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Playing Oppression: The Legacy of Conquest and Empire in Colonialist Board Games
"A critical investigation of a massive commercial phenomenon, the so-called "Euro" or "German"-style tabletop board games whose basic goal is explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate"--
- GenresNonfictionSociologyGames
Unknown Binding
Published February 1, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 14, 2024
Interesting book investigating the co-constituting nature of play and culture, especially the cultural discourse of the context board games emerge in, which reflect and reinforce one another
This is exemplified during Britain's colonisation of India, in which the spiritual play practices of the Indian people were themselves colonised. This was seen in the game sold as snakes and ladders that was created via the colonial appropriation of gyān caupar, a game popular among Jain nuns and regarded as an edifying religious pursuit, thereafter stripped of its cultural history and then sold back in India as a commercial product
Board games such as the "Bricks of the Empire" through questions and answers rehearse and reinforce White power and White supremacy, as well as the corresponding inferiority of colonised and Indigenous people, who are caricatures and stereotyped. This results in the enculturation of White and British superiority at the expense of colonised people and thus shapes the lens through which privileged White people have consumed the world, both literally in terms of colonialism and figuratively in terms of the tourist gaze
Also found interesting the use of absurdist humour and unwillingness to take a game "seriously" by some players of these games - appropriating the colonial theme into a joke about what White Western men see when they think of colonies, and how that mindset is so said it becomes laughable as a method of accommodation in order to play the game
The book ends by touching upon some contemporary games that interrogate and challenge the hegemonic ideologies concerning race, class, gender, sexuality and nation that are created and maintained by dominant groups to support their right to rule, as well as a hopeful call for new games that bring unusual power dynamics and inventive interactions
Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in board games and ideology
This is exemplified during Britain's colonisation of India, in which the spiritual play practices of the Indian people were themselves colonised. This was seen in the game sold as snakes and ladders that was created via the colonial appropriation of gyān caupar, a game popular among Jain nuns and regarded as an edifying religious pursuit, thereafter stripped of its cultural history and then sold back in India as a commercial product
Board games such as the "Bricks of the Empire" through questions and answers rehearse and reinforce White power and White supremacy, as well as the corresponding inferiority of colonised and Indigenous people, who are caricatures and stereotyped. This results in the enculturation of White and British superiority at the expense of colonised people and thus shapes the lens through which privileged White people have consumed the world, both literally in terms of colonialism and figuratively in terms of the tourist gaze
Also found interesting the use of absurdist humour and unwillingness to take a game "seriously" by some players of these games - appropriating the colonial theme into a joke about what White Western men see when they think of colonies, and how that mindset is so said it becomes laughable as a method of accommodation in order to play the game
The book ends by touching upon some contemporary games that interrogate and challenge the hegemonic ideologies concerning race, class, gender, sexuality and nation that are created and maintained by dominant groups to support their right to rule, as well as a hopeful call for new games that bring unusual power dynamics and inventive interactions
Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in board games and ideology
June 1, 2023
Really enjoyed this! This took a stronger historical perspective than I (and I anticipate many other readers) expected, focusing more on “pre-modern” and non-eurogames. I think this is ultimately to this study’s benefit. Being able to see how games in colonialist nations performed enculturation and set the groundwork for today’s games was enlightening. I was specifically blown away by the similarities between Jeu des échanges and modern eurogame mechanisms.
If there’s a critique I want to levy, it would be a deeper dive on the cultural values represented by modern games, especially eurogames. I think some of what I want is out of the scope of this book, but those bits of chapters discussing those connections between cultural values and the explicit values that games create were by far my favorite portions.
If there’s a critique I want to levy, it would be a deeper dive on the cultural values represented by modern games, especially eurogames. I think some of what I want is out of the scope of this book, but those bits of chapters discussing those connections between cultural values and the explicit values that games create were by far my favorite portions.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews