Exercises on Neocolonialism

(UFG) Read the following text:

As much as we go back in history, we will find that Africa is always closed in contact with the rest of the world, it is a child country involved in the darkness of the night, beyond the light of conscious history. The Negro represents the natural man in all his barbarity and violence; to understand it we must forget all European representations. We must forget God and moral laws. HEGEL, Georg W. F. Philosophy of universal history . Apud HERNANDEZ, Leila M.G. Africa in the classroom:a visit to contemporary history. São Paulo:Black Seal, 2005. p. 20-21. [Adapted]

The fragment is an indicator of the predominant way Europeans viewed the African continent in the 19th century. This observation was related to a definition of culture, which was identified with the idea of:

a) social progress, materialized by human achievements as a way of opposing nature.

b) civic tolerance, verified in the respect of the contact with the other, with a view to maintaining their habits.

c) political autonomy, expressed in the choice of the black man for a life apart from the community. d) religious freedom, manifested in the relativization of European ethical standards.

e) respect for traditions, associated with recognition of the value of the past for local communities.

We can say that neocolonialism, on the African continent, produced effects such as:

a) the clash between the kingdoms of Songhai and Mali.

b) the high technological development of regions such as Zaire, or the Belgian Congo.

c) the export of the African way of life to Europe.

d) the Boer Wars.

e) the African territorial division according to each existing tribe and ethnicity.

(FGV-RJ) Between November 1884 and February 1885, representatives from European countries, the United States and the Ottoman Empire participated in negotiations on the African continent. The set of meetings, which became known as the Berlin Conference, dealt with:

a) incorporation of Liberia into North American dominions, in exchange for the control of South Africa by England and Holland.

b) independence of Angola and Mozambique and the incorporation of Congo into the Portuguese overseas empire.

c) occupation and control of African territory in accordance with the interests of the various powers represented.

d) condemnation of the apartheid regime established in South Africa and denounced by the British government.

e) incorporation of Ethiopia into Italian dominions and the transformation of Egypt into a protectorate of Germany.

As a way of justifying the domination of the African and Asian continents, the European powers made use of scientific theses of the time that preached the superiority of European civilization in relation to the others. These theses were spread by the doctrine of:

a) Liberalism

b) Mercantilism

c) Bureaucratic Estate

d) Sociobiology

e) Social Darwinism

Letter A

The passage by the German philosopher Hegel expresses a perception of European intellectuals of the 19th century that is quite peculiar with regard to African civilizations. Hegel's perception is associated with a progressive view of the history of civilization, that is, civilizational progress had European civilization as its apex. African blacks – many of them organized into primitive tribes – would be, according to this reasoning, in a very inferior position in relation to historical progress.

Letter D

The Boer Wars, fought at the turn of the 19th to the 20th century between the Dutch settlers settled in South Africa and the British army, had as their central motivation the dispute over metals and precious stones in the region. . England ended up winning the conflicts and allowing the Dutch colonists a protected political control of the region, which became known as the South African Union.

Letter C

The Berlin Conference sought to diplomatically resolve the tension that existed between the European powers regarding the possession of African territory. The territory of the African continent was arbitrarily divided after the agreements of the Conference, so that each European nation interested in the continent became the metropolis of one of the divided areas.

Letter E

Social Darwinism, developed by the English sociologist Herbert Spencer, sought to transpose the theses of the naturalist Charles Darwin regarding the evolution of species and natural selection to the sociocultural reality of the world's civilizations. In this way, Europe, in the 19th century, would be superior to the others because it was the first to adapt to the natural environment (through mechanisms such as the development of science, industry and sophisticated political devices).