Colonialism 2

Essay by EssaySwap ContributorCollege, Undergraduate February 2008

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The relationship between core and periphery nations can be observed by looking at the experiences of the people in the books, "Nectar In A Sieve" by Kamala Merkandaya and "Don't Be Afraid Gringo" by Media Benjamin. In both the books Rukmani and Elvia narrate the changes caused by the various stages of capitalism brought by Great Britain in India and by the United States in Honduras respectively. The core periphery relations between these countries lead to many societal problems and these two women deal with these problems, especially the issues pertaining to land and education.

In both Rukmani and Elvia's case land was the most important resource required for producing staples, which was used as a source of revenue and food. Education, in this context refers to the level of awareness people had about the influence of core countries on the peripheral nations and how the people viewed this dependency.

Rukmani and her family lived under a feudalistic system and the arrival of the British tannery resulted in segregated industrialization in a rice farming village which led to family disintegration, abuse of power and land and to a minor decrease in feudalism. It also led to a shift from peasantry to proletariats. Elvia lived in a semi-feudalistic system in Honduras with highly unequal distribution of land and wealth. The whole of Honduras, including various institutions like the Government and the church were under the influence of the U.S who with their political and economic influence used Honduras for the extraction of resources and also for its own political security in the North American continent.

In "Nectar In A Sieve" Rukmani was married to a tenant farmer called Nathan who worked on rice fields and earned his livelihood by selling his harvest to the landlord. He did...