Western European colonialism and colonization

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Colonialism and European colonialism is the policy or practice of obtaining full or partial political control over another country, occupying it with the settlers, and exploiting it economically. Research shows, the current state of postcolonial society has its roots in action and colonial policy. For example, colonial policy, such as the type of rule applied, the nature of investment, and the identity of the invaders, is cited as having an impact on the postcolonial state. Examination of the process of state development, economic development, and cultural norms and customs indicate the direct and indirect consequences of colonialism in post-colonial countries.

Video Western European colonialism and colonization

History of colonization and decolonization

The European colonial era lasted from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century and involved European powers that greatly expanded their reach throughout the world by setting up colonies in America, Africa and Asia. The demolition of the European empire after World War II saw the process of decolonization begin in earnest. In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill jointly released the Atlantic Charter, outlining the goals of the US and British governments. One of the main clauses of the charter recognizes the right of all people to choose their own government. The document forms the basis for the United Nations and all its components are integrated into the UN Charter, giving the organization the mandate to pursue global decolonization. Despite uniform efforts by the UN, modern postcolonial states vary widely in terms of political and economic stability.

Maps Western European colonialism and colonization

Colonial settlement

Settlers colonialism is a form of colonialism in which foreign nationals move into an area and make permanent or temporary settlements called colonies. The establishment of settler colonies often resulted in the forced migration of indigenous peoples to less desirable areas through forced migration. This practice is exemplified in colonies established in the United States, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, Argentina and Australia.

Indigenous peoples resettlement often occurs along the demographic line, but the central stimulus for resettlement is access to the desired area. The area is free of tropical diseases with easy access to profitable trading routes. When Europeans settled in this desirable territory, indigenous peoples were forced out and local authority was transferred to the colonialists. Furthermore, this type of colonial behavior leads to the abolition of indigenous populations, not necessarily through genocide, but through the disturbance of local indigenous practices and the transformation of the socio-economic system. Ugandan academic Mahmood Mamdani cited "the destruction of communal autonomy, and the defeat and dispersal of tribal people" as one of the main factors in colonial oppression. Europe justified colonial settlers in the belief that settlers were better able to use resources and land than indigenous peoples because of the introduction of modern farming practices. As agricultural expansion continues through the territories, the indigenous population is subsequently moved to open fertile agricultural land.

Daron Acemoglu, James A. Robinson, and Simon Johnson theorize that Europeans are more likely to form settler colonies in areas where they will not face high mortality from disease and other exogenous factors. Many settler colonies attempt to establish European-like institutions and practices that provide personal freedom and enable settlers to become wealthy by engaging in trade. Thus, jury trials, freedom from arbitrary arrest, and election representation are carried out to enable the rights of settlers similar to those enjoyed in Europe. Though these rights in general do not extend to indigenous peoples.

Exploitation colonialism

Since these colonies were created with a view to extracting resources, colonial forces have no incentive to invest in institutions or infrastructures that do not support the purpose of their direct exploitation. Therefore, they established an authoritarian regime in these colonies, which had no state power limits.

The exploitation of colonialism is a form of colonization in which foreign nationals conquer a state to control and utilize natural resources and indigenous populations. Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson argue that "the institution [founded by colonial] does not introduce much protection for private property, nor does it provide checks and balances against government expropriation.In fact, the main purpose of an extractive country is to transfer as much as possible from colony resources to the invaders, with the minimum amount of investment possible. "Since these colonies were created with the intent to extract resources, colonial forces have no incentive to invest in institutions or infrastructure that do not support their immediate goals. Thus, Europe forms an authoritarian regime in these colonies, which has no state power limits.

The policies and practices undertaken by King Leopold II of Belgium in the Congo Basin are an extreme example of exploitation colonialism. E. D. Morel, a British journalist, writer, pacifist, and politician, detailed the cruelty in many articles and books. Morel believes the Belgian system that obliterates traditional commercial markets that support pure exploitation is the root cause of injustice in the Congo. Under the "veil of philanthropic motives," King Leopold received the approval of several international governments (including the United States, Great Britain and France) to take over the confidence of the vast territory in support of the abolition of the slave trade. Leopold positions itself as the owner of an area of ​​nearly one million square miles, which is home to nearly 20 million Africans.

