party elite chooses to protect the interest of the latter and hence sacrifices the former, that is the people.

The colonised people discover they cannot gain their liberty from oppression by following the imposed laws and justice courts of their colonizers, i.e. what is known as the Section 30 Scotland Act approach. In an attempt to make party officials looks busy, the administration passes laws with mystify and further oppress the people. The inevitable split in the party results in conflict between ‘legal and illegal’tendencies.

The dominant national party refuses to promote any innovation or make progress on the most urgent cause of liberating the people. It attacks the so-called ‘radicals’ and ‘undesirables’ in the national independence movement, joining with colonial forces(such as state police and prosecutors) to persecute key leaders. Such developments and lack of progress on independence sicken the movement and leads to its rupture.

New national parties are then rapidly created, albeit they unfortunately also have a tendency to model themselves on political parties in the mother country. However, even the more assimilated native who automatically favours the status quo starts to become disturbed by events. The native starts to remember what he is and, no matter whether he thought of himself as British of French, he realises that this was a manufactured being, and little more than a cultural illusion.

The people start to “spew ourselves up; but already underneath laughter can be heard” as they finally begin to realise the colonial hoax that has been played out at their expense and thus to understand their wretched (colonial) condition. And so,they begin to better understand that this colonial condition is at root racist, itsubordinates them as ‘a people’ and a culture, which enables the economic plunder of their lands, which in turn widens inequalities and results in under-development of the people and nation.

PHASE III: THE PEOPLE START TO UNDERSTAND THE TRUE PATH TO LIBERATION

Here the people begin to understand that they must take a different approach if they are to become liberated, free to go their own way, and that their political leaders and political solutions have proven to be inadequate. The third and final phase must see the people finally awaken and shake themselves from their lethargy in the face of the forces of colonial occupation, economic exploitation, and political and cultural domination.

It is in this final phase that the people must become liberated from their oppressive reality. The people have to realise that they cannot live with colonialism and neither can they compromise with it through such mechanisms as limiting forms of‘devolution’. The complicit national party that has now become the main obstacle to liberation must be cast aside and a new liberation vehicle brought into play which is wholly focused on securing the freedom of the people. 

The colonial relationship and chains must be broken, oppression must be ended. If the colonial relationship is allowed to continue, the people, their culture and nation will eventually perish. The people need to understand that true independence meansthe concrete situation which begets oppression must be transformed. This requires a two-stage process, as follows: 

1) the oppressed group and their leaders unveil the world of oppression (i.e. colonialism is revealed to them) and commit to its transformation, and: 

2) the culture of domination is confronted, its myths expelled, and its presence removed.

Liberation is thus like a childbirth, and a painful one. The correct method of liberation requires dialogue with the people, and political action must be undertaken together with the oppressed group. This is achieved through a liberation movement in which revolutionary leadership establishes a permanent relationship of dialogue with the oppressed people.

The liberation group cannot exist without the people, and the leadership group grows out of communion and dialogue with the people. The leaders must dedicate themselves toward an untiring effort for unity among the oppressed people in order to achieve liberation, which is the opposite of domination. Such organization is a highly educational process in which leaders and people together experience true authority and freedom, which they then seek to establish in society by transforming the reality which mediates them, including necessarily self-recovery of culture.

References​

Bell, P. A. (2023) The new thinking. Peter A. Bell. Available from: https://peterabell.scot/2023/08/27/the-new-thinking/ (27 August 2023)

Baird, A. J. (2022) The Socio-Political Determinants of Scottish Independence. Towson University Journal of International Affairs, Vol LV, No. 2. Available from: The Socio-Political Determinants of Scottish Independence | Towson University Journal of International Affairs

Baird, A. J. (2020) Doun-Hauden: The Socio-Political Determinants of Scottish Independence. Kindle Direct Publishing Amazon.co.uk : doun-hauden

Cesaire, A. (2000) Discource on Colonialism. New York: Monthly Review Press

Fanon, F. (1970) The Wretched of the Earth. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin 

Freire, P. The Pedagogy of the Oppressed. London: Penguin

Hechter, M. (2017) Internal Colonialism: The Celtic Fringe in British National Development. Abingdon: Routledge

Memmi, A. (2021) The Colonizer and the Colonized. London: Profile Books

Price, A. (2018) Wales: The First and Final Colony. Talybont, Ceredigion: Y Lolfa Cyf

Said, E. W. (1994) Culture & Imperialism. London: Vintage

MY COMMENTS

More quality information from Alf Baird. Education is the key for Liberation to be successful. People will recognise from this article what has been happening in Scotland and why. That is a giant step forward. If you do nothing else today please share this article on every platform you can think of. Knowledge is the weapon that truly threatens the Union. Be part of the effort to spread it everywhere. Many thanks for your help and assistance with this. Much appreciated!

I am, as always

YOURS FOR SCOTLAND.

Websites

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