Bonded Freedom

Kenyatta in his article touched a very sensitive topic. Genital mutilation of both males and females in any society is looked down upon and it is looked with contempt. Kenyatta argues that in order to understand such acts that are carried out by any society, one must understand the process that’s behind it. Kenyatta in this article might be talking about genital mutilation, but one must not overlook the underlying principle argument. The principle argument being that the colonizers have been imposing western agenda and western ideals on their colonies. They judge the customs and traditions of those societies according to western ideals not taking into account indigenous values. The argument is not about what is sacred and what is profane, or what is good and what is bad. It’s about the refusal to understand the reasons behind a specific ritual. 

There are certain customs and traditions which might not look so significant to someone who’s alien to the society and in question. However, such customs and traditions might be very important for indigenous people. Such customs and traditions might hold historical and cultural importance which might be detrimental in identity formation as mentioned by Kenyatta. However, when the colonial state aims to eradicate and attacks the customs of a traditional society, they take away their freedom, as their freedom is derived from those customs and rites. Moreover, the modern culture and imposition of it through forceful means also becomes a problem. Assuming that the values of the culture brought by the colonizer are superior and they must be implemented in order for a society to become progressive, undermines the culture and the power of the native society. The values of exported might be significant but the traditional society cannot relate with them. France’s romance with veil in their colonies speaks of the same story. While French thought of veil as a symbol of oppression against women and took steps to eradicate the conception of veil, there was retaliation from the society. Such measures also bring us another problem which has prodigious effects on freedom. The women who chose not to veil were persecuted by the indigenous society and the women who wore the veil were subjected to colonial state oppression. The freedom in this case loses its significance. Moreover, the act of bringing so called reform can also backfire. As pointed out by Kenyatta, the Gikuyu were weary of the missionaries. From their perspective they saw them as extremists who were attacking their cultural values. it was seen as an attack on the centuries old established social order. 

Even when the colonial state exists the colony, they leave behind certain structures in place which are supposed to guide the newly independent nation in the direction of the colonizer, be it economically or culturally. After the direct occupation, then begins the phase of indirect occupation, in which the colonized has no other choice but to linger on to the colonial master in order to survive, which leads to dependence, translating to  Bonded Freedom.