After establishing dominance in the Congo Basin, Leopold extracted large quantities of ivory, rubber, and other natural resources. Leopold estimates to generate 1.1 billion dollars today by using a variety of exploitative tactics. The army demanded an unrealistic amount of rubber collected by the villagers of Africa, and when these goals were not met, the soldiers took women hostage, beat or kill people, and burned the crops. These and other forced labor practices lead to lower birth rates due to hunger and disease spread. All this is done with very little monetary cost to Belgium. M. Crawford Young, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison observes, "[Belgian companies] carry little capital - just 8,000 pounds... [to the Congo basin] - and instituted a government of terror enough to provoke an embarrassing public protest campaign in Britain and the United States at a time when the tolerance threshold for colonial brutality is very high. "

The system of government applied in Congo by Belgium is authoritarian and oppressive. Some scholars see the root of authoritarianism under Mobutu as a result of colonial practice.

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The indirect and direct rule of the colonial political system

The system of colonial government can be broken down into binary classifications of direct and indirect rules. During the colonial era, Europe was faced with the monumental task of administering vast colonial territories around the world. The initial solution to this problem was the direct rule, which involved the establishment of a centralized European authority within the territory run by colonial officials. In the system of direct government, the indigenous population was excluded from all levels of colonial government. Mamdani defines direct government as a centralized despotism: a system in which indigenous peoples are not regarded as citizens. Instead, the government did not directly integrate the established local elites and indigenous institutions into the administration of the colonial government. The indirect rule maintains a good pre-colonial institution and fosters development in local culture. Mamdani classifies indirect rule as a "decentralized despotism", in which day-to-day operations are handled by local leaders, but the actual authority rests on colonial rule.

Indirect rule

In certain cases, as in India, colonial rule directs all decisions related to foreign and defense policy, while the indigenous population controls most aspects of internal administration. This leads to autonomous indigenous people who are under the authority of the local chief or king. These leaders were either taken from the existing social hierarchy or had just been printed by the colonial authorities. In areas under indirect rule, traditional rulers acted as an intermediary for "despotic" colonial rule, while the colonial government acted as an advocate and only interfered in extreme circumstances. Often, with the support of colonial authorities, indigenous peoples gained more power under indirect colonial rule than they had in pre-colonial times. Mamdani points out that indirect rule is the dominant form of colonialism and therefore most of the colonized have the colonial powers conveyed by their native peers.

The purpose of indirect rule is to let indigenous people manage their own affairs through "customary law." In practice, however, the indigenous authority decides and imposes its own unwritten rules with the support of the colonial government. Rather than following the rule of law, local leaders enjoy judicial, legislative, executive, and administrative powers in addition to legal arbitrariness.

Direct rule

In a direct governmental system, European colonial officials oversaw all aspects of government, while indigenous people are placed in an entirely subordinate role. Unlike the indirect rule, the colonial government did not deliver orders through the local elite, but rather oversaw the administration directly. European laws and customs are imported to replace traditional power structures. Joost van Vollenhoven, Governor-General of French West Africa, 1917-1918, described the role of customary chiefs in saying, "Its function is reduced to a mouthpiece for orders that come from outside... [Heads of tribes] have no power of their own. at cercle , French authorities and indigenous authorities, there is only one. "Therefore leaders are ineffective and not highly respected by the indigenous population. There are even instances where people under colonial rule directly secretly choose a real chief chieftain to defend traditional rights and customs.

Direct rules deliberately eliminate traditional power structures to apply cross-regional uniformity. The desire for regional homogeneity was the driving force behind the French colonial doctrine of Assimilation. The style of French colonialism stems from the idea that the French Republic is a symbol of universal equality. As part of the mission of civilization, the principles of European equality are translated into laws abroad. For the French colony, this meant the enforcement of French criminal law, the right to send representation to parliament, and the imposition of tariff law as a form of economic assimilation. It requires the indigenous population to be assimilated in these ways and in other ways, creating a ubiquitous European-style identity that does not seek to protect its true identity. Indigenous people living in colonized communities are required to obey European laws and customs or be considered "uncivilized" and deny access to every European right.

Comparative results between Direct and Direct Rules

Both direct and indirect rules have a persistent long-term effect on the success of former colonies. Lakshmi Iyer, from Harvard Business School, conducted research to determine what kind of impact a rule can have on an area, looking at post-colonial India, where both systems are present under British rule. Iyer's findings show that previously ruled areas are generally more organized and better able to build effective institutions than those under British direct rule. In the modern post-colonial period, the territories previously controlled by the British are performing poorly economically and significantly have less access to public goods, such as health care, public infrastructure, and education.

In his book Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa and Legacy of Colonialism , Mamdani claims the two types of rules are each side of the same coin. He explained that the colonialists do not exclusively use one system of government over another. In contrast, European forces divide territories along urban-rural lines and institutionalize separate governance systems in each region. Mamdani refers to the formal division of rural and urban populations by occupiers as "branched states." The urban areas are ruled directly by the invaders under the European law import system, which does not recognize the validity of indigenous institutions. In contrast, rural inhabitants are governed indirectly by customary and traditional law and are therefore subject to "civilized" citizens. The rural population is seen as an "uncivilized" subject and deemed unfit for the benefit of citizenship. The rural subject, Mamdani observes, has only "little civil rights," and is completely excluded from all political rights.

Mamdani argues that current issues in post-colonial states are the result of the partition of the colonial government, not just bad governance as others claim. The current system - in Africa and elsewhere - is full of institutional legacies that strengthen divided societies. Using the examples of South Africa and Uganda, Mamdani observes that, instead of removing a branched model of government, the postcolonial regime has reproduced it. Although he uses only two specific examples, Mamdani states that these countries are just paradigms representing the legacy of the remaining institutional colonial legacy in the world. He argues that modern states only solve "deregialization" and not democratization after their independence from colonial rule. Instead of pursuing efforts to connect their divided societies, central government control remains in urban areas and reforms are focused on "reorganizing branched forces imposed under colonialism." Indigenous authorities operating under indirect rule have not been brought into the mainstream reform process; on the contrary, development has been "imposed" on rural peasants. To achieve autonomy, successful democratization, and good governance, countries must overcome their fundamental schism: urban versus rural, adat versus modern, and participation versus representation.

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Colonial action and its impact

European colonizers are involved in actions around the world that have short-term and long-term consequences for the occupied. Many scholars have tried to analyze and categorize colonial activity by determining whether they have positive or negative results. Stanley Engerman and Kenneth Sokoloff categorized activities, driven by regional factors, by determining whether they are related to high or low levels of economic development. Acemoglu, Johnson, and Robinson try to understand the institutional changes that led to rich countries before becoming poor after colonization. In a seminal article, the same author explores the legacy of certain colonial institutions in contemporary economic outcomes. They found that in those places the European settlers faced lower mortality rates, they were more likely to settle and establish extractive institutions that hampered economic performance and remained in place to this day. Melissa Dell documented the devastating and destructive effects of colonial labor exploitation under Peru's mit'a mining system; shows significant differences in altitude and road access between earlier mit'a and non-mit'a communities. Miriam Bruhn and Francisco A. Gallego used a simple tripartite classification: good, bad, and ugly. Regardless of the classification system, the fact remains, the colonial action produces continuously relevant results.

In attempting to assess the legacy of colonization, some researchers have focused on the types of political and economic institutions that existed prior to the arrival of Europeans. Heldring and Robinson conclude that while colonization in Africa has strong negative consequences for political and economic development in areas that have previously centered institutions or host of white settlements, it may have a positive impact in almost no-country areas , such as Southern Sudan or Somalia. In a complementary analysis, Gerner Hariri observes that regions outside Europe that have state-like institutions before 1500 tend to have a less open political system today. According to the scholar, this is due to the fact that during the colonization, European liberal institutions were not easy to implement. Beyond military and political advantage, it is possible to explain the dominance of European countries over non-European territory by the fact that capitalism does not emerge as a dominant economic institution elsewhere. As Ugo Pipitone points out, the prosperous economic institutions that support growth and innovation do not apply in areas such as China, the Arab world, or Mesoamerica because of the over-control of these proto-States on personal matters.

