A Decolonial View

”When we were Samis”/”När vi var samer” by Mats Jonsson

For the lucky ones who can read Swedish there is a book I would warmly recommend to read! This is Mats Jonsson’s book, ”När vi var samer”, published in 2021. It tells the story that we are longing to find out more about, the story of the Samis. Unravelling his own family story and looking into his Sami roots, Mats Jonsson, dives into Sami history and of course most certainly thus Swedish history since the 1600s. The book is not a traditional book. It is written in a cartoon form and in black and white. To be honest, that non-conventional way of writing was peculiar to me and the first pages were difficult to follow and digest. But after page 40 (this is also when the real story starts), everything changes, you are taken away by the narrative, and I (personally) got used to the ”cartoon-like” way of writing.

Providing a review for this book is not a simple endeavour. History is narrated together with family history (a part of the book that I was not always able to follow). And from the discussions on the history of the ”coffee tree” (the tree where the predecessors of the author used to hang their coffee pot), to the terrible story of “Stor-Stina” the author keeps the reader’s interest. ”Stor-Stina”, Kristina Katarina Larsdotter (1819–1837), who was shown as a freak, never stopped growing, died young and whose skeleton was then displayed at Karolinska Institutet’s museum, directed by the notorious Anders Retzius – the father of craniology, who developed theories about short- and long-bald people – by extension the basis for theories about cultural stages, in short racism.

”When we were Sami”, provides an illustrative description of the struggle between Sami history and identity and the Swedish colonial empire. Although it includes sad elements, it is not a sad book. The quest for the author’s identity, history, becomes a quest for Swedish history, the real, the whole history, including the dark sides of Sami exclusion and cultural extinction.

Mats Jonsson’s storytelling technique is also so liberating, the alternation between reportage and fiction manages to communicate a difficult subject in an entertaining and easy way.

Frantzeska Papadopoulou

Discussion about colonialism and postcolonialism in Polish discourse is relatively fresh. However, it is not fresh in terms of discussion of French, British and other countries’ colonialisms, but the one that would be directly connected with the country itself. Relatively new are discussions that would combine the issue of Poland being colonized. However, the interesting thing that is taking place is connecting anyhow Poland with the issue of colonialism and being seen as a colonizer. Further, apart from the dominant discussion about colonialism and Polish neighbours, many interesting stories about this topic appear in the form of interesting facts.

Therefore, by conducting a very quick and short search through google, I was curious what could be found under the phrase “Polish colonialism”. I anticipated that the topics would be connected with dominant issues. However, what brought my attention were the articles in which Poland was presented as a colonizer. It would not be surprising if the articles spoke about early Polish times but recalled the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Such example is the idea to move (the entire) Polish population that would be independent to an island in The Pacific Ocean. Even though the idea was more than controversial, the thinking behind was that such a move would set Poles free from the neighbours. So considered was choosing the independence for the sake of the Polish.

Another interesting attempt to start participation in colonialism was Liga Morska i Kolonialna (Naval and Colonial League), which aimed to open the path to Polish colonialism by buying overseas lands. Even though the interest in this movement was significant, the idea collapsed once the Second World War broke out.

Even though digging deeper into these areas would probably reveal other nuances, it is interesting to see that such ideas were present. Connecting Poland based on analogies with colonialism by being colonized is one thing already present. However, less often is the discussion about Poland as colonizer, which seems to be interesting especially based on the times in which the claims were made.

By Katarzyna Kiryluk

This blog will be a bit personal, but I believe it will make it more interesting. In the centre will be the book “The Heart of the Darkness”. It is a publication widely known in the area of colonial and postcolonial studies and was one of the first books that we were talking about in the first classes of the master´s programme. It makes it crucial. We spent quite some time discussing its meaning and relevance, and only at the end of our classes devoted to the book, did I realise I know the book. From where? It was a compulsory book when I was in high school, and during classes at LNU I was shocked to see how much I did not understand the book while reading it at school, and it made me think why, but also how it is possible that I was discussing the book that I have read without knowing it. Especially a book like this one.

The book is full of references and meanings, which as a teenager, who did not know the context, I was unable to understand. What do I remember from reading the book back then? That it was weird, mysteriously ridiculous and that it was the most confusing book that I had to read at school.

