Online Test: Unit 4: Postcolonial Studies

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Q 1 to 13 are from article on 'Globalization & the Future of Postcolonial Studies' and Q 14 onwards are from 'Environmental Studies and the Future of Postcolonialism'

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1. Which event is considered as game-changer in the discussion on Globalization in the 21st Century?

2 points

Hunting down of Osama Bin Laden by US Marine Seals in Abbottabad, Pakistan

The movement known as NBA - Narmada Bachao Andolan

LPG - Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization: The new economic policy proposed by Finance Minister Manmohan Singh n 1991

9/11 - 11 Sept 2001 - the attack on WTC Towers and US invasion of Afghanistan & Iraq

Clear selection

2. ______ argues that the contemporary global order has produced a new form of sovereignty which should be called 'Empire' but which is best understood in 'contrast' to European empires.

2 points

Arjun Appadurai's Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization

Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri's Empire

Susie Tharu's A Critique of Hindutva-Brahminism

Simon Gikandi's Globalization and the Claims of Postcoloniality

Clear selection

3. This best defines the new Empire in contrast to European imperialism: "In contrast to imperialism, Empire establishes no territorial center of power and does not rely on fixed boundaries or barriers. It is a decentered and deterritorializing apparatus of rule that progressively incorporates the entire global realm within its open, expanding frontiers."

2 points

Yes

Clear selection

4. Match the works with the writers

4 points

And Then There was the Market

Supremacy by Stealth

Globalization and the Claims of Postcoloniality

Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization

P. Sainath

R D Kaplan

Arjun Appadurai

Simon Gikandi

Clear selection

5. Match the works with the writers

4 points

Clash of Civilizations

Globalism's Discontents

The Empire Slinks Back

Racism and Nationalism

Joseph E Stiglitz

Samuel Huntington

E. Balibar

Niall Ferguson

Clear selection

6. "Religious fundamentalism destroys more human lives than any other simply because it cuts across all national, cultural, geographical, market and other boundaries." True or False?

2 points

True

False

Clear selection

7. Who said this: "Globalization is just another name of submission and domination"?

2 points

P. Sainath, critic of Globalization

Joseph Stiglitz, the economist

Nicanor Apaza, unemployed miner

Mohsin Hamid, the novelist

Clear selection

8. Who gave the phrase 'Market Fundamentalism' in his critique of globalization as it has been imposed upon the world by institutions like the World Bank and the IMF?

2 points

Hardt and Negri

Joseph E Stiglitz

P. Sainath

Arjun Appadurai

Clear selection

9. "No individual nation can oppose corporate gobalization on its own. Radical change can not and will not be negotiated by government; it can only be enforced by people. By the public. A public who can link hands acros the national borders." What said this?

2 points

Arundhati Roy - 'Tide? Or Ivory Snow? Public Power in the Age of Empire'

P. Sainath - 'And Then There was the Market'

Edward Said - 'The World, the Text and the Critic'

D. Porter - 'Orientalism and its Problems'

Clear selection

10. Postcolonialist scholarship must engage with new socio-economic realities and thus, it is necessary to keep pace with newer developments 'without being in thrall to the cultural kaleidoscope of contemporary world capitalism'. None of the traditional or modern or post-modern conflicts in literature will help us in identifying this dynamics of 'Capitalist controlled Globalization'. Which sorts of conflicts are we supposed to read in literature as a postcolonialist critics in the times of 'Capitalise controlled Globalization'?

4 points

Man vs Private Companies

Man vs God

Man vs Multinational Companies (MNCs)

Man vs Market Fundamentalism (which is even more dangerous than Religious Fundamntalism)

Man vs Nexus between Private Corporations and Democratically Elected Politicians

Man vs Author

11. Which of the following literary expression of the new conflict in literature / cinema were discussed in the classroom discussion?

