This essay critiques the colonial logics that underpin Rebel Inc. (2018).

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From the introduction:

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"An extraordinary insight into the colonizing mindset, Rebel Inc. reproduces colonial logics and dynamics of power by constituting Afghanistan as a war space in need of fundamental ground-up reorganization, positioning biopolitical micromanagement as an effective means of nation-building and representing Western intervention in Afghanistan as a necessary project conducted for humanitarian reasons. The participatory nature of the gaming medium, crucially, enables the game to articulate a unique vision of the processes and choices involved in colonial governmentality. When we play Rebel Inc., we engage in the colonial fantasy of rationally and methodically establishing a functioning modern society where previously there was only primitive, uncultivated space. When we play Rebel Inc., that is, we play at colonialism."