Articles on Postcolonial Studies.

   This blog was assigned by Dr. Dilip Sir Barad. It is about articles on Postcolonial Studies.

Article : 1 Click here

How Globalization Reshapes Postcolonial Identities :

1. Shift from margins to networks – Traditional postcolonial categories of “center” and “margin” are no longer sufficient; globalization produces identities that move across borders through transnational flows.

2. Empire as deterritorialized – Drawing on Hardt and Negri, the article explains that empire is no longer territorial but functions as a network, shaping fluid and shifting postcolonial identities.

3. Hybrid subjectivities – Globalization creates hybrid cultural identities where people negotiate between local traditions and global influences.

4. Academic and cultural pressure – Postcolonial voices often face suppression (e.g., in U.S. academic settings where “anti-American” critiques are resisted), which reshapes how identities are expressed.

Influence of Global Capitalism :

1. Market fundamentalism – The article uses critiques by Joseph Stiglitz and P. Sainath to show how neoliberal economic policies harm developing nations rather than help them.

2. Weakening of democracy – Global capitalism undermines democratic and social structures, especially in postcolonial societies.

3. Growing inequality – Instead of reducing poverty, global capitalism increases economic disparities between nations and within societies.

4. Globalization 4.0 – As Klaus Schwab notes, the new phase of globalization driven by digital and technological revolutions creates both innovation and instability, further complicating postcolonial realities.

Literature & Films Related to the Discussion:

Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things – Reflects how global and economic changes disrupt traditional communities.

Mira Nair’s Monsoon Wedding – Shows cultural negotiation between tradition and global consumerism.

Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West – Connects with the article’s idea of fluid, network-based identities through the theme of migration.

Slumdog Millionaire – Illustrates how global media and capitalism commodify local poverty, echoing critiques of market-driven globalization.

Article - 2 Click here

Globalization and Postcolonial Critique in Contemporary Fiction

Globalization, while often celebrated for connecting cultures and economies, has also reshaped postcolonial identities in complex and often troubling ways. Contemporary fiction has become a powerful space where authors from postcolonial backgrounds critique the uneven effects of globalization highlighting themes of resistance, hybridity, and identity crisis. literature provides “a unique window into the complexities of globalization, addressing issues such as economic dominance, resistance, social justice, and the personal experiences of individuals caught in the tide of global change”.

1. Resistance

    Postcolonial fiction often portrays globalization as a continuation of exploitation, where multinational corporations dominate and local cultures struggle to survive.

     Don DeLillo’s Cosmopolis depicts anti-globalization protests in New York, showing the violent clash between corporate capitalism and ordinary citizens.

     Robert Newman’s The Fountain at the Center of the World fictionalizes the WTO protests in Seattle (1999), exposing the exploitation of workers in Mexico and elsewhere as a byproduct of neoliberal globalization.

       Both texts highlight resistance as a form of reclaiming agency in a system designed to silence marginalized voices.

2. Hybridity :-

      Globalization produces hybrid identities partly global, partly local often creating tension rather than harmony.

      McEwan’s Saturday juxtaposes personal lives in London with the Iraq War, reflecting how global events permeate local spaces. The hybrid existence is marked by constant negotiation between belonging and displacement.

          Arundhati Roy’s The Ministry of Utmost Happiness portrays characters from marginalized groups in India whose lives are shaped by global capitalism and state violence. Hybridity here emerges as survival, as characters navigate caste, religion, gender, and globalization simultaneously.

3. Identity Crisis :-

       For many postcolonial writers, globalization sharpens existing inequalities and produces identity crises.

       Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger critiques neoliberal India, where Balram’s rise from chauffeur to entrepreneur reflects the “dark side” of the global economy. His success is shadowed by corruption, moral compromise, and alienation.

      This reflects how the “global dream” often comes at the cost of ethical and cultural disintegration.

4. A Filmic Parallel :

    Cinema also critiques globalization from a postcolonial lens. A strong example is Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire (2008). Though celebrated globally, the film reveals the stark inequalities of a globalizing India slums existing beside call centers and luxury lifestyles. Like Adiga’s The White Tiger, it portrays how survival in a global economy requires navigating corruption, hybridity, and fractured identities. Both works reveal that globalization offers opportunity but deepens systemic injustice.

