Decolonization
Sovereignty after empire
Decolonization is the process by which colonies gain independence from imperial powers, or more broadly, the dismantling of colonial systems and their lingering effects.
The term covers both historical events—African and Asian nations achieving sovereignty in the mid-20th century—and ongoing efforts to undo colonial legacies in institutions, culture, and thought: decolonizing the curriculum, decolonizing the museum.
Critics sometimes dismiss the extended usage as academic jargon.
Adapting to native practices
- reclamationRecovery of something lost
- repatriationFormal return to homeland
- language revivalEffort to restore endangered speech
- renamingGiving new designation
cultural heritage · oral tradition · ancestral knowledge · curriculum reform · indigenous rights · traditional practice · cultural erasure · assimilation
Extending dominion over others
- colonialismDomination through foreign settlement
- exploitationSelfish use of others
- oppressionUnjust exercise of power
- hegemonyDominant group's control
extraction · subjugation · occupation · settler colonialism · apartheid · segregation · dispossession · land reform
Freedom from external control
- sovereigntySupreme independent authority
- self-determinationControl over one's fate
- self-ruleGovernance without outside control
- self-governmentRuling oneself independently
autonomy · nationhood · statehood · home rule · secession · nonalignment · republic · constitutionalism
Release from legal bondage
- freedomAbsence of constraint
- unshacklingRemoving fetters or constraints
- reclamationRecovery of something lost
- resistanceCapacity to withstand force
uprising · struggle · abolition · empowerment · civil rights · human rights · liberation movement · anti-colonial
indigenization
Adapting to native practices
- reclamationRecovery of something lost
- repatriationFormal return to homeland
- language revivalEffort to restore endangered speech
renaming · cultural heritage · oral tradition · ancestral knowledge · curriculum reform · indigenous rights · traditional practice · cultural erasure · assimilation · missionary
imperialism
Extending dominion over others
- colonialismDomination through foreign settlement
- exploitationSelfish use of others
- oppressionUnjust exercise of power
hegemony · extraction · subjugation · occupation · settler colonialism · apartheid · segregation · dispossession · land reform · restitution
independence
Freedom from external control
- sovereigntySupreme independent authority
- self-determinationControl over one's fate
- self-ruleGovernance without outside control
self-government · autonomy · nationhood · statehood · home rule · secession · nonalignment · republic · constitutionalism · nationalism
emancipation
Release from legal bondage
- freedomAbsence of constraint
- unshacklingRemoving fetters or constraints
- reclamationRecovery of something lost
resistance · uprising · struggle · abolition · empowerment · civil rights · human rights · liberation movement · anti-colonial · freedom fighter
Decolonizationcolonization
Foreign territorial takeover
colonialism · imperialism · annexation · recolonization · colonizing
Decolonizationempire-building
Growing one's domain
colonial expansion · partition · Manifest Destiny · Lebensraum · expansionism
Decolonizationcultural imperialism
Dominant society imposing its ways
civilizing mission · cultural erasure · Eurocentrism · white supremacy · Westernization
neocolonialism, precolonial, decolonize, anticolonial, decolonized, anticolonialism, decolonisation, postcolonial, decolonizes