Read on Twitter
#colonialrevisionism "The Case for Colonialism" by Bruce Gilley is highly problematic. An article with the same title has caused a scandal at Third World Journal and had to be retracted. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01436597.2017.1369037
15 members of the board resigned in protest over the issue. Thread 1/
15 members of the board resigned in protest over the issue. Thread 1/
The article was republished in the journal "Academic Questions" https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12129-018-9696-2 (subscription needed), the journal is edited by the National Association of Scholars, a conservativ association that opposes policital correctness on campuses. 2/n
The US debate shows many similarities with German networks #wissenschaftsfreiheit: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/09/19/controversy-over-paper-favor-colonialism-sparks-calls-retraction. Quote: "Controversy over paper in favor of colonialism sparks calls for retraction as well as worries that academics are relying more on erasure than counterargument 3/
to challenge unpopular scholarship."
No wonder, Bruce Gilley had been invited by right-wing AfD.
https://jungefreiheit.de/wissen/2019/der-deutsche-kolonialismus-als-erfolgsgeschichte/ 4/
No wonder, Bruce Gilley had been invited by right-wing AfD.
https://jungefreiheit.de/wissen/2019/der-deutsche-kolonialismus-als-erfolgsgeschichte/ 4/
This presentation caused some debate in German media, @dlf discused the issue with @APosener & @juergenzimmerer https://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/journalist-alan-posener-es-war-nicht-alles-falsch-am.2950.de.html?dram:article_id=465734 5/
Conclusion: Those who advocate for an allegedly threatened academic freedom ( #wissenschaftsfreiheit) and oppose political correctness obviously also tend to advocate for a revisionist interpretation of colonialism. This does not at all mean that one may not discuss different 6/
interpretations of facts and sources. However, anyone who ignores large parts of the historiographic literature, who does not respond to arguments against his own position and who draws logically wrong conclusions should not 7/
complain about a threatened freedom of science. 8/8
To discuss Gilley's article, there is a convincing critique by Ernest M. Olesky (Cleveland State Unviersity) https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiwwsCrtaDwAhX5gf0HHYjzDD8QFjACegQIBBAD&url=https%3A%2F%2Fengagedscholarship.csuohio.edu%2Fcgi%2Fviewcontent.cgi%3Farticle%3D1083%26context%3Dtdr&usg=AOvVaw1Wuvepw41LReUburm-X4It