Conclusion :

        Drawing on these novels and films, we see how postcolonial authors resist the celebratory narrative of globalization. Instead, they expose its underside: economic exploitation, cultural erasure, identity crises, and uneven power relations. Through resistance, hybridity, and fractured identities, postcolonial fiction becomes a site of critique reminding us that globalization is not a neutral force but one that must be interrogated for its human costs.

Article:3  Click here

Postcolonial Studies in the Anthropocene: Rethinking Global Inequalities and Environmental Crises :

     Postcolonial studies traditionally focused on the cultural, political, and economic legacies of colonialism. However, as , in the Anthropocene era an epoch where human actions reshape the planet’s climate and ecosystems postcolonial critique must expand to include environmental questions. The exploitation of land, resources, and communities during colonialism has direct links to today’s ecological crises. Climate change, biodiversity loss, and ecological degradation continue to disproportionately affect colonized and marginalized peoples.

Postcolonialism and Environmentalism :

Colonialism and ecological destruction: Environmental thinkers like Vandana Shiva highlight how colonial expansion destroyed ecological diversity, replacing sustainable local practices with exploitative capitalist models.

Spatial amnesia: Rob Nixon’s idea of “spatial amnesia” shows how Western environmental narratives often erase indigenous histories, portraying colonized lands as “empty wilderness,” thereby ignoring dispossession and violence.

Resistance and activism: From Ken Saro-Wiwa’s struggle against oil extraction in Nigeria to the Narmada Bachao Andolan in India, postcolonial contexts reveal how local communities fight both ecological damage and corporate/state power.

How Colonized Peoples Are Disproportionately Affected :-

Climate injustice: Formerly colonized nations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America face the worst impacts of climate change (floods, droughts, cyclones) despite contributing the least to global emissions.

Internal colonialism: Even after independence, governments and multinational corporations often exploit indigenous communities, displacing them for mining, dam projects, or industrialization (e.g., Central India’s tribal regions, the Niger Delta).

Accumulation by dispossession: As David Harvey explains, neoliberal development continues colonial logics privatizing land, water, and forests forcing marginalized groups into deeper vulnerability.

Linking Theory to Film: Avatar (2009)

       James Cameron’s Avatar offers a powerful metaphor for ecological destruction and postcolonial exploitation. The film depicts the colonization of Pandora, where the indigenous Na’vi resist corporate extraction of their sacred land. Although set in a fictional world, it mirrors real struggles:

    The Na’vi’s fight resembles indigenous resistance against mining, oil drilling, and dam construction in formerly colonized regions.

       The corporation’s disregard for the environment reflects how global capitalism continues colonial patterns of exploitation.

       Just like Vandana Shiva argues, indigenous ways of life in harmony with nature are erased or commodified under capitalist expansion.

       Other films, such as Erin Brockovich (2000, about toxic pollution in the U.S.) or Narmada: A Valley Rises (1994 documentary), also show how ecological degradation is tied to power and injustice but in a postcolonial lens, Avatar resonates globally as an allegory of environmental and cultural survival.

Conclusion :-

In the Anthropocene, postcolonial studies cannot remain confined to literature and history; it must also address environmental survival. Colonized peoples already subjected to centuries of resource extraction now face the sharpest consequences of climate change and ecological destruction. By engaging with concepts like spatial amnesia, internal colonialism, and accumulation by dispossession, postcolonial critique reveals how global capitalism perpetuates colonial patterns of inequality. Films like Avatar visualize these struggles, reminding us that the fight for environmental justice is also a fight against colonial legacies.

Article: 4 Click here

Hollywood’s Celluloid Empire: Rambo, Bond, and the Projection of U.S. Hegemony

       Hollywood has long been more than just entertainment it is a cultural tool that shapes global perceptions of power. Franchises like Rambo and James Bond do not simply tell stories of individual heroes; they construct geopolitical narratives that align with U.S. and Western foreign policy. These films present America (and its allies) as defenders of freedom while casting others often from the Global South or rival powers as villains. From a postcolonial perspective, such representations reinforce cultural hegemony, silencing alternative viewpoints and naturalizing American dominance.