Reorganize the border

Specifying Limit

Throughout the era of European colonization, those in power routinely divide the land and create a border that still exists today. It is estimated that Britain and France trace nearly 40% of the entire current international frontier. Sometimes boundaries naturally occur, such as rivers or mountains, but at other times these boundaries are artificially created and approved by colonial powers. The Berlin conference of 1884 nationalized European colonization in Africa and was often recognized as the origin of the Seize of Africa. The Conference adopted the Effective Occupation Principle in Africa that allows European countries even with the weakest links to the African region to claim dominance over land, resources, and people. Consequently, it allows for the arbitrary construction of sovereign borders in areas where they have never existed before.

Jeffrey Herbst has written extensively on the impact of state organizations in Africa. He noted, because borders are artificially created, they are generally incompatible with "demographic, ethnographic, and distinctive topographical limits." Instead, they are produced by colonialists to advance their political goals. This causes large-scale problems, such as the division of ethnic groups; and small-scale issues, such as family homes separate from their farms.

William F. S. Miles of Northeastern University, argues that the division of origins from across the continent creates a vast and un-maintained border region. This border survives to this day and is a refuge for crimes like human trafficking and arms smuggling.

Modern preservation of a colonial defined boundary

Herbst notes the modern paradox of the colonial border in Africa: while they are arbitrary there is a consensus among African leaders that they must be defended. The Organization of African Unity in 1963 established permanent colonial boundaries by stating that any changes made are invalid. This, in essence, avoids rereading the basic injustices of the colonial partition, while also reducing the possibility of inter-state warfare because territorial borders are deemed unchangeable by the international community.

Modern national boundaries are thus remarkably unchanged, although the stability of the states does not follow. African countries are overwhelmed by internal problems such as the inability to effectively collect weak taxes and national identity. Because there is no external threat to their sovereignty, these countries fail to consolidate power, leading to weak or failing states.

Although colonial boundaries sometimes cause internal strife and hardship, some leaders today take advantage of the limits desired by their former colonial rulers. For example, Nigeria's inheritance from an outlet to the sea - and a port trade opportunity - gives the nation a distinct economic advantage over its neighbor, Niger. Effectively, the early carving of the colonial spaces naturally changed the supporting factors into state-controlled assets.

Colonial investment differences

When the European colonies entered a territory, they always brought new resources and capital management. Different investment strategies are used, including a focus on health, infrastructure, or education. All colonial investment has a persistent effect on postcolonial society, but certain types of expenditures have proven to be more useful than others. French economist Elise Huillery conducted a study to determine specifically the type of public spending associated with high levels of current development. The findings are twofold. First, Huillery observes that the nature of colonial investment can directly affect current levels of performance. Increased spending in education leads to higher school attendance; additional physicians and medical facilities reduce preventable diseases in children; and the colonial focus on infrastructure is translated into today's more modern infrastructure. Adding to this, Huillery also learned that early colonial investment instituted sustainable spending patterns that directly affected the quality and quantity of public goods available today.

Land, property, and labor

Land and property rights

According to Mahmood Mamdani, before colonization, indigenous communities do not always consider private land ownership. Alternately, land is a communal resource that everyone can use. After the natives began interacting with the colonial settlers, a long history of land abuse followed. Extreme examples of this include the Trail of Tears, a series of forced relocation of Native Americans after the Indian Removal Act of 1830, and the apartheid system in South Africa. Australian anthropologist Patrick Wolfe points out that in this case, the natives were not only driven from the land, but the land was later transferred to private property. He believes that the "frenzy for the native land" is due to the economic immigrants who belong to the ranks of Europe without land.

Making conflicting arguments, Acemoglu, Johnson, and Robinson see strong property and ownership rights as an important component of institutions that generate higher per capita income. They extend this by saying property rights give individuals an incentive to invest, not inventory, their assets. While this seems to encourage colonialists to exercise their rights through exploitative behavior, it does offer protection to indigenous peoples and respect their customary tenure law. Seeing extensively the European colonial experience, Acemoglu, Johnson, and Robinson explains that native exploitation occurs when a stable property right is intentionally absent. These rights have never been implemented to facilitate the extraction of predatory resources from indigenous populations. Bringing the colonial experience into the present, they maintain that vast property rights set the stage for fundamentally effective institutions for a strong democratic society. Examples from Acemoglu, Robinson and Johnson are hypothesized in the work of La Porta, et al. In a study of the legal system in different countries, La Porta, et al. found that in places colonized by the British Empire and defending the common-law system, the protection of property rights was stronger than those that maintained French civil law.