6 points

Rang De Basanti - A nexus between politician and businessman vs young college boys (one them has to murder his own father who was corrupt businessman before murdering the politician)

Ghayal Once Again - the conflict of younsters who witnessed Murder of RTI activist against multi-business owner Bansal (represents Ambanis)

Sonali Cable - conflict between a girl who runs local tv/internet cable service vs giant company 'Shining' which started providing boradband

Madaari - The conflict between common man (father whose child died in bridge crash) and nexus between construction company and politicians

Reluctant Fundamentalist - the conflict between market fundamentalism and religious fundamentalism in the aftermath of 9/11

Zee5 Original Web-movie 'Tigers' - based on a Pakistani salesman's conflict with giant MNC Nestle

12. A report by ACTA (American Council of Trustees and Alumni) titled 'Defending Civilization: How Our Universities are Failing America an What Can be Done About it'. Mark the observations notes in this report which are threat to postcolonial studies in Universities.

3 points

The ACTA report suggests that American academics and students are critical of US policies.

It has become commonplace to suggest that Western civilization is the primary source of the world's ills even though it gave us the ideals of democracy, human rights, individual liberty, and mutual tolerance.

Instread of ensuring the students understand the unique contributions of America and Western civilization, the civilization under attack - universities are rushing to add courses on Islamic and Asian cultures.

Those who do teach Western history and literature are not exempt from critique - as Shakespeare is dropped from required courses but Shakespeare and Renaissance classes were being polluted by a focus on social issues such as poverty and sexuality.

13. 'This new Empire directly implicates educational institutions also.' In this context, which of the following observations can be discussed?

5 points

The university courses teaching post-colonial studies are considered as 'anti-America'.

Said equated professors who support American foreign policy with the 19th century European intellectuals who propped up racist colonial empires.

The core premise of postcolonial theory is that it is immoral for a scholar to put his knowledge of foreign languages and cultures at the service of American power.

One of the Said's most valuable achievements in 'Orientalism' was not simply to establish the connection between scholarship and state power in the colonial period, but to indicate its afterlife in a 'postcolonial' global formation with the US at its epicentre.

If universities are to remain sites of dissent and free intellectual inquiry, if scholarship is 'not to be at the service of America or any other power, critiques of past and ongoing empires are going to be more necessary than ever.

Read this with reference to question no. 13. The scholars, the intellectuals also came to support Hitler. In case of Japan's war-mongering, Kazuo Ishiguro write a story about an artist who stood with the idea of war in the name of nationalism.

14. Of late, postcolonialists must take new directions towards . . . .

2 points

the environment

the history and present of indigenous peoples and societies

premodern histories and cultures

ongoing colonization of territories, labour, and peoples by global capitalism

15. Who said that postcolonial studies is gone and dead: "I no longer have a postcolonial perspective. I think postcolonial is the day before yesterday'?

2 points

Franz Fanon

Gayatri Chakravarty Spivak

Edward Said

Homi K Bhabha

Clear selection

16. For which of the following challenges was Postcolonial studies not prepared?

2 points

Taliban Crisis in Afghanistan

Palestinian Crisis in Israel

Planetary crisis of Climate Change

Global War on Terror

Clear selection

17. Vandana Shiva, environmental activist observed in 'Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Survival in India' (1988) . . .

2 points

there is deep connection between colonialism and the destruction of environmental diversity

the multinational companies help in sustaining environment by their CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) projects

the growth of capitalism, and now of trans-national corporations, exacerbated the dynamic begun under colonialism which has destroyed sustainable local cultures.

the traditional Indian life-style was eco-friendly

18. ASSERT (A): Vandana Shiva argues that sustainable local cultures destroyed by colonialism were more women-friendly, partly because women's work was so crucially tied to producing food and fodder.

REASON (R): Other feminist environmentalists are more sceptical of such an assessment of pre-colonial cultures, which, they point out, were also stratified and patriarchal.

2 points

D - A is false but R is true.

A - Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.

B - Both A and R are true but R is NOT the correct explanation of A.

C - A is true but R is false.

E - Both A and R are false.

Clear selection

19. A (Assert): Climate Crisis shall be an important issue of postcolonialism. R (Reason): Because postcolonialism in concerned with human culture and the question of ecology & human culture are intricately linked, it is an imp issue of grave concern.

2 points

A - Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.

