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After tonight's class we'll be through class 4, almost a third of the course. Let me put into writing what you can expect in the weeks ahead.

As I indicated verbally in class last week, the book review is due on October 22. On October 29 we will do a review session for the mid-term test which will take place the following week, Wednesday November 5.

In the paragraphs below I'll put into writing some of the topics and interpretations I've presented in the first three classes. Hopefully this narrative will give you a clearer picture of what you might be tested on in the mid-term quiz.

In exploring the relationship between time and globalization we looked into the careers of two Canadians, Sir Sandford Fleming and Marshall McLuhan. The focus on them arose in our consideration of how changes in communications technology help reorient human relationships to time and space. I talked about the institution of a single worldwide system of Standard Time as a classic expression of globalization.

In the second week ( part 1 | part 2) I introduced the idea of imperial and anti-imperial globalization. Imperial globalization grows from the empire building of the European powers, It grows from the creation and operation of the empires of Spain, Portugal, The Netherlands (the Dutch empire), Belgium, and, of course, Great Britain. The creation of colonies by these imperial powers, together with those of the Ottomans and Japanese, imposed a host of new influences on Indigenous peoples the world over. Both Canada and the United States have emerged as outgrowths of the British empire, a history that we need to understand as well as possible in order to orient ourselves in this country, no matter what our ethnic background, to the larger global community.

I called attention to the importance of imperial corporations in the building up of the British empire and the Dutch empire. The English
East Indian Company was the spearhead of the imperial assault of Great Britain in exploiting the riches of India. Similarly the Dutch East India Company led the process of transforming Indonesia into a colony of the Netherlands. Both these companies have played an important role in the development of capitalism, the system of political economy which presently reigns as the near universal regime of economic relations on the planet. The history of capitalism is an integral part of the history of globalization.

In the second class ( part 1 | part 2) I introduced the idea that those who resist imperial globalization have sometimes contributed to the development of anti-imperial globalization by making larger and larger confederacies of opposition to the empire building of colonizers. I talked about the important role of Gandhi and his philosophy of non-violent resistance in the movement for the decolonization of India, but also in the consolidation of the broader global movement aimed against the colonization of all peoples who suffer on the yoke of racism, imperial rule, patriarchal sexism, and commercial exploitation.

After looking at Gandhi as something of a role model of opposition to imperial rule we looked at the role of Toussaint L'Overature in leading the slave revolt resulting in the creation of Haiti in 1804. We looked at the role of Simon Bolivar in leading the Bolivarian resistance movement against the Spanish empire in Central and South America in the early years of the nineteenth century. We looked at the leadership of Muslim League by Mohammed Ali Jinnah. As the British were leaving their imperial role as governors of India they gave into the demand of Jinnah and the Muslim League by creating a separate country for India's Islamic population. India was partitioned to create Pakistan in 1947-48. Much violence took place as a result of this partition. We spent some time looking at the decolonization of the Congo in 1960 and the assassination of its fiirst elected leader, Patrice Lumumba. As I result of a student's question about the role of the United States and "democracy" in the process of decolonization during the Cold War, I suggested to the class to use google to explore the violent transition from the government of Sukarno to that of Suharto in Indonesia in the mid-1960s.

	Dijla Al-Rekabi
	Mohomed Elmasery
	Remembering Tooker Gomberg

	part 1
	part 2
	part 3