Rambo: America’s “Redemption”

Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) rewrites the Vietnam War, portraying the U.S. not as an aggressor but as a betrayed force seeking redemption. Vietnamese characters are reduced to villains, while the American soldier emerges heroic.

     Rambo III (1988) relocates the fight to Afghanistan, where Rambo aids the Mujahideen against the Soviets. This mirrors U.S. Cold War policy, presenting America as a global liberator and erasing the complexities of Afghan society.

     Here, Hollywood rewrites history, turning U.S. military interventions into moral crusades, while ignoring the suffering of local populations a clear example of what Edward Said would call Orientalism, where the “Other” is demonized or infantilized.

James Bond: Western Supremacy with a British Face

      Although Bond is a British spy, his missions often align with broader Western geopolitical goals:

    The Living Daylights (1987) mirrors Rambo III by showing Bond assisting Afghan rebels, reinforcing the West’s moral authority in the Cold War.

Licence to Kill (1989) ties into U.S. concerns about the War on Drugs.

Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) critiques media manipulation, but ultimately affirms Western control of global information.

Thus, Bond films normalize Western intelligence as the protector of “global order,” marginalizing voices from the Global South.

Hollywood as Soft Power :

Rambo and Bond operate as tools of soft power, projecting U.S. dominance globally:

1. Projecting Ideology – portraying the U.S. as defender of democracy and freedom.

2. Cultural Hegemony – normalizing Western values through mass entertainment.

3. Economic Power – global box-office success strengthens Hollywood’s role in shaping imagination.

4. Global Perception – U.S. military and intelligence appear just, competent, and heroic.

This is how Hollywood sustains America’s celluloid empire an empire built not on direct rule but on shaping minds and cultures worldwide.

Postcolonial Critiques

Postcolonial theory exposes the silences and erasures in these narratives:

Erasure of the “Other”: Local voices, whether Vietnamese, Afghan, or Latin American, are silenced or demonized.

Continuing Colonialism: Films reproduce the logic of colonialism white saviors rescuing non-Western peoples.

Narrative Control: By rewriting history (Vietnam “redemption”) or glorifying intervention (Afghanistan), Hollywood legitimizes U.S. power while obscuring its violence.

    As Ania Loomba and Edward Said argue, these hegemonic portrayals sustain Western superiority while marginalizing non-Western realities.

Other Films and TV Series with Hegemonic Narratives

Hollywood is full of similar examples:

Zero Dark Thirty (2012) – portrays the U.S. hunt for Osama bin Laden as a righteous mission, ignoring the legality and human rights issues of torture and drone warfare.

American Sniper (2014) – glorifies a U.S. soldier in Iraq, presenting American occupation as heroic while dehumanizing Iraqis.

Homeland (TV, 2011–2020) – reinforces stereotypes of the Middle East as dangerous and unstable, requiring U.S. surveillance and control.

Top Gun: Maverick (2022) – celebrates U.S. military supremacy, with nameless enemies, ensuring viewers focus on American heroism, not geopolitics.

Conclusion :

       From Rambo and Bond to modern films like Zero Dark Thirty, Hollywood serves as a narrative arm of U.S. hegemony. By presenting America and its allies as global saviors, these stories normalize intervention, silence subaltern voices, and reinforce Western superiority.

     A postcolonial critique challenges us to look beyond the spectacle of heroism and ask: whose voices are missing, and whose interests are being served? Rather than replicating these hegemonic strategies, film industries worldwide including Bollywood can provide alternative narratives that resist dominance and highlight marginalized perspectives.

Article : 5 Click here

Reimagining Tribal Resistance in RRR: Appropriation, Nationalism, and Postcolonial Struggles :-

      S.S. Rajamouli’s RRR reimagines the lives of two tribal heroes, Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem, transforming them into nationalist icons fighting against the British Raj. Historically, however, both leaders were rooted in very different struggles. Raju resisted the Madras Forest Act of 1882, which curtailed Adivasi access to forests, while Bheem fought against the Nizam of Hyderabad under the slogan “Jal, Jangal, Zameen” (Water, Forest, Land). Their battles were less about abstract nationalism and more about protecting indigenous rights and resisting displacement.

