colonialism
Settler-state exploitation system
Colonialism is the practice of acquiring and maintaining control over foreign territories, typically exploiting their resources and people for the benefit of the colonizing power.
European colonialism from the 15th through 20th centuries reshaped much of the world, leaving lasting effects on borders, economies, and cultures.
The adjective colonial describes this era or its remnants: colonial architecture, colonial attitudes.
In extended use, colonialism describes any relationship of domination and exploitation: cultural colonialism, digital colonialism.
Defeating and seizing control
- hegemonyDominant group's control
- imperialismExtending dominion over others
- subjugationForcing into submission
- exploitationSelfish use of others
oppression · supremacy · control · rule · sovereignty · subordination · occupation · annexation
Organizational oversight and control
- protectorateGuarded semi-autonomous territory
- mandateFormal authoritative directive
- territoryLand under jurisdiction
- settlementResolved dispute or colony
jurisdiction · governance · charter · doctrine · partition · assimilation · apartheid · segregation
Belief one's culture superior
- racismPrejudice based on ethnicity
- otheringViewing as fundamentally different
- paternalismControlling others for their good
- civilizing missionClaimed duty to "improve" peoples
white savior · Eurocentrism · exoticism · primitivism · noble savage · cultural appropriation · erasure · dehumanization
Systematic study of peoples
- subalternJunior commissioned officer
- SaidExpressed verbally, past tense
- historiographyStudy of history-writing
- oral historyRecorded interviews about the past
archive · critical theory · representation · narrative · canon
Release from constraint
- independenceFreedom from external control
- self-determinationControl over one's fate
- uprisingOrganized resistance to power
- rebellionDefiance of established power
insurgency · revolution · nationalism · autonomy · emancipation · guerrilla · boycott · civil disobedience
Compensation for historical wrongs
- restitutionRestoring what was lost
- traumaLasting psychological wound
- displacementRemoval from usual location
- diasporaScattered population sharing origins
cultural erasure · borders · underdevelopment · dependency · stolen artifacts · generational trauma · assimilation · identity
conquest
Defeating and seizing control
- hegemonyDominant group's control
- imperialismExtending dominion over others
- subjugationForcing into submission
exploitation · oppression · supremacy · control · rule · sovereignty · subordination · occupation · annexation · overlordship
administration
Organizational oversight and control
- protectorateGuarded semi-autonomous territory
- mandateFormal authoritative directive
- territoryLand under jurisdiction
settlement · jurisdiction · governance · charter · doctrine · partition · assimilation · apartheid · segregation · reservation
ethnocentrism
Belief one's culture superior
- racismPrejudice based on ethnicity
- otheringViewing as fundamentally different
- paternalismControlling others for their good
civilizing mission · white savior · Eurocentrism · exoticism · primitivism · noble savage · cultural appropriation · erasure · dehumanization · pseudoscience
ethnography
Systematic study of peoples
- subalternJunior commissioned officer
- SaidExpressed verbally, past tense
- historiographyStudy of history-writing
oral history · archive · critical theory · representation · narrative · canon
liberation
Release from constraint
- independenceFreedom from external control
- self-determinationControl over one's fate
- uprisingOrganized resistance to power
rebellion · insurgency · revolution · nationalism · autonomy · emancipation · guerrilla · boycott · civil disobedience · freedom fighter
reparations
Compensation for historical wrongs
- restitutionRestoring what was lost
- traumaLasting psychological wound
- displacementRemoval from usual location
diaspora · cultural erasure · borders · underdevelopment · dependency · stolen artifacts · generational trauma · assimilation · identity · memory
- literary themesheroism, hero's journey, ennui, social realism, morals
- historyancient civilizations, past events, historian, epochs, era
- history termsempire, dynasty, Renaissance, Enlightenment, timeline
- Victorian eraparlour, Victorian etiquette, etiquette, parlor games, courtship
- 1800sVictorian era, Napoleon, Gilded Age, Queen Victoria, Industrial Revolution
- England originLondon, Thames, Big Ben, Tower of London, Buckingham Palace
colonialismsovereignty
Supreme independent authority
self-determination · independence · self-rule · self-governance · autonomy
colonialismanticolonialism
Opposition to foreign domination
anticolonial · decolonization · anti-imperialism · liberation movement · postcolonialism
colonialismautarky
Complete economic independence
fair trade · self-sufficiency · economic independence · mutual exchange
- British colonialismUK's historical empire-building
- European colonialismWestern domination of foreign territories
- French colonialismOverseas rule from Paris
- African colonialismForeign rule over a continent
- settler colonialismOccupation displacing native peoples
- British colonialistsUK subjects colonizing abroad
colonialist, neocolonialism, colonialists, anticolonialism, anticolonialist, neocolonialist, postcolonialism, post-colonialism