Civilisation Logics of Neo-Imperial Interventions: Inquiring the ‘Imperial Mind’ of the ‘Colonial Present’

Title: Civilisation Logics of Neo-Imperial Interventions: Inquiring the ‘Imperial Mind’ of the ‘Colonial Present’

Guest: Nicolas Lemay-Hébert

Guest introduction: Nicolas Lemay-Hébert is Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies and Executive Director of the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute at the University of Manchester. He is also a visiting fellow at at the DECRIPT programme.

Resume: The project intends to study the civilisational narrative present in current interventionary discourse. This project takes stock of neo-imperial interventions by connecting the logics buttressing colonialism with the contemporary call to deal with failed states, thus underlining the imperial mind of the colonial present in contemporary international relations, echoing the work of Crawford Young and Derek Gregory respectively. The project tackles how colonialism departs from the same postulate as the failed states agenda – one of emptiness, lack or deficit – as well as a structure around distinct ordering of world politics – one specific system for ‘developed’ or ‘civilised’ states, and another system for the world to be colonized. Nicolas Lemay-Hébert posits that colonial and postcolonial logics of interventions are inherently connected through the justification for interventions. The neotrusteeship scholarship is quick to portray the colonial state as effective in contradistinction with the postcolonial successor, thus legitimising the setting-up of neotrusteeships over the former colonial territories. This project directly questions all these premises, whilst also pointing out how resistance to imperial logics – from colonial to postcolonial times – has always been present, even if generally silenced in the literature.

Date, time: Monday 23 November, 1:30-3:30 pm 

Place: to be announced

This seminar will be held in English.