Education

Journal Retracts Pro-Colonialism Essay Right Before Columbus Day

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Rob Shimshock Education Reporter
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A journal retracted an essay defending colonialism on the Saturday before Columbus Day, alleging that the journal’s editor had received a threat.

Taylor & Francis, publisher of Third World Quarterly, withdrew “The Case for Colonialism” because of “serious and credible threats of personal violence” to journal editor Shahid Qatir, reported The Chronicle of Higher Education. Bruce Gilley, the Portland State University political science professor who authored the piece, had asked for its withdrawal.

Nearly half of Third World Quarterly’s 34-person board resigned after the September publication of Gilley’s article, despite the article having passed double-blind peer review before publication. A petition to retract the article also accrued more than 10,000 signatures.

“In our ‘age of apology’ for atrocities, one of the many conspicuous silences has been an apology for the many atrocities visited upon Third World peoples by anti-colonial advocates,” said Gilley in the now-retracted essay. The professor opined that intervene to improve the finance or criminal justice systems of foreign nations with the approval of those nations’ citizens. (RELATED: Portland State University Slammed For Defending Professor Who Made A Case For Colonialism)

While Gilley argued that colonialism resulted in many improvements for civilizations, critics argued he did not thoroughly weigh the crimes against humanity it precipitated.

The Daily Caller News Foundation reached out to Gilley for comment but received none in time for press.

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