[Reader-list] Post - Beslan impossibilities

[Keith Hart]

Danny,

>I've also been thinking about other colonial occupations. Putin's regime
>apparently believes that he can eventually massacre enough of the Chechens
>to solve "the problem". But the lessons from many other European colonies,
>such as New Zealand (or e.g. Palestine) perhaps indicates that a decline in
>sheer numbers will not mean the end of the anti-occupation consciousness. It is perhaps more likely that the continued extermination will only increase the moral force and political motivation of those supporting the Chechen cause. 
>  
>
I have long tried to understand, perhaps even explain, the extraordinary 
renaissance of aboriginal politics throughout the world in the last 
quarter-century. We tend to focus on the sources of 'resistance', but 
just as important, perhaps more so, is the loss of will on the part of 
the oppressors. The two sides are in any case dialectically related.

I would divide the period since 1945 into two phases -- the 50s and 60s 
when the world economy was growing and states were generally strong and 
the 80s, 90s and now, when the world economy was stagnant and states 
were generally weakened. If you look at accounts of aboriginal peoples 
in the 60s, in places like Australia and Canada, the picture is very 
gloomy. They are demoralised, drunk, holed up in miserable slums, 
detached from traditional economic pursuits. But of late they are 
winning political concession after concession, are culturally vibrant, 
connected to each other, hunting and fishing again and so on. They are 
'The Fourth World'.

Now some of this has to do with these people's active resilience, 
unquenched folk memory etc; but a lot of it has to do with a change in 
the attitude of the dominant population. 100 years ago the latter were 
issuing smallpox-infested blankets to aboriginals, when they weren't 
shooting them or poisoning them with drink. They did this with the full 
knowledge of western civilization's superiority and as citizens of 
states that enjoyed great legitimacy. But this idea has taken a knock of 
late. Canadians from the white majority are not so convinced any more 
about their intrinsic unity or historic mission.

The white New Zealanders took a look at their geographical isolation, 
small size and exclusion from the EU, after the British Empire 
collapsed, and measured that against the fact that NZ has the primary 
islands in Oceania, while the Maoris have the largest aboriginal share 
of any population in the lands of temperate zone new settlement. They 
renamed themselves Pakeha and tried to build bridges to the substantial 
Maori minority, with quite impressive results, it would seem. But this 
was a two-way street in which the changing heart of the dominant class 
played a significant part.

Palestine and Iraq are at the centre of the struggle for global 
domination in our time. But Chechnya , like Afghanistan, is part of a 
fading Russian imperialism within its own region. Here I would say that 
Putin has a lot to fear from a reduced commitment od Russian to this 
cause, as well as from the redoubtable Chechens themselves. Unlike 
Stalin, who was able to manufacture lots of it, Putin has to worry about 
his own popular legitimacy and the Russian people are getting fed up, 
when they are not fearful.

Keith Hart