       By placing them into a grand nationalist narrative, RRR creates an epic of unity and resistance. Yet, this cinematic choice risks diluting the historical specificity of their struggles. Instead of addressing issues such as deforestation, land alienation, and forced displacement problems still faced by tribal communities today the film shifts attention to a simplified anti-colonial story. In doing so, it misses an opportunity to highlight urgent contemporary issues like environmental justice, climate change, and indigenous rights.

This appropriation has two potential effects on postcolonial struggles:

1. Contribution – By popularizing tribal figures in mainstream cinema, RRR ensures that their names and heroism reach global audiences. It reclaims subaltern resistance from historical obscurity and connects it to the broader narrative of anti-colonialism.

2. Undermining – At the same time, by recasting their localized, ecological struggles into a nationalist framework, the film risks erasing their true legacies. Nationalism, as the article notes, can obscure the fact that today’s threats to Adivasi lands come not from foreign colonizers but from corporate and state interests.

This tension is not unique to RRR. Many films have reimagined resistance by turning subaltern or indigenous struggles into nationalist spectacles. For example:

Lagaan (2001) portrays peasants’ defiance against British taxation but sidelines caste and land issues.

Avatar (2009) fictionalizes indigenous resistance against corporate-colonial exploitation, but critics argue it frames indigenous people through a Western savior narrative.

Regional films like Kantara (2022), which centers on Bhoota Kola rituals, more directly tie spiritual and ecological traditions to struggles over land and displacement, offering a contrast to RRR’s nationalist lens.

     Ultimately, the appropriation of tribal heroes in films like RRR shows how cinema can both empower and flatten histories. While it celebrates resistance and inspires pride, it risks silencing the very environmental and cultural struggles that make these figures relevant today. A truly postcolonial narrative would not only honor past battles but also connect them to present struggles for “Jal, Jangal, Zameen” reminding us that the fight against colonialism is inseparable from the ongoing defense of indigenous rights and the environment.

Thank you..

Reference :-

Barad, Dilip. “Globalization and the Future of Postcolonial Studies.” Journal of Higher Education and Research Society: A Refereed International, vol. 10, no. 2, Oct. 2022, pp. 186–193. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/376374570_GLOBALIZATION_AND_THE_FUTURE_OF_POSTCOLONIAL_STUDIES.

Barad, Dilip. “Globalization and Fiction: Exploring Postcolonial Critique and Literary Representations.” Journal of Higher Education and Research Society: A Refereed International, vol. 10, no. 2, Oct. 2022, pp. 177–185. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/376371617_GLOBALIZATION_AND_FICTION_EXPLORING_POSTCOLONIAL_CRITIQUE_AND_LITERARY_REPRESENTATIONS.

Barad, Dilip. “Postcolonial Studies in the Anthropocene: Bridging Perspectives for a Sustainable Future.” Journal of Higher Education and Research Society: A Refereed International, vol. 10, no. 2, Oct. 2022, pp. 194–202. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/376374708_POSTCOLONIAL_STUDIES_IN_THE_ANTHROPOCENE_BRIDGING_PERSPECTIVES_FOR_A_SUSTAINABLE_FUTURE.

Molla, Rubel. “Heroes or Hegemons? The Celluloid Empire of Rambo and Bond in America's Geopolitical Narrative.” BIISS Journal, vol. 42, no. 4, Oct. 2021, pp. 381–408. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/383415195_Heroes_or_Hegemons_The_Celluloid_Empire_of_Rambo_and_Bond_in_America's_Geopolitical_Narrative.

Barad, Dilip. “Reimagining Resistance: The Appropriation of Tribal Heroes in Rajamouli's RRR.” Journal of Higher Education and Research Society: A Refereed International, vol. 11, no. 1, Apr. 2023, pp. 210–218. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/383603395_Reimagining_Resistance_The_Appropriation_of_Tribal_Heroes_in_Rajamoul

i's_RRR.