Having this book as compulsory must have been an important step to reveal the importance of literature and its message. Therefore, this blog does not aim to either prise or criticise this title for high schools students. On the other hand, it aims to present how the perspective can change and how interesting can be approaching the same book in different parts of our lives. Reading it now primarily gave me an understanding of the book, but I am curious to see how I will approach it, in let´s say, ten years and later.

Katarzyna Kiryluk

I write this post with a few caveats. First of all, the fact that war (and especially highly medialised ones, such as the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine) uncovers acts of racialised violence and generally deep-rooted patterns of colonialism. Secondly, in any fruitful discussion of a topic as traumatic existentialist as that of war, be it in an academic or non-academic setting, one should be able to hold more than one thought in one’s head at the same time. This is not intended as a form of gatekeeping by demanding a certain level of academic professionalism when expressing a thought on a topic, but it has become clear in the last few days (especially when opening Twitter), that the condemnation of war crimes committed by anyone other than Putin’s forces, is  directly anti-Ukrainian and (in some extreme cases) also an apology of everything bad that went down in the Soviet Union (yes, apparently Russia in 2022 is a commie dictatorship). So when I voice an opinion against some of the atrocities that are being committed by other actors than the Russians, this by no means is to serve as an apologetic stance towards the illegal invasion by Russia. With that out of the way, let us look at a particularly under-reported topic, which might seem slightly trivial, but indeed is symptomatic for the policy of Europeans nations on the matter of refugees.

Since the invasion which began on the 24^th of February 2022, the international support for Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees has been overwhelming. Hitherto unprecedented economic sanctions (likened by some experts to economic warfare) has been put in place, not just by the West, but even by China. Countries, like Poland and Hungary, who earlier have expressed a, to put it mildly, firm stance against refugees, soon came with promises of being safe havens for the millions who fled the war. However, relatively soon, reports of gross racial violence against non-white Ukrainians and foreign students emerged. The accounts were brutal, and I find no reason to go into the gory details in this post but suffice to say that the UNHR issued a statement on the xenophobic violence (1).

While this form of brutality is nothing novel in war, and certainly not unique to this conflict, there is a certain case which caught my attention, and which demonstrates some of the more sinister and structural forms of racism in Europe.

The Nordic countries have, at least in terms of international standing, been regarded as relatively humane in their treatment of refugees. However, of these countries, Denmark has received quite a bit of criticism for passing laws aimed at altering the behaviour of non-ethnic Danes (read: Foucauldian bio power in its purest form). Among these were the controversial ‘Ghetto laws’ (2) and the insistence on people ‘shaking hands’ in a civilised matter when swearing the obligatory oath of loyalty to Denmark (3). These are certainly problematic in themselves, but there is one law which stood out: the jewellery law. It stipulates that the Danish state can confiscate any piece of jewellery possessed by asylum seekers who have passed through several “friendly” states to arrive in Denmark. It is a law, which now, might be revoked specially for Ukrainians.

Again, this is not a criticism of Ukrainians fleeing the war. I am personally for revoking the law. But I am also of the stout opinion that such a revocation should apply for everyone, and not, as in this case, as a loophole for certain people. It becomes, as I shall argue, a form of reversed state of exception (as postulated by Agamben) wherein the hastily inclusion of a demographic group becomes the variable which serves to highlight the exclusion of others. The controversial law which drew widespread international criticism (4) allows for the confiscation of valuables worth over 10.000 DKK and came in the wake of the 2015 refugee crisis. However, now the two biggest political parties in Denmark, the Social Democrats and Venstre (a market-liberal but quite value conservative ‘moderate’ party) are investigating the possibility for changing the law to exempt Ukrainians. It is as of now not yet clear whether this includes Ukrainians of colour. But what is clear is who it does not include: the Syrian refugees who was the primary target of the law when it was enacted in 2016.

