Project Modernity: From Anticolonialism to Decolonization
This chapter considers anti-colonial and postcolonial movements as modernizing and globalizing, particularly the three main streams: nationalist, Marxist, and Islamist. Nationalist and Marxist movements convere with the Western project, as represented in their vocabulary and emphasis on development, science, and self-determination. All anti-colonial and postcolonial societies have faced the task of reimagining their history. Education has played a key role, as both a product of colonial history and a response to it. The Islamic movements of interest to us represent a more versatile narrative. Led by leaders such as Qutb in Egypt and Ilyas in India and though grounded in anti-modern and anti-Western principles, these movements mostly evolved to embody modern and contemporary civic and political models.