In the case of India, Abhijit Banerjee and Lakshmi Iyer discovered a different legacy of the British land tenure system in India. Areas in which landowning rights are granted to registered landlords are lower productivity and agricultural investment in the post-colonial years than in areas where land ownership is dominated by cultivators. Previous regions also had lower levels of investment in health and education.

Labor exploitation

Prominent figures and political activist Guyana, Walter Rodney, wrote at length about the economic exploitation of Africa by colonial power. In particular, he sees workers as a special tortured group. While the capitalist system almost always uses some form of wage labor, the dynamics between labor and colonial power leave an open path to extreme violations. According to Rodney, African workers are more exploited than Europeans because the colonial system produces a full monopoly on political power and leaves the working class small and unable to take collective action. Combined with deep racism, indigenous workers are presented with impossible circumstances. The racism and superiority felt by the occupiers allows them to justify the systematic disloyalty of Africans even when they work with European workers. The colonialists further defended their different income by claiming higher living costs. Rodney challenges this pretext and affirms the quality of life and cost of living Europe is only possible because of the exploitation of colonies and African living standards are deliberately pressed to maximize revenue. Behind him, colonialism left Africa very backward and without a road forward.

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The social consequences of colonialism

Ethnic identity

Colonial change to ethnic identity has been explored from a political, sociological, and psychological perspective. In his book The Wretched of the Earth, Afro-Caribbean psychiatrists and revolutionary Frantz Fanon claim that colonized people must "ask themselves constant questions: 'who am I?'" Fanon uses this question to express his frustration with an essentially inhuman character of colonialism. Colonialism in all forms, is rarely a simple act of political control. Fanon argues that the act of colonial domination has the power to bend the indigenous personal and ethnic identity because it operates under the assumption of perceived superiority. Indigenous people are completely divorced from their ethnic identity, which has been replaced by a desire to imitate their oppressors.

Ethnic manipulation manifests itself outside the personal and the internal sphere. Scott Straus from the University of Wisconsin described the ethnic identity that partly contributed to the Rwandan genocide. In April 1994, after the assassination of President Rwanda JuvÃÆ' Ã… © nal Habyarimana, Hutus of Rwanda revived their Tutsi neighbors and massacred between 500,000 and 800,000 people in just 100 days. Although politically this situation is very complex, the influence of ethnicity on violence can not be ignored. Prior to the German colonization in Rwanda, the identities of Hutu and Tutsi were not improved. Germany ruled Rwanda through the dominated Tutsi monarchy and Belgium continued this after their takeover. Belgian rules reinforce the difference between Tutsi and Hutu. Tutsi are considered superior and sustained as a ruling minority supported by Belgians, while Hutu is systematically suppressed. The power of the state then changed dramatically following the so-called Hutu Revolution, in which Rwanda gained independence from their colonists and formed a new government dominated by Hutu. A deep ethnic tension does not leave with the Belgians. Instead, the new government strengthens the cleavage.

Civil society

Joel Migdal of the University of Washington believes that weak postcolonial states have problems rooted in civil society. Rather than viewing the state as the single dominant entity, Migdal portrays "societies like the web" consisting of social organizations. These organizations are distinct ethnic, cultural, local, and family groups and they form the basis of our society. The state is just one actor in a much larger framework. Powerful states are able to effectively navigate the complex social framework and exercise social control over people's behavior. Weak states, on the other hand, are lost among the complex fractionalizers of society.

