The Development of Post-Colonial Theory

Post-colonial theory is a post-positivist/reflectivist/constitutive and non-mainstream International Relations (IR) theory which posits a critical thinking to dominant IR theories. It is assumed to offer an alternative to the Eurocentric stance and concepts of classical International Relations theories and carry a potential to move beyond these mainstream theories, even to restructure them. Post-colonial theoreticians, like all critical scholars, have tried to shift the classical thinking in the discipline and save it from the hegemony of Western conceptions by challenging “Western-theorizing” and “decolonizing” it. However, it is not a single theory but a set of different theories. There is an immense diversity of post-colonial theory which focuses on different issues such as literature, art, music, linguistics, slavery, migration, discrimination, historiography and discusses different kinds of subjugation like racism, gender, nationalism and identity. Post-colonial studies are based on the main aspects of colonialism and its pervasive effects which have persisted remarkably even after the end of the colonial rule. Thereby, the historical phenomenon of colonialism, that is to say, colonial practices, the foundations of authority and imperial dominance in European colonies and/or protectorates is at the heart of the post-colonial writings. The literature, therefore, shows consensus in using the concept of post-colonialism to cover all practices used in the process starting from the beginning of colonialism till today. This paper aims to introduce some of the key arguments and issues of this theory -which was largely ignored by IR theoreticians- as well as the most important debates in recent post-colonial theory. The theory will be elaborated by analyzing the writings of the most important figures in the field such as Memmi, Fanon, Césaire and their successors like Spivak, Bhabha and Said. In the conclusion, the potential of post-colonial theory to offer an alternative to classic International Relations theories and to create an egalitarian non-Western IR will be tried to be analyzed.