Le professeur Brij TANKHA, de l’Université de Delhi
grand spécialiste d'histoire du colonialisme et du Japon moderne fera une conférence exceptionnelle lors de son passage en Europe sur le thème :
Rethinking Asia as Resistance
“The idea of Asia was a colonial construction but a powerful argument has developed that seeks the genealogy of Asia in the idea of ‘Asia as resistance’, elegantly argued in the Japanese intellectual Takeuchi Yoshimi’s seminal essay, ‘Asia as Method’.
However, Japanese colonialism’s appropriation of the idea of ‘Asia as resistance’ was used to justify Japanese domination and marginalise anti-colonial movements and other critical voices. These links with Japanese colonialism meant that the use of ‘Asia’ in building solidarity was much weaker, or merely a rhetorical device, in the colonised countries of Asia.
The re-emergence of the idea of Asia, defined in essentialised civilisational terms: a community based on ancient philosophies and traditions that justified the challenge to European hegemonies, gained traction within a neo-liberal discourse in the 1980’s to mark difference and equality with the West.
In this talk I will explore these ideas through the writings and political practice of Asian intellectuals and political activists to consider the use of Asia to hide political and ideological solidarities.”