I had the privilege of being educated in different parts of the world. I studied grades 1-4 in the USA, grades 4-6 in Israel, grades 7-9 in the UK, grades 9-11 in India and grades 11-12 in Vietnam. After finishing school, I went to Australia to study a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and International Studies. In each of these contexts, what I was taught and the way in which I was taught varied.
With a background of receiving an international education, and now, as a teacher of the social sciences, I take deep interest in not only the subject but also how it is taught. And a topic that very much attracts me is that of colonization. For this, I have been constantly educating myself on the topic and can’t help but notice that the way colonization is taught depends on where one is in the world.
This is similar to Paolo Freire’s idea of the pedagogy of education, where he argued that traditional education often perpetuated and reinforced the status quo by uncritically transmitting existing knowledge and societal norms without questioning their underlying assumptions or power dynamics. He criticized traditional education for its banking model, where students passively receive knowledge deposited by the teachers and those in power. He instead advocated for an approach of active engagement, dialogue, and the development of critical consciousness among learners. With this in mind, I often connect Freire’s pedagogy of education with the study of the social sciences and history in particular.
Coming back to the topic of colonization, it can be an uncomfortable topic but needs to be taught in an honest manner that respects historical fact. And one simple way to challenge the status quo is by reading. With that in mind, here is a list of books that explore the topic of colonization and related themes in a way that challenges the status quo. I have categorized them into general, the Americas and India. Of course, many other parts of the world were colonized and there is a wealth of material on other regions but because I am not as familiar with other parts of the world, I must keep my scope limited. Here is the list:
General
“The Colonizer's Model of the World” by James Morris Blaut
“Guns, Germs, and Steel” by Jared Diamond
The Americas
“1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus” by Charles Mann
“A People's History of the United States" by Howard Zinn
“Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage” by Eduardo Galeano
India
“An Era of Darkness: The British Empire” in India by Shashi Tharoor
“The Argumentative Indian” by Amartya Sen
“India After Gandhi” by Ramachandra Guha