The motivation for this, according to a spokesperson from the Social Democrats is that Denmark is a regional neighbour to Ukraine (5) (6). Another area being investigated is whether one could change the very law on asylum seekers, so as to circumvent ‘  flygtningeproblematikken’  (as a Dane myself, I would translate this as the ‘refugee issue’) in order to label Ukrainians not as asylum seekers, but a category for themselves (5). It has to be mentioned, that reports show that the jewellery law is seldomly, if ever, enforced. Yet it does highlight the categorisation, thinly veiled behind regional security policy, of certain peoples as wanted refugees against non-wanted refugees. And while I am all for opening the borders and supporting Ukraine against Russian aggression, it saddens me to see exactly how blatant the bias against refugees from what is deemed as the ‘periphery’ is. The state of exception in this case is a mechanism of power which becomes highly imperial in that it decides exactly who gets to live and who gets to die. It creates, as Agamben might have noted, the perfect homo sacer by imagining some people as legitimate refugees, and others as simply opportunistic.

Ejner Pedersen Trenter

Sources:

• https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=28194&LangID=E
• https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/11/how-denmarks-ghetto-list-is-ripping-apart-migrant-communities
• https://time.com/5402715/denmark-handshake-citizenship-plan-muslims/
• https://www.thelocal.dk/20160127/denmark-faces-backlash-over-despicable-migrant-bill/
• https://nyheder.tv2.dk/politik/2022-03-03-smykkeloven-skal-annulleres-for-ukrainske-flygtninge-siger-to-partier
• https://www.thelocal.dk/20220303/danish-government-likely-to-exempt-ukrainians-from-controversial-refugee-jewellery-law/

Yesterday was international women’s day. All over the world people demonstrated for women’s rights. An important issue when talking about women’s rights is of course the problem of violence against women. In the feminist discourse on violence against women, voices of Indigenous women are sometimes excluded.

In a brilliant article by Rauna Kuokkanen (2008), “Globalization as racialized, sexualized violence”, the overlaps and links between patriarchy, colonialism and capitalism is highlighted. Kuokkanen argues that economic globalization poses a threat of a multifaceted attack on the foundation of Indigenous peoples existence, in that capitalist exploitation of  Indigenous peoples’ territories further marginalize Indigenous peoples and undermine their right to self-determination (2008: 216). Indigenous women are the ones who bears the brunt of the violence that globalization entails. The increased pressures on  land displace Indigenous women from their roles and positions in their societies. This implies a shift in gender dynamics in Indigenous societies and disrupts the social fabric. As a result, women’s social status may diminish, making them more vulnerable to marginalization and exclusion (Kuokkanen, 2008:223).

The gendered violence embedded in patriarchy, colonialism and capitalism is multifaceted. It ranges from direct and interpersonal; to structural; to economic; to epistemic. Kuokkanen points out that  violence against women shouldn’t be analyzed as a result of inborn male sadism, but rather as a mechanism in process of ongoing “primitive acculumation”(2008:221-222). With this in mind, I turn the gaze towards globalization in Sápmi and the gendered violence it has brought to Sámi societies.

The violence Sámi women has bore the brunt of is not neccesarily physical or directly sexualized. It is structural, long term, and seemingly hard to discover.  When the 1928 reindeer grazing act was implemented in Sweden, it was presented as a solution to overpopulation of reindeer grazing lands and to land conflicts between Sámi and settler population in the north (Amft, 1999). A simplified explanation of the law and its effects is that it protected reindeer grazing lands from further overpopulation by constraining the group allowed to herd reindeer. In the law, a legal definition of Sáminess was created. The definition was not anchored in Sámi self-identification. With this definition, Sáminess was tied to reindeer herding, and reindeer herding was masculinized. This, in practice, meant that Sáminess was gendered: men and women were Sámi on different grounds. With the 1928 reindeer grazing act, Sámi womens position and role in reindeer herding societies changed. They were excluded and marginalized. In order for the colonizing state to gain control over traditional Indigenous lands, economic, epistemic, and reproductive violence against indigenous women played an important role. The gendering of Sáminess and the marginalization of Sámi women has had long term effects on the way Sámi women could participate in society.

When celebrating and or demonstrating for women’s rights on March 8 (and all other days of the year), we must remember that Indigenous women are the recievers of different kinds of violence brought by capitalist exploitation of Indigenous lands, both globally and here in Sweden. This should not just be a footnote in the struggle for women’s liberation going forward, but an integral part of how we strive to end violence against women.  

