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International
Relations-PSC 201
VU
LESSON
12
COLONIALISM,
NEO-COLONIALISM &
IMPERIALISM
Colonialism is an
elusive concept. It is a political, a
legal, an economic, a cultural and a
social phenomenon,
which
does not lend itself to a short
and clear definition. While
colonizing states refrained from
defining
colonialism,
many scholars of various
disciplines have written
about the subject.
According
to the Oxford English Dictionary, the
mid-14th century "colonye" was
used to describe the
Roman
settling, creating outposts, or occupying
lands outside the Roman
city-state. Colonialism emerged
around
the 19th century to reify a European
practice that was becoming
prevalent across the world.
Defining
Colonialism
The
element of 'alien domination'
appears to be at the heart of the
colonial experience. Colonialism
is
foreign
rule imposed upon a people. Colonialism is a
system in which a state
claims sovereignty
over
territory
and people outside its own
boundaries, often to facilitate economic
domination over their
resources,
labor, and often
markets.
Colonialism
can be defined as rule over people of
different races living in
separate lands by a single
colonial
power.
Colonialism also refers to a set of
beliefs used to legitimize or promote
this system, especially the
belief
that the values and systems
of the colonizer are superior to those of the
colonized. Colonialism can
thus
be seen to imply domination of an
alien minority asserting
racial and cultural superiority over
a
materially
inferior majority. Hobson
describes colonialism `in its best
sense' as the natural outflow of
nationality,
its test is the power of the colonizer to transplant
the civilization they represent to a new
social
and
cultural environment.
Judging
Colonization
Defenders
of colonialism argue that colonization
developed the economic and political
infrastructure
necessary
for modernization and democracy (they
point to former colonies
like Singapore as examples
of
post-colonial
success).
Post
colonialist such as Franz Fanon argue
that colonialism does political,
psychological, and moral
damage
to
the colonized as well.
Let
us consider the case of British colonist
for example. The British
Empire, in the early decades of the
20th
century,
held sway over a population of
400500 million people - roughly a
quarter of the world's
population
- and covered roughly
two-fifths of the world's land
area.
The
British Empire came together
over 300 years through a
succession of phases of expansion,
interspersed
with
intervals of pacific commercial and
diplomatic activity, or imperial contraction.
Its territories were
scattered
across all parts of the
world, and it was described
with some truth as "the
empire on which the
sun
never
sets". The Empire facilitated the
spread of British technology, commerce,
language, and government
around
much of the globe. Imperial hegemony
contributed to Britain's extraordinary economic
growth, and
greatly
strengthened its voice in world
affairs. Even as Britain
extended its imperial reach
overseas, it
continued
to develop and broaden democratic
institutions at the homeland.
From
the perspective of the colonies, the
record of the British Empire is mixed.
The colonies received
from
Britain
the English language, an administrative and
legal framework on the British model, and
technological
and
economic development. During decolonization,
Britain sought to pass
parliamentary democracy to
its
colonies,
with varying degrees of
success.
British
colonial policy was always
driven to a large extent by Britain's
trading interests. While
settler
economies
developed the infrastructure to support balanced
development, tropical African territories
found
them
developed only as raw-material suppliers.
A reliance upon the manipulation of
conflict between ethnic
and
racial identities, in order to keep
subject populations from
uniting against the occupying power -
the
classic
"divide and rule" strategy -
left a legacy of partition or
inter-communal difficulties in several
parts of
the
world including the Subcontinent.
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International
Relations-PSC 201
VU
Decolonization
Decolonization
is the antithesis of colonization. While
anti-colonialist feeling first manifested
in the 18th c.
(in
the US), decolonization is a product of the
post-WW II period. Nationalism in
Latin America, Asia
and
Africa,
as well as the weakening of the colonial
powers helped achieve
decolonization.
The
UN played an important role in ending
colonial rule in Indonesia and certain
African colonies. It
particularly
helped decolonize Liberia, Somalia
and Eritrea from
Italy.
Relevant
Vocabulary
Elusive:
hard to
describe
Refrain:
desist
or avoid
Antithesis:
exact
opposite
Infrastructure:
established
system (of communication for
example)
Prevalent:
widespread
Suggested
Readings
Students
are advised to read the
following chapters to develop a better understanding
of the various
principals
highlighted in this hand-out:
Chapter
14 in `"A Study of International
Relations" by Dr. Sultan
Khan.
Internet
Resources
In
addition to reading from the
textbook, please visit the
following web-pages for this
lecture, which
provide
useful and interesting
information:
Colonialism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonialism