In this bold, sweeping book, David Day surveys the ways in which one nation or society has supplanted another, and then sought to justify its occupation - for example, the English in Australia and North America, the Normans in England, the Spanish in Mexico, the Japanese in Korea, the Chinese in Tibet. Human history has been marked by territorial aggression and expanion, an endless cycle of ownership claims by dominant cultures over territory occupied by peoples unable to resist their advance. Day outlines the strategies, ...
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In this bold, sweeping book, David Day surveys the ways in which one nation or society has supplanted another, and then sought to justify its occupation - for example, the English in Australia and North America, the Normans in England, the Spanish in Mexico, the Japanese in Korea, the Chinese in Tibet. Human history has been marked by territorial aggression and expanion, an endless cycle of ownership claims by dominant cultures over territory occupied by peoples unable to resist their advance. Day outlines the strategies, violent and subtle, such dominant cultures have used to stake and bolster their claims - by redrawing maps, rewriting history, recourse to legal argument, creative renaming, use of foundation stories, tilling of the soil, colonization and of course outright subjugation and even genocide. In the end the claims they make reveal their own sense of identity and self-justifying place in the world. This will be an important book, an accessible and captivating macro-narrative about empire, expansion, and dispossession.
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Divided into eleven chapters, the first ten roughly categorizing the steps, provides an analysis of how societies supplant others. The first chapter is "Staking a Legal Claim," and like other important events certain rituals are performed. Some societies planted flags, others erected cairns or carved symbols into trees or rocks. These were meant more to keep competitors away. Using a map to show others the land one claimed is the subject of "The Power of Maps." An example therein is the race between the French and British to publish maps of Australia. A more direct means is "Supplanting the Savages." The supplanting society dehumanizes the other to argue the other doesn't deserve the land. 'Might makes Right' was the reason many societies used when they claimed land "By Right of Conquest." In some cases, such as Israel, ancient conquests are used to support present day claims. Most societies will deny the injustices they used to dispossess others. Once one is in possession of a territory one is tasked with "Defending the Conquered Territory." The castles throughout Europe and in parts of Japan serve as reminders of this fact.
"Foundation Stories" are used to justify continued possession. Sometimes the supplanting society takes part of the overwhelmed society's stories and embellishes them to make them their own. At other time they will reach back in ancient history for a justification. The decorations of the US Capitol Building serve as examples. "Tilling the Soil" provides additional backing of a claim, especially if the supplanting society can better utilize the land and its resources. In addition there is "The Genocidal Imperative". The other culture must be annihilated and/or assimilated. In some cases nature helps with the overwhelmed society falling prey to disease and starvation. In conjunction with ridding the land of the other, the supplanting society begins "Peopling the Land," either by getting volunteers or forcing convicts to settle the land.
The author posits that this "The Never-Ending Journey". One society overwhelms another and is in somewhat of a dominating position for a time. However, that society is often overwhelmed in its turn as people move around the globe. The preponderance of examples are from European conquests both in Europe, the Americas and Asia. The Japanese are also used to show similarities across cultures.