Alva Blomkvist

References:

• Amft, Andrea (2000). Sápmi i förändringens tid: en studie av svenska samers levnadsvillkor under 1900-talet ur ett genus- och etnicitetsperspektiv. Diss. Umeå : Umeå universitet, 2000
• Kuokkanen, Rauna, “Globalization as Racialized, Sexualized Violence – The Case of Indigenous Women.” International Feminist Journal of Politics 10.2 (June 2008): 216-233.

The novel “Great Expectations” by Charles John Huffman Dickens (1860), in Miss Havisham’s parts is full of symbols which show a patriarchal society and the influence of patriarchy on people’s routine life. As Silvia Walbey explained in her book “Theorizing Patriarchy” (1989), A patriarchal society is a society in which power is in the hands of men in every way, and the laws are written in such a way that the system of power remains by creating, expanding, consolidating, and reproducing power.  In such a society, women will also gain power for a very clear reason, the main goal of the patriarchal system is to create, expand, consolidate, and reproduce power for its intellectual and political system, and to use a variety of tools in this regard. Women, like other tools, can be similar and used to the patriarchal system. Patriarchy is a way of thinking that doesn’t necessarily depend on gender, as Saba Mahmoud pointed out in her book, “Politics of Piety” (2005) Women are also pawns of the Patriarchal system.

 Despite physical and mental injury which was happened to Miss Havisham because of being ignored in her the most important life event, she continued the cycle of patriarchy.  Revenging men by adopting and teaching Estella was not a reaction for breaking the patriarchal circle. The basic principle of the patriarchal system is to establish power for an individual or persons who dominate society and to exercise power over the subordinates, and this can happen in any place and time and with any gender. So, when the humiliation of a man by Miss Havisham was done, the same cycle of power-seeking and humiliation of the patriarchal system was repeated. 

  A beautiful symbol, both told in this story and in another story a few years before this (1847) written by Charlotte Bronte, is the burning of the house by a crazy woman. “Jane Eyre” is a better storyteller because the female characters of the story depict the patriarchal system and the equations of power well. Home, can be either the symbol of love and kindness in the family or, the symbol of society. The interesting point is that in both stories, the woman is shown crazy. Even Jane, an educated and wise woman, seems to have her own madness. Madness is in fact a symbol of the dominance of emotions over feminine sex and both stories are intended to inspire the reader that a crazy woman, or a person who is subject to emotions, after realizing her unequal position toward the other side of the power system, endures the arena by destroying herself, but the fact is that the destruction of love and intimacy in the family and society is the logical result of the domination of one class over the other classes of society and the exercise of power over them as rulers and owners. As gender roles can be embedded in this story, everyone can seek to dominate and own others by instilling a mindset of domination in their minds. In such cases, despite the legitimacy of society, the law of the forest is condemned, and anyone who has gained more power in their private space can use it to any guardian they like. In this way, the flawed cycle of patriarchal thinking continues.

Fatemeh Shirazizadeh

References:

1. Bronte Charlotte, 2016, Jane Eyre, William Collins Publisher, Scotland.
2. Dickens Charles, 1998, Great Expectation, Gothenburg eBook.
3. Mahmood Saba, 2005, Politics of Piety, Princeton University Press, USA. 
4. Walby, Sylvia, 1990, Theorizing patriarchy, Oxford, UK.

The Sympathizer is a novel about a secret agent’s confession, upholding the rapid evacuation before the fall of Saigon. Through the protagonist’s eyes, it tells his struggle of duality because he is a half-breed, with a Vietnamese mother and a French father. His mother’s love substitutes for the absence of the father even if his birth comes from a rape instead of love. Fortunately, his mother devotes all love to him, and his childhood friends, Man and Bon bring true friendship in his adolescence. Man, and the protagonist, motivated by sympathy, choose to be members of communists for the Viet Cong; contrastingly, Bon stands at the side of anti-communism. Inevitably, being a member of the Communists is a secret although Bon is after them like shadows. Shortly after, the fall of Saigon determines the protagonist and Bon’s exile, but the protagonist has a secret mission of spying on the General, an influential military figure in South Vietnam. After the General arrives in America, he manages a liquor store, where he tries to bring other Vietnamese together because the General plans to take back control of Vietnam. Unlike the General who has high expectations, the protagonist feels bewildered by the new land. Life in America primes the protagonist to question capitalism, however, his career in a university provides him with various views from anti-communists. It is to say, his belief in communism is challenged by his favor and depends on American customs and amenities. In this context, he wanders around two distinct ideologies with “two faces” as “a man with two minds”. (Nguyen 11)

