Books like The Colonizer and the Colonized

The title of this book suggests something dated, describing both a situation and a mindset that has either ceased to exist or become discredited with time. As such, I hesitated to pick it up initially. But now having read it, I have to say its one of the profound books I've read in recent memory. In timeless detail Memmi describes not just the psychologies of the oppressed and the oppressor, but also the predicament of the "leftist" in the oppressing group who at once is attracted to and recoils from the way in which the oppressed tries to liberate themselves, as well as from their end goals, in which they would "likely find no place." Memmi is not just a pontificating observer. He was a Tunisian living as a native under the colonial regime, but straddling both worlds as a relatively more privileged Jewish member of the colonized class; thus able to interact with and experience both perspectives. He describes the self-destructive and somewhat self-loathing tyranny of the colonizer, who ossifies the society he colonizes, the inherent fascism, and the way in which the mediocre at home can become the grandiose in the colony, and how jealously they defend that privilege. As well, Memmi catalogues as the psychological effects of colonization; destroying the institutions and thus the memory of the colonized, cutting them off from their language and debasing it, preventing its growth and the practice of its higher forms and finally the eventual belief action upon the worst myths about themselves.The best part I thought was about the leftist who hates colonialism, but also ends up hating and fearing the means and goals of those he seeks to defend from its ravages. This is still an absolutely timely and relevant predicament, right up to the War on Terror. The comparison is not as apocalyptically stark because these people don't have to live in the same societies, only to agree not to harm one another (and, in the common perception, not feed an imperial complex that benefits from such conflict), but many of the same dynamics apply. There really is a clash, and a dissonance; even applicable in movements such as the Black radical struggle in the United States, many of whose white supporters, both half-hearted and zealous, would lose something, even perhaps much, through the victory of. It is best to acknowledge this predicament and offer an appreciation of it, than to simply ignore it and leave one open to accusations of ignorance or foolhardiness.Throughout the book I was able to picture the circumstances he described in multiple settings, from Black Lives Matter to the War on Terror, and they almost always seemed both moving, urgent and relevant. Memmi later recoiled from many of his views about the decolonized, in light of the ugliness that much of decolonization brought to the fore, but ironically the seeds of that ugliness seem explicitly predicted and accounted for in this book. If anything, that historical experience should count against the irrational optimism about human nature that progressives tend to uncritically project onto the world. I recommend this book unreservedly, I couldn't put it down, and will certainly refer back to it in future.