Engineering in the New Nation

One of the central facts about the early years of the United States is that the so-called industrial revolution was occurring in Britain at about the same time the thirteen colonies revolted against British rule and declared their independence. When the American Revolution ended in 1783, the new nation was, at it had been in the colonial period, overwhelmingly agrarian. Britain, meanwhile, was rapidly evolving into an industrial society. Many prominent figures in the new nation feared that while America had achieved political independence, it would become economically dependent on its former colonial master. It was in this context that early American mechanical innovators labored.

The Contribution of Javanese Pharmacognosy to Suriname’s Traditional Medicinal Pharmacopeia: Part 1

The Republic of Suriname (South America) is among the culturally, ethnically, and religiously most diverse countries in the world. Suriname’s population of about 600,000 consists of peoples from all continents including the Javanese who arrived in the country between 1890 and 1939 as indentured laborers to work on sugar cane plantations. After expiration of their five-year contract, some Javanese returned to Indonesia while others migrated to The Netherlands (the former colonial master of both Suriname and Indonesia), but many settled in Suriname. Today, the Javanese community of about 80,000 has been integrated well in Suriname but has preserved many of their traditions and rituals. This holds true for their language, religion, cultural expressions, and forms of entertainment. The Javanese have also maintained their traditional medical practices that are based on Jamu. Jamu has its origin in the Mataram Kingdom era in ancient Java, some 1300 years ago, and is mostly based on a variety of plant species. The many Jamu products are called jamus. The first part of this chapter presents a brief background of Suriname, addresses the history of the Surinamese Javanese as well as some of the religious and cultural expressions of this group, focuses on Jamu, and comprehensively deals with four medicinal plants that are commonly used by the Javanese. The second part of this chapter continues with an equally extensive narrative of six more such plants and concludes with a few remarks on the contribution of Javanese jamus to Suriname’s traditional medicinal pharmacopeia.

The Contribution of Javanese Pharmacognosy to Suriname’s Traditional Medicinal Pharmacopeia: Part 2

The Republic of Suriname (South America) is among the culturally, ethnically, and religiously most diverse countries in the world. Suriname’s population of about 600,000 consists of peoples from all continents including the Javanese who arrived in the country between 1890 and 1939 as indentured laborers to work on sugar cane plantations. After expiration of their five-year contract, some Javanese returned to Indonesia while others migrated to The Netherlands (the former colonial master of both Suriname and Indonesia), but many settled in Suriname. Today, the Javanese community of about 80,000 has been integrated well in Suriname but has preserved many of their traditions and rituals. This holds true for their language, religion, cultural expressions, and forms of entertainment. The Javanese have also maintained their traditional medical practices that are based on Jamu. Jamu has its origin in the Mataram Kingdom era in ancient Java, some 1300 years ago, and is mostly based on a variety of plant species. The many Jamu products are called jamus. The first part of this chapter presented a brief background of Suriname, addressed the history of the Surinamese Javanese as well as some of the religious and cultural expressions of this group, focused on Jamu, and comprehensively dealt with four medicinal plants that are commonly used by the Javanese. This second part of the chapter continues with an equally extensive narrative of six more such plants and concludes with a few remarks on the contribution of Javanese jamus to Suriname’s traditional medicinal pharmacopeia.

Tehmina Durrani’s Exposition of Great Britain’s Religious Hegemonic Designs in the Subcontinent in Blasphemy

This paper aims to analyze Tehmina Durrani’s Blasphemy in light of Gramsci’s theory of cultural hegemony. The paper dwells deep in the study of the religious hegemony of the colonial master in the subcontinent, particularly in the Muslim communities. Although the novel is set in after partition Pakistan, the issue discussed is very much related to the role of British imperialists in establishing religious hegemony. The paper takes a content-based analysis of the novel and unravels instances of religious hegemony. The plot of the novel illustrates how the British colonial masters, to subjugate the natives, fabricated the religious hegemonic ideas in the Muslim society of the subcontinent. Durrani has not only adroitly exposed the hegemonic designs of the British colonial masters, but she has also delineated the after-effects of such hegemonic ideas on the society in general, and on women in particular. This study also, from evidence present in the novel, tries to portray the history of shrines in the subcontinent and studies the behavior of the Pirs who rules these shrines and their attitudes towards women.

