Spiritual colonialism, neocolonialism, conquests: How globalisation turned Ugandans into marionettes and they embraced it gleefully  

Spiritual colonialism, neocolonialism, conquests: How globalisation turned Ugandans into marionettes and they embraced it gleefully  

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Indigenous spirituality in Africa has lost its relevance and vitality owing to the domination of Islamic and Judeo-Christian beliefs. The latter belief systems were externally imposed on Africa via brutal military conquests and deception.

Colonialism was put in place with the goals of “enlightening” Africa via the spread of commerce, civilisation and Christianity. African indigenous spirituality remains an indispensable aspect of African morality – African religions shun voracious individualism and greed, and aim towards achieving a holistic society in which the individual good must translate into common good and public good must translate into individual good. Christianity today reflects a neocolonial outlook where it preaches the rapacious message of “gospel entrepreneurship” underpinned by a desire for individual materialist wealth and success – Christianity effectively abets neoliberal capitalism. This is unity with political choices of neoliberalism by African governments.

In Uganda the materialist religious or spiritual entrepreneurs are supporting the political regime to overstay in power and the regime is showering them with materialist and political rewards ant the expense of the forces of change. In fact, the religious or spiritual entrepreneurs frequently praise the president of Uganda for giving them religious freedom while the president rewards them with cars, vehicles and money to live lives of luxury.

Meanwhile religion has been globalised so that the religious or spiritual entrepreneurs are integrated in the global materialist sociopolitical and sociocultural landscape money and materialism. Hence, there is need to understand how spiritual colonialism, spiritual neocolonialism and spiritual conquests have jointly combined to erode African spirituality for the benefit of western ideology and globalisation.

Indeed, many mechanisms, which promote globalisation and free trade may be seen as methods to maintain the relations of dependence set up during colonialism. It is also a tool for neocolonialism entrenching exploitation and underdevelopment in Africa and other poor regions of the world.

Globalisation

Globalisation is sometimes presented as the process in which cultures are enabled to buy and enjoy western goods, such as fashion, that were once unavailable to them. Colonialism is related to globalisation in that it, too, concerns the domination of one group of people by another group of people. Colonialism is related to globalisation in that it, too, is thoroughly political; it concerns the economic and cultural ways in which those colonised cultures resisted and escaped the domination of the Western countries (Barnard, 2020). Globalisation can be used to recreate neocolonial relations (Lodigiani, 2020; Riegert, 2019) and hence for further exploitation and underdevelopment in the poor regions of the World (Rigert, 2019).

Apparently, the government of Tibuhaburwa Museveni in Uganda was the first in Africa in Africa to adopt globalisation as Uganda’s pathway to development before the African Union also adopted it as the pathway to development in Africa. We now know that Uganda and African Union were endorsing colonialism, recolonisation further exploitation and further underdevelopment.

Uganda proceeded to be the most forthright neoliberal country in Africa, earning itself the label the New Neoliberal Uganda as it crazed for modernisation where none has ever been (Oweyegha Afunaduula, 2023). Some writers (e.g. Sharma, 2018) see globalisation as nothing but present-day economics and politics of neocolonialism. TwoTwoOne (2023) maintains that globalisation is a continuation of colonisation into the future.

Colonialism vs imperialism

Colonialism like imperialism comes in many forms in one. Spiritual colonialism is one of them. Others are political colonialism, economic colonialism, social colonialism, political, cultural colonialism, environmental colonialism, ecological colonialism, scientific colonialism, academic colonialism, intellectual colonialism, commercial colonialism and cyber colonialism, to name but a few.

In Uganda these different colonialisms have been revamped under NRM rule, thereby reversing the independence and development of the country and enhancing the country’s entrenchment in the global debt trap, with the ruling now unable to tick without borrowing from the local and global money markets or attaching the country wealth and natural assets to the creditor countries. The regime government has not only almost completely withdrawn from ensuring the social development of the country, but is committed to building local colonialism and a local exploitative class of ethnically related individuals.

Where there is colonialism there will also be imperialism. Hence, there will be spiritual imperialism, economic imperialism, social imperialism, political imperialism, cultural imperialism, environmental imperialism, ecological imperialism, scientific imperialism, academic imperialism, intellectual imperialism, commercial imperialism and cyber imperialism to name but a few. Today, there is an emerging local African neocolonialism as well whose agents are determined to exclude alternative political forces from power through militarism and denials of democracy, freedom and justice and putting the military at the centre of the justice industry in Uganda.

One can research and write each of the different types of colonialism and imperialism separately or integratively. We need a new open, fearless, critical thinking and reasoning cadre of researchers to address these topics (issues) so that we understand our society in the 21st century better. However, it is important to understand the relationship between colonialism and imperialism.

Colonialism is a practice that is often a result of imperialism, which is a broader policy. Imperialism is a policy that involves a nation extending its power, influence or control over other nations, often through military, political or economic means. Imperialism can also refer to the spread of industrial and commercial capitalism.

Colonialism is the practice of one nation or territory being directly controlled and governed by another nation or ethnic group from elsewhere. Colonialism often involves the settlement of people from the ruling power in the colonised area. The goal of colonialism is to establish colonies, exploit the resources and labour of the colony and exert direct control. Some writers have written that colonialism is a practice, while imperialism is the idea that drives the practice. Colonisation as a spiritual act is a curse. The spiritual act of colonisation dehumanises both the coloniser and the colonised.

Others say that the two terms are difficult to distinguish and are often conflated. Indeed, contemporary scholars routinely argue that colonialism and imperialism are indistinguishable. However, some have argued against this. For example, Barbara Arneil (2023) writes, “While it is true the “colonial” and “imperial” overlap and intersect historically, I argue there is a central thread of modern colonialism as an ideology that can be traced from the seventeenth century to mid-twentieth century that was not only distinct from – but often championed in explicit opposition to – imperialism”.

Not long ago I wrote an article titled ‘The New Imperialism in Uganda: Primitive Accumulation by Dispossession.’ I could have written on the new colonialism or even on the new neocolonialism. Others will write on them because they are intertwined with orthodox colonialism and are being exploited by the regime in power in Uganda to exclude alternative political forces from and entrench itself in power, while also sabotaging the independence and sovereignty of and institutionalism in the country.

In this article I want to discourse on spiritual colonialism, spiritual neocolonialism and spiritual contests in Uganda and their consequences. My thesis statement is:

Spiritual Colonialism, Spiritual Neocolonialism and Spiritual Conquests Are, Jointly with Globalisation, Undermining Democracy, Freedom, Justice and Development in Uganda.

The assumption is that Uganda cannot build democracy, freedom, justice and development when spiritual colonialism, spiritual neocolonialism and spiritual conquests are at the centre of leadership and governance and globalisation has been adopted by the regime in power as the pathway to development in the 21st century and beyond.

I have already written about the role religiopolitics (Oweyegha-Afunaduula, 2024, 2024, 2024) in the leadership and governance of Uganda today. The cardinal question is: Is Uganda’s spiritual and religious renaissance possible with continuing spiritual colonialism, spiritual neocolonialism, spiritual conquests in the country?

I am not the first one to write on spiritual colonialism, spiritual neocolonialism and spiritual contests, although I may be the first in Africa, south of Sahara to link all of them together with globalisation in one spectrum of thinking and reasoning. This reflects my strong intellectual and academic interest in the integration of knowledge through the new and different knowledge production systems of interdisciplinarity, crossdisciplinarity, transdisciplinarity and extradisciplinarity (nondisciplinarity).

Anyone inspired enough to pursue this kind of thinking and reasoning will find it useful to look at the works I detail below:

Kouatli Zaynab (2021) wrote on ‘White Spiritualism is modern day Colonisation’. Reddit (?) wrote on “The New Age of Religious Appropriation and Spiritual Colonialism”. Rehman Anwar (2022) wrote on Spiritual Colonialism. Chiwanza, Takudzwa Hillary (2022) wrote on “Was Religion a Tool for Colonialism in Africa? Frank Blanco Chris Leyva Dave Nicklaw Ben Winton (2006) wrote on “The globalisation of religion”. Ding Gang (2024) wrote on “Reflecting on the Spiritual Blunder of Colonialism”. Jagire (2011) wrote on “Spirit Injury: The Impact of Colonialism on African Spirituality.” Christopher Buck and Kevin Lock (2019) wrote on “Indigenous Spiritual Traditions and Cultural Colonialism”. Mikander (2018). “Globalization as Continuing Colonialism? Critical Global Citizenship Education in an Unequal World.” ChiorazzI (2015) wrote on “The spirituality of Africa”. Niall Finneran andChristina Welch (2024) wrote on “Materialities of Religion: Spiritual Traditions of the Colonial and Neocolonial Caribbean”. Lodigiani (2020) wrote on “From Colonialism to Globalisation: How History Has Shaped Unequal Power Relations Between Post-Colonial Countries”. Raj Kumar Sharma (2018). Globalisation as politics of Neo colonisation: Teaching English Language in Higher Education in Nepal”. Ravi Dutt Bajpai and Swati Parashar (2023). Worlding Encounters: Indian Spirituality and Anti-Colonialism in the Life and Thoughts of “the Mother” (Mirra Alfassa)”. Salerno, Thomas (2021) wrote on “Evangelisation is Colonialism: Are We Sure About That?”. Richa Tiwari (2023). Religion versus Spirituality: Understanding the Difference”. TwoTwoOne (2023) wrote on “Globalisation as a Continuation of Colonisation”. Riegert (2019) wrote on “Neocolonialism and Globalisation: The Dual Phenomena of Exploitation and Underdevelopment in Modern Africa”. Yermoshkin (1984) wrote on “Spiritual Neocolonialism”.

Some definitions of terms that crop up in discourses on spirituality and religion

Spiritual colonialism is the act of imposing one’s religious beliefs and practices on another group, with the goal of controlling and dominating them.

Spiritual neocolonialism is the sustenance of perpetuation of colonial spiritual or religious values and tendencies in today’s religio-spiritual sociopolitical and sociocultural environments.

Spiritual colonisation is nothing but sectarianism, fanaticism and a new form of nationalism

Spiritual colonialism is the process of separating and occupying the spiritual dimension of a religion, often through unjust domination and control. It can dehumanise both the coloniser and the colonised.

Spirituality means different things to different people. For some, it’s primarily about a belief in God and active participation in organised religion. Spirituality comprises a deep belief in and embodied connection to a higher power and resulted in greater meaning and purpose in life. It is a feeling, of being connected to others and the world on a different level and the idea that there is something else, some bigger forces at play. Spirituality values direct experiences, like meditation or contemplation, to validate teachings through personal understanding. Spirituality is a personal practice that involves a sense of purpose and peace, and the development of beliefs about life’s meaning and connection with others. It can be expressed in a variety of ways, including: meditation or quiet time; prayer; and spending time in nature, and yoga.

Religion is about faith in teachings, often without needing direct experience. According to Western thought religion is a system of irrational beliefs to build blind faith. Any religion has a core faith that cannot be questioned rationally, logically or scientifically by its believers. Doubts and skeptism are prohibited; blasphemy, heresy, sacrilege, etc are punishable. Apostacy or change of religion is the worst of sins one commits to one’s religion, not to God (Naido, 1992)

Religionism is exaggerated religious zealotry. Religionism includes: pietism, religiosity, devoutness, and religiousness. 

Spiritualism is a system of belief or religious practice based on supposed communication with the spirits of the dead, especially through mediums. According to philosophy, spiritualism is the doctrine that the spirit exists as distinct from matter or that spirit is the only reality. Spiritualism is not religionism.

For God and my country

About the Centre for Critical Thinking and Alternative Analysis (CCTAA)

The CCTAA was innovated by Hyuha Mukwanason, Oweyegha-Afunaduula and Mahir Balunywa in 2019 to the rising decline in the capacity of graduates in Uganda and beyond to engage in critical thinking and reason coherently besides excellence in academics and academic production. The three scholars were convinced that after academic achievement the world outside the ivory tower needed graduates that can think critically and reason coherently towards making society and the environment better for human gratification. They reasoned between themselves and reached the conclusion that disciplinary education did not only narrow the thinking and reasoning of those exposed to it but restricted the opportunity to excel in critical thinking and reasoning, which are the ultimate aim of education. They were dismayed by the truism that the products of disciplinary education find it difficult to tick outside the boundaries of their disciplines; that when they provide solutions to problems that do not recognise the artificial boundaries between knowledges, their solutions become the new problems. They decided that the answer was a new and different medium of learning and innovating, which they characterised as “The Centre for Critical Thinking and Alternative Analysis” (CCTAA).

For further reading

Arnel, B. (2023). Colonialism Versus Imperialism. Polit Theory, 2023 Sep 9;52(1):146–176. doi: 10.1177/00905917231193107 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10844002/ Visited on 17 December 2024 at 18:08 pm EAT

Barnard, Malcolm (2020). Globalisation and Colonialism. Chapter In Book Fashion Theory. Taylor and Francis Group, https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315099620-67/globalization-colonialism-malcolm-barnard Visited on 18 December 2024 at 12:12 2024 at 12:12pm EAT

Brown, L. B. (1981). The religionism factor after 25 years. The Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary and Applied, 107(1), 7–10. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980.1981.9915197

ChiorazzI, Anthony (2015). The spirituality of Africa. The Havard Gazette, 6 October 2015. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2015/10/the-spirituality-of-africa/ Visited on 12 October, 2024.

Chiwanza, Takudzwa Hillary (2022). Was Religion a Tool for Colonialism in Africa? Africa Rebirth, January 10 2022. https://www.africarebirth.com/was-religion-a-tool-for-colonialism-in-africa/ Visited on 18 December 2024 at 11.44am EAT

Christopher Buck and Kevin Lock (2019). Bahai Teachings Org, June 30 2019. Indigenous Spiritual Traditions and Cultural Colonialism.

Ding Gang (2024). Reflecting on the Spiritual Blunder of Colonialism. Global Times, December 2024.  https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202412/1324369.shtml Visited on 18 December 2024 at 11.24am EAT.

Frank Blanco Chris Leyva Dave Nicklaw Ben Winton (2006). The globalisation of religion. McCormack_Sample-Simulation-1.pdf https://oakland.edu/Assets/upload/docs/AIS/Syllabi/McCormack_Sample-Simulation-1.pdf Visited on 18 December 2024 at 13:04pm EAT

Hull, J. M (1999). Spiritual and Religious Education. Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203984093-16/religionism-religious-education Visited on 12 October 2024 at 11:38am EAT

Jagire, J.M. (2011). Spirit Injury: The Impact of Colonialism on African Spirituality. In: Spirituality, Education and Society: An Integrated Approach. E-Book ISBN: 9789460916038 Publisher: Brill. Print Publication Date:  01 Jan 2011, https://brill.com/display/book/edcoll/9789460916038/BP000014.xml Visited on 18 December 2024 at 10.48am EAT.

Jo O’Donoghue (1993). Historical Themes, Missionary Endeavour and Spiritual Colonialism in Brian Moore’s Black Robe. Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review Vol, pp. 131-139 (9 pages) Published By: Messenger Publications.

Kamau, Edwin (2024). Oweyegha-Afunaduula: The Religiopolitics of The Universal Apostles Fellowship Church od Righteousness (of Daudi Isinga).  Ultimate News, September 17 2024 https://ultimatenews.co.ug/2024/01/oweyegha-afunaduula-the-religio-politics-of-pastor-bugingo/ Visited on 20th December 2024 at 13:24 pm EAT.

Kouatli, Zaynab (2021). White Spiritualism is modern day Colonisation. The Wayne Stater, September 8 2021. https://thewaynestater.com/21261/opinion/white-spiritualism-is-modern-day-colonization/ Visited on 12 December 2024 at 13: 25.

Lodigiani, Irene (2020). From Colonialism to Globalisation: How History Has Shaped Unequal Power Relations Between Post-Colonial Countries. GLOCALISM: JOURNAL OF CULTURE, POLITICS AND INNOVATION 2020, 2, DOI: 10.12893/gjcpi.2020.2.12 https://glocalismjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Lodigiani_gjcpi_2020_2.pdf Visited on 18 December 2024 at 12.03pm EAT

Mikander, Pia. (2018). “Globalization as Continuing Colonialism? Critical Global Citizenship Education in an Unequal World.” University of Helsinki, June 2016.

Naidu M.V. (1992). Religionism, rationalism and peace education: an attempt at model building. Peace Research Vol, pp. 1-15 (15 pages) Published By: Canadian Mennonite University.

Niall FinneranChristina Welch (2024). Materialities of Religion: Spiritual Traditions of the Colonial and Neocolonial Caribbean. Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Materialities-of-Religion-Spiritual-Traditions-of-the-colonial-and-post-colonial-Caribbean/Finneran-Welch/p/book/9781032575346?srsltid=AfmBOoqhgLzN4BVCDGuQVopjO0rrcIEdW5IHRFNbroikuFKwhEpTrwnf Visited 18 December 2024 at 11.15 am EAT.