Migdal expanded his theory of state-community relations by examining Sierra Leone. At the time of Migdal's publication (1988), the country's leader, President Joseph Saidu Momoh, was widely viewed as weak and ineffective. Only three years later, the country erupted into a civil war, which continued for almost 11 years. The basis of this turbulent time, in Migdal's estimates, is the fragmented social control exercised by the British colonizers. Using a typical British indirect system of government, the occupiers authorized regional heads to mediate British government in the region, and in turn, leaders exercised social control. After achieving independence from Britain, the leaders remain firmly entrenched and do not allow the consolidation of the forces needed to build a strong state. Migdal commented, "Even with all the resources they have, even with the ability to eliminate any powerful person, the leaders of the country find themselves very limited." States and communities need to form a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship for each developing country. The peculiar nature of postcolonial politics makes this even more difficult.

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The ecological impact of colonialism

European colonialism spread infectious diseases between Europeans and oppressed peoples.

Against disease

The Kingdom of Spain organized a mission (Balmic expedition) to transport the smallpox vaccine and to make a mass vaccination program in the colony in 1803. In 1832, the United States federal government established a smallpox vaccination program for Native Americans. Under the direction of Mountstuart Elphinstone, a program was launched to increase vaccination for smallpox in India.

From the beginning of the 20th century onwards, the elimination or control of disease in tropical countries became a necessity for all colonial powers. The epidemic of sleeping sickness in Africa is captured as field teams systematically check millions of people at risk. The largest population increase in human history occurred during the 20th century due to the decline in mortality rates in many countries due to medical advances.

Colonial policy contributes to the deaths of indigenous people due to disease

John S. Milloy published evidence suggesting that the colonialists had deliberately concealed information about the spread of disease in his book National Crime: the Government of Canada and the Residential School System, 1879 to 1986 (1999). According to Milloy, the Government of Canada is aware of the origins of many diseases but maintains a secret policy. Medical professionals are knowledgeable about this policy, and furthermore, know it leads to higher mortality rates among indigenous peoples, but the policy continues.

The evidence shows, government policy is not to treat indigenous people infected with tuberculosis or smallpox, and indigenous children who are infected with smallpox and tuberculosis are deliberately sent back to their homes and to indigenous villages by residential school administrators. In residential schools, there is no separation of sick students from healthy students, and students infected with deadly diseases are often treated in schools, where the infection spreads among healthy students and results in death; the mortality rate is at least 24% and as high as 69%.

Tuberculosis was the leading cause of death in Europe and North America in the 19th century, accounting for about 40% of the deaths of the working class in cities, and in 1918 one in six deaths in France was still caused by tuberculosis. European governments, and medical professionals in Canada, are well aware that tuberculosis and smallpox are highly contagious, and that mortality can be prevented by taking action to quarantine patients and inhibit the spread of disease. They fail to do this, however, and apply the actual law to ensure that this deadly disease spreads rapidly among the indigenous population. Despite the high mortality rate among students from infectious diseases, in 1920 the Canadian government made a presence in compulsory residential schools for indigenous children, threatening disobedient parents with fines and imprisonment. John S. Milloy argues that policies regarding this disease are not conventional genocide, but rather a policy of neglect aimed at assimilating indigenous peoples.

Some historians, such as Roland Chrisjohn, director of Indigenous Studies at St. University. Thomas, argues that some European colonists, have found that indigenous peoples are not immune to certain diseases, deliberately spreading the disease to gain military advantage and subdue the local people. In his book The Circle Game: Shadows and Substance at Indian Residential School Experience in Canada, Chrisjohn argues that the Canadian government follows a deliberate policy of genocide against indigenous peoples. British officers, including the British-led general Amherst and Gage, ordered, approved, paid, and practiced the use of smallpox against Native Americans during the Fort Pitt siege. Historian David Dixon acknowledged, "there is no doubt that British military authorities agree on attempts to spread smallpox among enemies." Russell Thornton goes so far as to say, "it is a deliberate British policy to infect Indians with smallpox." While the precise effectiveness of British efforts to infect Native Americans is unknown, the outbreak of smallpox among Indians has been documented. Letters and journals from the colonial period show that the British authorities discussed and approved the deliberate distribution of the smallpox infected blanket among Indians in 1763, and the incident involving William Trent and Captain Ecuyer has been considered one of the first examples of the use of smallpox as a biological weapon in the history of war.

