Europe’s colonial past is an ongoing transformative project rather than a closed epoch

Evidence

The motive of “European history” in this representation is the story of Europe’s active power to reconstruct the world (within Europe and beyond) in its own Faustian image. Europe’s colonial past is not merely an epoch of overseas power that is now decisively over. It is the beginning of an irreversible global transformation that remains an intrinsic part of “European experience,” and is part of the reason that Europe has become what it is today. It is not possible for Europe to be represented without evoking this history and the way in which its active power has continually constructed its own exclusive boundary—and transgressed it. — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular, 826 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

The motive of “European history” in this representation is the story of Europe’s active power to reconstruct the world (within Europe and beyond) in its own Faustian image. Europe’s colonial past is not merely an epoch of overseas power that is now decisively over. It is the beginning of an irreversible global transformation that remains an intrinsic part of “European experience,” and is part of the reason that Europe has become what it is today. It is not possible for Europe to be represented without evoking this history and the way in which its active power has continually constructed its own exclusive boundary—and transgressed it. — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular, 826 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

What I call “watermarks in colonial history” are indelibly inscribed in past and present. The visibility of watermarks depends on angle and light. Watermarks are embossed on the surface and in the grain. As I use the term here, they denote signatures of a history that neither can be scraped off nor removed without destroying the paper. Watermarks cannot be erased. — Ann Laura Stoler, Along the Archival Grain_ Epistemic…, 70 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The colonial past frames present-day French debates but rarely German ones — Manuel Borutta and Jan C. Jansen, Vertriebene and Pieds-Noirs in Postwar…, 102; Europe’s identity was constituted through, not despite, its colonial expansion; Europe’s colonial past remains constitutive, not an ended epoch — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular:…, 826 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Europe’s colonial past remains constitutive, not an ended epoch #corroborates (1.00) — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular, 826
• Europe’s colonial past is irreversible and constitutive of its present identity #corroborates (0.95) — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular, 826
• Colonial histories remain indelibly legible in present institutions rather than erasable #corroborates (0.92) — Ann Laura Stoler, Along the Archival Grain_ Epistemic…, 70