23.5: The Non-Aligned Movement and Immigration

In the context of the Cold War, struggles over decolonization were tied closely to the attitudes and involvement of the US and USSR. Vietnam is perhaps the most iconic example, a struggle for independence became a global conflict because of the socialist ideology espoused by the Viet Minh nationalists. At the same time, many leaders of formerly-colonized countries rejected the idea of having to choose sides in the Cold War and instead sought a truly independence course. Some former colonies, especially those in Africa and Asia, wanted to create a new “superpower” through an alliance system. The result was the birth of the Nonaligned Movement.

Non-Aligned Movement

In 1955, the Nonaligned Movement was "born" as part of the Bandung Conference. In the Indonesian city of Bandung, leaders from countries in Africa, Asia, and South America met to discuss the possibility of forming a coalition that would use their collective strength to compensate for their individual weaknesses and push back against the superpowers. This idea was part of the Pan-Africanism championed by Kwame Nkrumah. At the conference, a French journalist created the term “third world” to describe the bloc of nations: neither the first world of the US and western Europe, nor the second world of the USSR and its satellites, but the allied bloc of former colonies.

A truly united third world proved as elusive as an United States of Africa. However, the real, meaningful effect of the conference was at the United Nations. The Nonaligned Movement ended up with over 100 member nations, wielding considerable power in the UN's General Assembly, successfully directing policies and aid money to poorer nations. In addition, the Nonaligned Movement has served as inspiration for millions around the world, who seek independence for its own sake, as well as a peaceful and prosperous world for all.

MAP: Non-Aligned Movement as of 2009

KEY: Dark blue indicates members. Light blue denotes observers. Source: Wikipedia

Immigration

(Described in the next chapter), a postwar economic boom in Europe created a huge market for labor, especially in fields of unskilled labor. Thus, Africans, Caribbeans, Asians, and people from the Middle East came in droves to work at jobs Europeans did not want, because those jobs still paid more than even skilled work did in the former colonies.

Initially, most immigrant laborers were single men, “guest workers” in the parlance of the time, who were expected to work for a period, send money home, then return to their places of origin. However, in the mid-1960s, families followed, demographically transforming the almost all-white Europe into a genuinely multi-ethnic society. For the first time, many European societies grew ethnically and racially diverse. Within a few decades, a whole generation of non-white people were native-born citizens of European countries.

The result was an ongoing struggle over national and cultural identity. Particularly in places like Britain, France, and postwar West Germany, European culture was colorblind, and anyone who culturally assimilated could be a productive part of society. As soon as significant minority populations became residents of European countries, there was an explosion of anti-immigrant racism among whites. In addition, in cases like France, former colonists who had fled to the metropole were often hardened racists who openly called for exclusionary practices and laws. Europeans were forced to grapple with the idea of cultural and racial diversity in a way that was entirely new to them. (In contrast to countries like the United States, which has always been highly racially diverse following the European invasions of the early modern period.)