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The historic debate surrounding colonialism

BartolomÃÆ'Â © de Las Casas (1484-1566) was the first patron of the Indians appointed by the Spanish crown. During his time in the West Indies of Spain, he directly witnessed many of the atrocities perpetrated by the Spanish invaders against the indigenous population. After this experience, he reformed his views on colonialism and determined the Spaniards would suffer divine punishment if the great persecution in the Indies continued. de Las Casas details his opinion in his book The Destruction of the Indies: A Brief Account (1552 ).

During the sixteenth century, Spanish priest and philosopher Francisco Suarez (1548-1617) expressed his objection to colonialism in his work De Bello et de Indis (About War and the Indies). In this and other texts Suarez supports the laws of nature and expressed his belief that all human beings have the right to life and freedom. Along these lines, he debated the limitation of Charles V power, the Holy Roman Emperor by underlining the natural rights of indigenous peoples. Thus, the indigenous West Indies colonies of Spain are entitled to independence and every island should be regarded as a sovereign state with all the powers of Spanish law.

The French Enlightenment philosopher and the prominent founder of the Encyclopà ©  © Denis Diderot openly criticized Tahiti's ethnocentrism and colonization. In a series of philosophical dialogues entitled SupplÃÆ' © ment au voyage de Bougainville (1772), Diderot imagines some conversations between the Tahitians and the Europeans. Both speakers discussed their cultural differences, acting as critics of European culture.

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Modern theory of colonialism

The effects of European colonialism have consistently attracted academic attention in the decades since decolonization. New theories continue to emerge. The fields of colonial and postcolonial studies have been applied as majors in universities around the world.

Theory of Dependency

Dependency theory is an economic theory which postulates that developed and industrialized "metropolitan" countries have been able to thrive due to the existence of a less developed "satellite" state. Satellite states anchored to, and submitted to, the metropolitan countries because of the international division of labor. Satellite states are thus dependent on the metropolitan countries and unable to map their own economic path.

The theory was introduced in the 1950s by Raul Prebisch, Director of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America after observing that economic growth in rich countries does not translate into economic growth in poor countries. Dependency theorists believe this is because of the export-import relationship between rich and poor countries. Walter Rodney, in his book How Europe Underdeveloped Africa , uses this framework when looking at relations between European trading companies and African farmers living in post-colonial countries. Through agricultural labor, African countries can collect large quantities of raw materials. Rather than being able to export these materials directly to Europe, the state must work with a number of trading companies, which collaborate to keep purchase prices low. Trading firms then sell materials to European manufacturing at inflated prices. Finally the manufactured goods returned to Africa, but at a very high price, the workers could not afford it. This causes a situation where people who work hard to collect raw materials can not benefit from the finished goods.

Neocolonialism

Neocolonialism is a sustainable economic and cultural control of decolonized countries. The first documented use of this term was by Former President Ghana Kwame Nkrumah in the Opening of the Organization of African States in 1963. Nkrumah expanded the concept of neocolonialism in the book Neo-Colonialism, The Last Stage of Imperialism (1965). In Nkrumah's estimation, traditional forms of colonialism have come to an end, but many African countries are still subject to external political and economic control by Europeans. Neocolonialism is linked to the theory of dependence in the sense that both recognize the financial exploitation of a poor country by the rich, but neocolonialism also includes aspects of cultural imperialism. The rejection of cultural neocolonialism forms the basis of philosophy of kebatinan, which seeks to dispel colonial and racist attitudes by affirming the values ​​of the "black world" and embracing "darkness."

Benign colonialism

Benign colonialism is a form of alleged colonialism in which the benefits outweigh the risks to the native population whose land, resources, rights and freedoms are preceded by the colonial nation-state. The historical source for the concept of benign colonialism lies with John Stuart Mill who was the principal examiner of the British East India Company who dealt with British interests in India in the 1820s and 1830s. Mill's most famous essays on benign colonialism are found in the "Essays on some Political Economic Questions Without Problems."

Mill's view contrasts with Burkean orientalists. Mill promotes training of the indigenous bureaucrat corps to India who can adopt modern liberal perspectives and 19th century British values. Mill predicts that the final government of this group in India will be based on British values ​​and perspectives.