B - Both A and R are true but R is NOT the correct explanation of A.

C - A is true but R is false.

D - A is false but R is true.

E - Both A and R are false.

Clear selection

20. Which of the following arguments are discussed by Rob Nixon in 'Environmentalism and Postcolonialism' (2005)?

2 points

He writes about American environmentalism and its obsession with the wilderness

This wilderness obsession is celebrated at the cost of erasure of history of colonized peoples through myths of empty lands

They remain amnesiac towards non-American geographies

Such 'Spatial Amnesia' is one of the reasons why postcolonial criticism has been suspicious of earth-forst 'green-criticism'

These cultures were also more women-friendly

21. ASSERT (A): The engagement between postcolonial criticism and Green Criticism / Ecocriticism is particularly necessary.

REASON (R): Because the battles all over the third world between environmental activists and big multi-national companies, which, acting in concert with nation-state, despoil land and destroy communities.

2 points

A - Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.

B - Both A and R are true but R is NOT the correct explanation of A.

C - A is true but R is false.

D - A is false but R is true.

E - Both A and R are false.

Clear selection

For better understanding of Q. 21, study the case studies of Lakshadweep and Aarey Forest. (i) https://lexinsider.com/aarey-forest-controversy/ (ii) https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-why-lakshadweep-administration-proposals-have-upset-locals-7334818/ - If you still have any doubt, please ask during classroom discussion.

22. Which of the following definition of 'Displacement' is more appropriate in the context of Postcolonial discussion?

2 points

movement from usual site: the movement of something from its usual or correct place

It is about losing a river. Losing access to clean, safe, drinking water…losing land that is watered richly…losing the grass that your herds grazed on. Losing your cattle. Losing the milk that came from your cattle…losing honey and herbs…losing the right to protest when somebody in a uniform shows up to set fire to your home. What else was left to lose?”

Clear selection

23. ASSERT: The Displacement of indigenous communities and the theft of their land are also defining features of many spaces that have been privileged in postcolonial studies. Identify correct examples to support this assertion.

5 points

India - the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) led widespread protests against the project funded gby multinational as well as indigenous capital. the protests highlighted not just ecological damage but the displacement of thousands of tribal peoples all across the Narmada valley

Nigeria - whose oil-rich homelands were targeted for drilling by multinational companies leading to the displacement of Ogoni people and wide-scale environmental destruction

Central India - plunder of forests by iron and bauxite mining companies - resistance led by Maoist guerrillas

Afghanistan - the displacement of Talibans by US Military

24. Which of the following works were discussed to support the arguments pertaining to Postcolonial studies and ecological concerns?

3 points

Prakash Jha's Chakravyuh

Amit Masurkar's Sherni

Dhruv Bhatt's Tatvamasi (for the silence on NBA movement)

25. Match the cases with postcolonial theoretical concern. Select more than one option, if applicable.

5 points

Nestle's Maggie ban in India - unhealthy food controversy

Ban on Pepsi & Coke in India owing to pesticide issues

Kerala restricts Pepsi from over-using ground water

Honey adulteration with sugar syrup

Char Dham Road Project

Environmentalism and Postcolonial Studies

Globalization and Postcolonial Studies

26. What does this frame signify in context of postcolonial studies?

2 points

'Jal-Jangal-Jameen' represents Mother India and these brave sons are ready to sacrifice their lives for motherland, India.

Komaram Bhemma and Alluri Sitaraman Raju were tribal heroes who fought for the protection of the rights of tribal over Water, Forests and Land.

Rama and Hanuman are represented in this sequence wherein they fight with Raavan (British Raj) for the freedom of India

Clear selection

Watch this video

27. What do we learn from Netflix film 'Don't Look Up' with reference to Future of Postcolonial studies? watch above given video.

2 points

It is an analogy of our modern day culture and our inability to listen to scientific truth

It uses an analogy of giant comet heading towards earth and how humans would react to it at political level and at scientific level - and what would we do in such moment of crisis.

It mirrors our entire culture and how we deal with bad news - and can we humans evolve ultimately to what is important issue that humans have ever faced in the history of human civilization

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