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SEU Anti-Racism Learning Series:
Wednesday, 13 January 2021
SIETAR Europa Anti-Racism Learning Series:
The Change Within - Liberating the Colonised Mind
Presented by Dr. Pritima Chainani-Barta

In his poem, “The White Man’s Burden”, Rudyard Kipling encourages and motivates the white man to take on the role of a colonialist and devote himself to the gigantic task of taming the savages of the colonies. White supremacy was openly celebrated in colonial rule and all non-whites were considered barbaric. Imperialism of the colonial era was, undoubtedly, a dichotomous system of oppressors and the oppressed. Most colonies have attained political independence from colonial oppression. Yet, imperialist structures and ideologies of white supremacy, that molded the mindset of colonised people, are still ingrained in postcolonial consciousness. As an alternative to this dichotomous system of oppressors and the oppressed, that exists even today, this presentation looks at Paulo Freire’s model of the “Pedagogy of the oppressed” which calls on humankind to overthrow an unjust system and establish a world founded on a “humanized and just” plateau, where no culture or race is considered superior.

In this movement to “humanize” an oppressed system, we are engaging in a battle on two fronts. On the one hand, we must strike at the roots of consciousness of white supremacy that perpetuates itself even in the 21st century. On the other hand, we can only dislodge an oppressive biased system if all those inevitably subjugated minorities awaken to, what Freire calls , “oppressed consciousness”. In other words, we, the oppressed, the Blacks, the People of Colour, the minorities in society, must critically regard, and subsequently discard, inherent ideologies of colonial oppressors. Giving examples from my consultations and workshops, I will present strategies which can be employed in intercultural work to create awareness about racism. I will discuss constructive methods to liberate oneself from the warped doctrines of imperialism that are indelibly inscribed in the colonised mind.

Dr. Pritima Chainani-Barta. (Univ, Mumbai) was born in India and completed her Ph.D in German language and literature from the University of Mumbai. Currently, she works as intercultural coordinator for the Fulda University of Applies Sciences in Germany, where she is responsible for promoting intercultural competence for students and academic staff. She has long-standing international coaching and consultation experience with top managers and professionals interested in optimizing their leadership and communication skills. Her clients also benefit from her expertise on India and Indian work culture. She believes that several intercultural issues in academics and in business can be resolved, or even avoided, if the parties concerned are sensitive to the specifications of cross-cultural dialogue. Pritima is committed in her work to promote diversity. She claims that education and antibias trainings form the groundwork for developing a mindset, free from the barriers of prejudice and discrimination