Trang

This chapter centers on the second Saigon sister named Trang, who inherited her family's gifts for languages and music. It points out how Trang credits learning French with raising her political awareness, which allowed her to read about French and Soviet resistance against the Nazis. It also describes Trang's irritation at the thought of mirroring the cloistered life in which her mother grew up as she wanted to live more and be free. The chapter details how Trang, like her sister Thanh, craved the chance to join the movement to rid her country of its colonial master. It also illustrates her time in the resistance, where she learned to plant crops, fish, and forge across streams in order to prove herself a female cadre equally dedicated as the men.

Swaraj in Ideas of God, Man and Nature

This chapter develops further the Gandhian proposition of swaraj in ideas and culture. It discusses the Orientalist–Anglicist debate in relation to education in India and Gandhiji’s proposition of a vernacular education as opposed to learning that is alienated from the home environment of the pupil and which in turn alienates the student from the environment of the home. There is also discussion of the colonial ‘master system’ of the classification of knowledge that we have inherited from the West. We are introduced to the divorce in modern dualist positivism between the universal sciences of nature and the local schools of poetry, art, religion and politics and its two intersecting dualisms of fact/value and theory/practice. This chapter includes extensive discussion about the ideas of Gandhiji, Rammohun Roy and K.C. Bhattacharya.

An Essay on Self-Enslavement: The Pathology of Power and Control

This article discusses certain parallels between Du Bois’ notion of double consciousness, Fanon’s discussion of the neurotic inter-relationship between the colonial master and the native, and Marcuse’s concept of one-dimensionality in order to draw an analogy between enslavement and the status of citizen in advanced Western-style societies today. The aim is to explore the exercise of power within these societies and cast light upon the manner in which the discourse of freedom both constitutes and masks submission to power. The argument is made that submission has come to be regarded as the fulfillment of human potential insofar as we have learned to look at ourselves through the eyes of those who exercise power over us, having lost the ability to imagine that the situation in which we live could, and should, be different than it is. The conception of symbolic interaction as it is now typically employed is drawn into question for the difficulties it faces in addressing unbalanced interaction in the power-submission relationship. The concept of nouveau colonialism is developed in order to capture how the relations that once obtained between a metropole and its overseas colonial possessions have in a sense been replicated between those who exercise power and those subject to power within one and the same community.

The Philippine-US Relations: Living or Leaving the Bandung Spirit?

The Philippines had its own share of colonial past. Just as other Asian and African countries which were under the Western colonizers, the Philippines partook of the momentous event that proposed an alternative to the world order dominated by superpowers—the Bandung Conference. The principles collectively known as Bandung Spirit were embraced by the Philippines and had a clear understanding of its symbolic significance. Yet such understanding of these principles was coupled with compromises on the Philippines relations with the United States. Over the decades, the Philippines had to do a balancing act between its being sovereign, independent state and its recognition of the relevance of its past colonial master—the US. Hence, this raises the question of whether the Philippines is living or leaving the Bandung Spirit. Specifically, this paper assesses whether the Philippines still upholds the same Bandung Spirit in its traditional form or has it given a contemporary understanding of it. The paper argues that the Philippine-US relations remain to be an evident display of US presence in Southeast Asia albeit redefined to blend with the Bandung Spirit.

Assessing the responsibilities of the United Kingdom and Mauritius towards the Chagossians under international law

This article reviews the obligations under international law of the United Kingdom and Mauritius towards the Chagossians. With the detachment of Chagos from Mauritius as an essential condition for the independence of Mauritius from the British colonial master, the Chagossians have, over the past four decades, endured enormous human rights violations. This article assesses the responsibility of the two states vis-à-vis the Chagossians. A comprehensive factual account is rst presented to clarify understanding of the history of Chagos. The legal framework is then analysed to assess the responsibility of each state, before a number of recommendations are made. Key words: Chagos, Mauritius, United Kingdom, British Indian Ocean territories

Assessing the responsibilities of the United Kingdom and Mauritius towards the Chagossians under international law

This article reviews the obligations under international law of the United Kingdom and Mauritius towards the Chagossians. With the detachment of Chagos from Mauritius as an essential condition for the independence of Mauritius from the British colonial master, the Chagossians have, over the past four decades, endured enormous human rights violations . This article assesses the responsibility of the two states vis-à-vis the Chagossians. A comprehensive factual account is first presented to clarify understanding of the history of Chagos. The legal framework is then analysed to assess the responsibility of each state, before a number of recommendations are made.