civilizing mission
Colonial uplift ideology
Civilizing mission refers to the ideological justification used by colonial powers, particularly European nations in the 19th and early 20th centuries, to rationalize imperialism and the subjugation of non-Western peoples.
The concept held that Western civilization had a duty to "civilize" supposedly inferior cultures through imposed education, religion, and governance.
France's civilizing mission in Africa was used to justify decades of colonial rule.
The term is now understood as a euphemism for cultural imperialism and is used critically in historical and postcolonial analysis.
- colonialismDomination through foreign settlement
- colonial ruleForeign power's territorial dominion
- imperialismExtending dominion over others
- conquestDefeating and seizing control
- empireDomain under unified control
conversion · savagery · uplift · progress · assimilation · subjugation · paternalism · enlightenment · natives · native peoples · heathens · Christianity · education · railways · flag · plantation · rubber · exploitation
- imperialismempire building, colonization, imperial expansion, British Empire, colonies
- colonial educationcolonial education, colonial schools, native education, colonial administration, colonial policy
- Metanarrativesprogress, modernity, Marxism, liberalism, Christianity
- postcolonialismorientalism, postcolonialism, subaltern, neocolonialism, mimicry
- colonialismcolony, colonization, colonial rule, colonial powers, colonizer
- Colonial LiteratureHeart of Darkness, Kim, The Jungle Book, King Solomon's Mines, Robinson Crusoe
civilizing missioncolonial exploitation
Extracting wealth from conquered territories
resource extraction · plunder · gunboat diplomacy · settler colonialism · humanitarian assistance
civilizing missiondecolonization
Ending imperial control
anti-colonialism · colonial exploitation · cultural relativism · indigenous sovereignty · self-determination
civilizing missionself-determination
Control over one's fate
national liberation · decolonization · autonomy · sovereignty · non-intervention
civilize, civilized, civilizing, civil, civility, civilities, civilian, civilians, civilization