Proponents of the concept cited improvements in health and education standards, employment opportunities, liberal markets, developed natural resources and introduced better governance. The first wave of benign colonialism proceeds from c. 1790-1960, according to Mill. The second wave includes exemplary neo-colonial policies in Hong Kong, where unfettered market expansion creates a new form of benign colonialism. Political interference and military intervention in an independent nation-state, such as Iraq, is also discussed under the rubric of benign colonialism in which foreign powers precede national governments to protect the concept of higher freedom. The term is also used in the 21st century to refer to US, French and Chinese market activities in African countries with minimal, non-renewable, undeveloped natural resources.

These views have the support of some academics. Economic historian Niall Ferguson argues that the empire can be a good thing as long as they are "liberal empires". He cites the British Empire as the only example of the "liberal empire" and argues that it maintains the rule of law, benign government, free trade and, with the abolition of slavery, free labor. Historian Rudolf von Albertini agrees that, equally, colonialism can be good. He argues that colonialism is a mechanism for modernization in colonies and forcing peace by ending tribal wars.

H. historians L. H Gann and Peter Duignan also argue that Africa may benefit from colonialism on balance. Though it's his fault, colonialism may be "one of the most potent machines for cultural diffusion in world history". Yet these views are controversial and rejected by some who, in balance, perceive colonialism as bad. The economic historian David Kenneth Fieldhouse has taken the middle position, arguing that the effects of colonialism are really limited and their main weakness is not in deliberate backwardness but in what fails to do. Niall Ferguson agrees with his final point, arguing that the main weakness of colonialism is the sins of negligence. The Marxist historian Bill Warren argues that although colonialism may be bad because it depends on strength, it sees it as the origin of Third World developments.

The example in the Dutch Empire on what was meant to be benign colonialism was the Dutch Ethics Policy applied in the Indies (now: Indonesia) at the beginning of the 20th century.

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Postcolonialism and postcolonial literature

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See also

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References

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Further reading

• Albertini, Rudolf von. European Colonial Rules, 1880-1940: Western Impacts in India, Southeast Asia, and Africa (1982) 581pp
• Betts, Raymond F. False Dawn: European Imperialism in the Nineteenth Century (1975)
• Betts, Raymond F. Uncertain Dimensions: Western Overseas Empire in the 20th Century (1985)
• Black, Jeremy. International Relations Europe, 1648-1815 (2002) quotes and text search
• Burbank, Jane, and Frederick Cooper. Empires in World History: Powers and Politics Differences (2011), Wide coverage from Rome to the 1980s; 511pp
• Dodge, Ernest S. Islands and Empires: Western Impacts on the Pacific and East Asia (1976)
• Furber, Holden. (1976)
• Furber, Holden, and Boyd C Shafer. (1976)
• Hodge, Carl Cavanagh, ed. The Encyclical Age of Imperialism, 1800-1914 (2 vol. 2007), Focused on European leaders
• Langer, William. The World History Encyclopedia (5th ed. 1973), a very detailed outline; 6th ed. Ed. by Peter Stearns (2001) has more details about the Third World
• McAlister, Lyle N. Spain and Portugal in the New World, 1492-1700 (1984)
• Ness, Immanuel and Zak Cope, eds. The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Imperialism and Anti-Imperialism (2 vol. 2015), 1456pp
• Osterhammel, JÃÆ'¼rgen: Colonialism: Theoretical Review , Princeton, NJ: M. Wiener, 1997.
• Page, Melvin E. ed. Colonialism: An International Social Encyclopedia, Culture and Politics (3 vol. 2003); vol. 3 consists of the primary document; vol. 2 pages 647-831 has a detailed chronology
• Porter, Andrew. European imperialism, 1860-1914 (1996), The brief survey focuses on historiography
• Roberts, Stephen H. History of French Colonial Policy (1870-1925) (2 vol 1929) volume 1 online also vol. 2 online; comprehensive scientific history
• Savelle, Max. Empires to Nations: Expansion in America, 1713-1824 (1975)
• Smith, Tony. Pattern of Imperialism: The United States, Great Britain and the Industrial World-End Since 1815 (1981)
• Townsend, Mary Evelyn. European colonial expansion since 1871 (1941).
• Wilson, Henry. Empire Experience in Sub-Saharan Africa since 1870 (1977)

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