奴役与保护:西方殖民扩张中的逻辑与悖论

Serfdom and protection:the logic and paradox in Western colonial expansion

在漫长的殖民扩张史中,西方殖民帝国往往采用"胡萝卜加大棒"策略,呈现出奴役与保护的双重面孔。在近年"档案转向"的学术背景下,帝国史、殖民史和全球史的研究者充分利用殖民时期留下的档案材料,对保护的全球谱系和地方实践进行了多方面的研究。然而,只有参照奴役,才能准确了解保护,揭开西方文明野蛮征服的殖民逻辑和内在悖论。殖民者的自由和平等,是以被殖民者的不自由和不平等为代价的。与保护相关联的人道主义思想及其制度实践,对改变被殖民者的境遇有影响,但并不能彻底改变被殖民者的"非人"命运。在后殖民语境下,保护还有很长的路要走。

Western colonial empires often adopted the strategy of"carrot plus stick"and showed a dual face of serfdom and protection throughout the long history of colonial expansion.Under the academic background of"archival turn"in recent years,researchers of imperial,colonial and global histories have made full use of archival materials left over from the colonial period and conducted multi-faceted studies on Global Genealogies and local practices of protection.However,only with reference to serfdom can we accurately understand protection,and disclose the colonial logic and inherent paradox of the Western civilisation’s barbaric conquests.The freedom and equality of the colonists came at the expense of the unfreedom and inequality of the colonized.The humanitarianist ideas and their practices in institutions related with protection had influence on changing the colonised’s situation,but could not change the latter’s"inhuman"fate.In a post-colonial context,protection still has a long way to go.