Nevertheless, Bon cannot forget the blood feud between his family and the Communists. The miserable memory reminds Bon to take revenge on the Viet Cong. Therefore, Bon accepts the General’s order to help the General take back the control in Vietnam in the future. The protagonist is so torn that he decides to follow Bon even if Man commands him to stay in the US. The reason for his insistence comes from a chink of hope to save Bon from the Viet Cong if anything happens. His sympathy determines the tragedy because soon they find out Man is responsible for their interrogations. During the interrogations, Man’s behavior is rarely a friend’s because the divided loyalty leads them to a breach of companionship. Eventually, the story indicates emptiness by the unhinged minds of the protagonist. 

The portrayals of the novel tell the different political ideology that brings the breach of friendship even if their friendship is firm in the past. Nevertheless, political beliefs affect all of them, particularly in the protagonist’s mind. In the novel, the plots offer the readers no threads to the protagonist’s name. Seemingly, the protagonist is nameless because of not only his illegitimate birth but his secret agent. What he wanders around the Viet Cong and South Vietnam has rooted in the tragedy ultimately even if it is the last thing they expect to face. It is as the Greek tragedy in Antigone, “The one we love… are enemies of the state.” Yes. Their friendship deteriorates merely owing to the dualities of political beliefs. The narratives of the story are mirrored what we face at the present that different political ideologies occur conflicts between each other. This phenomenon is thought-provoking, particularly in the present time.

Cheng-Fen Wang

Works Cited

Nguyen, Viet Thanh, (2015), The Sympathizer

Recently I saw a video on social media of a discussion between Ms. Masih
Alinejad, a women activist and journalist, and Ms. Ann Linde, the Swedish
Foreign Minister, which was very interesting to me. In this interview, Masih
Alinejad strongly criticizes Ms. Linde for wearing a headscarf during her
diplomatic visit and talking with Iranian government officials in Iran. Her
argument was, while Ms. Linde is a feminist who strives for equal rights for
women and men, she herself is forced to surrender to a country with the law of
compulsory hijab and to accept compulsory hijab at that time and place.

What comes to mind at first glance? Is Ms. Linde entering into negotiations
with government leaders in a contradictory move that openly violates women’s
freedom and equality? Is Ms. Linde just looking to develop Sweden’s political
interests and wear a feminist mask? Has Ms. Linde neglected the rights of
Iranian women? Is Ms. Linde really a feminist?

The answer to this question is beautifully given by Ms. Anne Linde, she can
choose to be a feminist woman and only care about the freedom of her dress and not enter into negotiations with the leaders of Iran for anything. At the same
time, she can be a feminist and choose to accept the forced hijab for a short time
in order to achieve a greater goal and help free some political prisoners. which
one is better? Getting a little of what we want or getting nothing?

The ability to solve a problem is one of the most basic life skills and is a sign of
having white literacy, and in order to be able to solve a problem, one must first
be able to identify priorities. What the Swedish Foreign Minister is aware of,
but many women’s rights activists in Iran and in other places are not paying
attention to. Thus, this inaccuracy causes them to focus only on the goal and the
result instead of focusing on the solutions to solve the problem, and try to
achieve the result in any way, unaware that the goal does not justify the device.
To achieve the goal, you must use the right way, and the right way is in the right
training.

Watch the video here!

Fatemeh Shirazizadeh

“After 85 years in the basement of Uppsala Carolina Rediviva /I find you /my mother my family my people /in the racial biologists 20 measurement tables /in the naked pictures”

Extract of the testimony of Rose-Marie Huuva

Yesterday, 24 nov 2021, the Church of Sweden apologized to the Sámi people in an official ceremony in Uppsala and live on their website. But what was it that they apologized for, and what does it really mean? 

