Down in the Underground

Over the past few weeks, I have had the opportunity to touch base with music, fine art, and film. In terms of music, I have been in excellent company with successive evening concerts and picnics at the Botanical Gardens, including Basement Jaxx, Leftfield, and Cut Copy, all of whom are significant international acts in the electronic dance genre. This said, all three bands played a number of their most well-known pieces (e.g., "Red Alert", "Romeo" from Basement Jaxx, "Open Up", "Release the Pressure" from Leftfield, "Time Stands Still" from Cut Copy") with great acumen and with surprisingly clarity, which is not always easy at an outdoor venue. It will make for multiple reviews on Rocknerd, even though I have reviewed a Leftfield concert in the distant past. Plus, in a completely different genre, I must also mention attending an EP launch for folkish performers Crittenden Tyndall with Jack Marshall.

Recently, I also have the National Gallery of Victoria for two special exhibitions. The first is the Westwood and Kawakubo fashion exhibit, with Westwood offering reinterpretations of British styles, especially in punkish tartan and flowing gothic gowns, whilst Kawakubo often presents extreme creations that remind me of the Bauhaus style. The latter is the 75 Years of Women Photographers, a magnificent 20th-century international and Australian collection that included the sort of flair that I normally associate with surrealist and abstract painting; Dora Maar, Lola Bravo, Annemarie Heinrich all caught my attention in particular. As an example of interactive art, I was also invited to a "Rats and Barbells" craft event, where I made Gandalf the Rat.

Moving on to film, Nitul (who was also with me at several of the aforementioned events) and I saw "I Swear" (hat-tip to Rade), a new film on the life of John Davidson. Funny, sad, and sometimes frightening, it was an honest and sympathetic view of people with the condition, with more than an inkling of hope. On a entirely different trajectory, I also attended of the opening of a science fiction film festival with the independent film, The Man Who Saw Them Arrive", mainly about Colin Cameron a UFO spotter who was based in Kew. The enthusiasm of other UFO spotters in the room required me to remind myself that this was a science fiction film festival.

Finally, and also on a related note, I attended some valedictory drinks for one John Atkinson, who recently died well before his time (thank you, Helen D, for organising the events). In his professional work, he was on popular Australian TV shows including "Chances", "Out of the Blue", "Home and Away", "McLeod's Daughters", etc., most of which I have little interest in, although the last episodes of "Chances" were hilarious . Personally, however, we got along quite well. He was one of my first flatmates in Melbourne, and we shared a mutual interest in French aesthetics, which definitely included red wine, cuisine, new wave movies, and fencing. Over the years, we managed to stay in touch after he moved interstate, and he could always entertain with stories of misadventures. Ever living the bon vivant lifestyle with passion, he was well-suited to his profession and would have done well in future years. Again, we are reminded of the shortness of life.

This Sunday, the Isocracy Network will be holding its AGM and, in addition to our usual AGM business, we will have a guest speaker and discussion on "Imperialism, Colonialism, Internationalism," which is particularly relevant to current events. The discussion will be led by Kevin Huynh, JD, who is an avid observer of current world events. Reflecting this interest, Kevin has a honours degree in Politics and International Studies from the University of Melbourne, and holds a Juris Doctor from Monash University. The meeting will be held in person and online. Please message for online details. Unsurprisingly, I have tentative definitions for consideration and discussion.

Imperialism is the control, direct or indirect, of another country. With direct imperialism, a foreign country imposes direct political rule over another country (e.g., French West Africa, British India, Spanish America, Dutch East Indies, Belgian Congo). Indirect imperialism occurs when one country controls the affairs of another country through political influence and economic dependency, for which there is no viable alternative to the sovereign country (e.g., the United States over Latin American countries). Indirect imperialism can also include vassal states, where a country is provided local autonomy for internal affairs but international relations and defence depend on the imperial power (e.g., Tibet and the Chinese Qing Dynasty Empire).

Indirect imperialism can change to direct imperialism and revert back again depending on the rise and fall of independence movements (e.g., Iran under Mossedeq was subject to a US/UK backed coup, indirect imperialism with the Consortium Agreement) or it can result as a concession to the controlled country (e.g., the Unequal Treaties imposed on China, Korea, and Japan). With the dominant power controlling and exploiting the human and natural resources of the foreign country, imperialism was often justified as part of a "civilising mission" (e.g., "mission civilatrice") to bring improvements, stability, education, etc. A famous (and astoundingly racist) example was Rudyard Kipling's poem "The White Man's Burden".

Colonialism is separate but often a part of imperialism. Colonialism involves the deliberate migration of one ethnic group into another country, which may already be populated by indigenous people. Colonial efforts in these circumstances often involve supplanting or subjugating the original population (e.g., the British to Australia).

Now for some trickier questions; how does imperialism relate to globalisation, in a world economy and a world system? Is globalisation replacing nation-state imperialism? Is foreign military intervention justified for humanitarian reasons (e.g., responsibility to protect)? What are the procedures in which this should occur? What is the difference, if any, between globalisation and internationalism? A lot to cover in a two-hour meeting, but one thing is for sure; we're still seeing a particularly nasty side of imperialism occurring to this very day.