Njoroge, Linda (2024). Oweyegha-Afunaduula: The Religiopolitics of Pastor Bugingo. Ultimate News, January 6 2024, https://ultimatenews.co.ug/2024/01/oweyegha-afunaduula-the-religio-politics-of-pastor-bugingo/ Visited on 20 December 2024 at 13:17 EAT

Oweyegha-Afunaduula (2023). The New Imperialism in Uganda: Primitive Accumulation by Dispossession. Ultimate News, February 1 2023, https://ultimatenews.co.ug/2023/02/oweyegha-afunaduula-the-new-imperialism-in-uganda-primitive-accumulation-by-dispossession/ Visited on 18 December 2024 at 10.08 am.

Oweyegha-Afunaduula, 2023). Uganda’s Craze for Modernisation Where None Has Ever Been. The Kampal Report, 10 July 2023. https://www.thekampalareport.com/talk-back/2023071028838/oweyegha-afunaduula-ugandas-craze-for-modernisation-where-none-has-ever-been-modern.html Visited on 18 December 2023 at 12:57 pm EAT.

Oweyegha-Afunaduula (2024). Role of Pro-political regime pastors in de-democratisation. Sunday Monitor, December 8 2024, https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/magazines/people-power/role-of-pro-political-regime-pastors-in-de-democratisation-4849938#story Visited on 20 December 2024 at 13.31pm EAT

Raj Kumar Sharma (2018). Globalisation as politics of Neo-colonisation: Teaching English Language in Higher Education in Nepal. Journal of NELTA Surkhet Vol. 5 January, 2018

Ravi Dutt Bajpai, Swati Parashar (2023). Worlding Encounters: Indian Spirituality and Anti-Colonialism in the Life and Thoughts of “the Mother” (Mirra Alfassa), Global Studies Quarterly, Volume 3, Issue 1, January 2023, ksad014, https://doi.org/10.1093/isagsq/ksad014  Visited on 18 December 2024 at 10.54am EAT

Reddit (?) The New Age of Religious Appropriation and Spiritual Colonialism https://www.reddit.com/r/DankPrecolumbianMemes/comments/ti4cu0/the_new_ageof_religious_appropriation_and/?rdt=36725 Visited on 12 December 2024 at 13:46pm  EAT

Richa Tiwari (2023). Religion versus Spirituality. Understanding the Difference. Linkedin, September 23 https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/religion-vs-spirituality-understanding-difference-richa-tiwari/ Visited 12 December 2024 at 11:58.

Salerno, Thomas (2021). Evangelisation is Colonialism: Are We Sure About That? https://www.wordonfire.org/articles/evangelization-is-colonialism-are-we-sure-about-that/ Visited on 18 December 2024 at 11.38 am EAT

Takudzwa Hillary Chiwanza (2022). Was Religion a Tool for Colonialism in Africa.? Africa Rebirth, January 10 2022 https://www.africarebirth.com/was-religion-a-tool-for-colonialism-in-africa/ Visited on 1 December 2024 at 13: 39pm. EAT

Thompson, P. (1993). Religionism: a response to John Hull. British Journal of Religious Education, 16(1), 47–50. https://doi.org/10.1080/0141620930160107

TwoTwoOne (2023). Globalisation as a Continuation of Colonisation. TwoTwoOne, May 15 2023, https://twotwoone.nyc/globalization-as-a-continuation-of-colonization/ Visited on 18 December 2024 at 12.26pm EAT

Rehman Anwar (2022).  Spiritual Colonialism. The Alphe Review, October 2022. https://www.thealephreview.com/post/spiritual-colonialism Visited on 12 October, 2022.

Riegert, Jack (2019). Neocolonialism and Globalisation: The Dual Phenomena of Exploitation and Underdevelopment in Modern Africa.  Scholarship Works Bowling Green State University (BGSU), https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1152&context=africana_studies_conf Visited on 18 December 2024 at 12:33pm EAT

Yermoshkin, N. (1984). Spiritual Neocolonialism. Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Spiritual-Neo-colonialism-N-Yermoshkin/dp/B00IX5PP9U Visited on 18 December 2024 a 11.34 am EAT

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