Before Antje Jackelen, the archbishop, gave the official apology, five representatives of the Sámi community gave their testimonies to the acts of abuse the Church has made itself guilty of. Their speeches were short, personal, and moving. They ranged from stories of loss of language and identity, to memories from the nomadic school, to finding one’s mother pictured naked in a photograph kept in the university library of Uppsala, and more. Hearing the testimonies, it becomes evident that the abuses the Church of Sweden is guilty of has had fundamental effects on every aspect of Sámi society. 

The apology itself, given by the archbishop, was solemn. She touched on the areas of which the five representatives just before her had brought up – the Church acknowledged and apologized for their part in assimilation, dehumanization, and colonization of land. The apology was accompanied by a promise to keep on working for reconciliation, hopefully meaning: this is just the beginning!

What I hope for in the continued work towards reconciliation, and what I missed in Wednesdays ceremony is this: actual factual returning of land and power.  The Church of Sweden owns 60 thousand hectare land in Luleå diocese, which yields 13 million sek per year.[1] Härnösands diocese owns just over 93 thousand hectare land[2], which in 2020 yield them 31 million sek.[3] What would it look like if the Sámi society got more power and influence when it comes to how the land is used, and over where the money it brings in is put?

For how can the church of Sweden apologize for sweeping Sámi religion under the rug, treating the students of the nomadic school as less than; opening the door for racial biology in Sweden; and taking the lands from the Sámi people – without subsequently working for opportunities for Sámi people to rediscover their spirituality and heal the generational trauma colonialism has effected in, advocate for pictures of and actual remains of Sámi ancestors be returned/buried, and give land back?

Alva Blomkvist

Sources:

[1] https://www.svenskakyrkan.se/luleastift/skog

[2] https://www.svenskakyrkan.se/harnosandsstift/skog-och-egendom

[3]  https://www.svenskakyrkan.se/filer/500252/Egendomnsn%C3%A4mnden2020_l%C3%A5g.pdf?id=2229556

Human agency means the decision and choice of the individual, that is, the individual chooses a subject or behaviour of his own will, does it, and follows the consequences. Therefore, human agency includes decision-making, selection, action and acceptance of the result. Decisions and choices usually seem to be made by the mind, but in fact many issues have affected the mind of the human selector that eventually the person is faced with a choice. The experiences that human beings face in life, all form our views and beliefs and give us the power to make decisions and choices. So, a person’s choices who lives in a poor family is not the same as a rich person choice. But what if we put these two people in the same choice?

One of the important functions that can be mentioned to consider individual agency is to pay attention to historical events, cultural events and moral events. If we consider wars, can we say that the decisions and choices of individuals are effective in starting and ending wars? Is there a way out for people who are at war? If someone is fighting against the enemy during the war, was it his decision and choice? It seems that fighting against the enemy is a right and logical action. But who is really the enemy? When politicians want to take over a country for economic, political and military interests, they look for rational, cultural, religious and even moral reasons for their defence because they want to justify the soldiers’ minds to take part in the battlefield in their favour. People think that they have made this decision by their own agency. Colonialism happens in exactly the same way. Why some countries are colonized but others are colonizers? Do not colonized people have the power to think, decide and choose? Has a colonizer colonized a country by his own agency? In both cases, there are series of basic information that has given this view to the colonizer and the colony and that basic information has formed both group’s agency.

But as much as the impact of experience on individual agency may seem frustrating, positive functions can also be considered. For example, education is well done in this way. Education can greatly influence people views. Modern education in traditional societies introduces people to new ways of thinking. For example, in the discussion of women’s rights, the best way to acquaint women with their rights is to educate them properly. Unfortunately, even in literate societies, people are oppressed due to lack of sufficient and up-to-date knowledge, and sometimes they themselves accompany this oppression. Therefore, people should pay as much attention to education as they pay attention to the factors influencing their agency to moderate the negative effects of other factors. Finally, we cannot consider absolute agency for individuals, but we can pay attention to the education as an instrument for modifying our mind and resistance.

Fatemeh Shirazizadeh