colonizers
Foreign land claimers
Colonizers are people who establish control over foreign territories and their populations.
The term carries strong negative connotations, emphasizing exploitation and displacement of indigenous peoples: The colonizers imposed their language and religion on the native population.
In contemporary usage, colonizer often appears as a pointed criticism of historical and ongoing power imbalances: You can't just show up and take over—don't be a colonizer.
Those who enter by force
- conquistadorsSpanish colonial soldiers
- conquerorsThose who defeat and dominate
- subjugationForcing into submission
- plunderGoods seized violently
pillaging · occupation · warfare · annexation · defeat · oppression · vanquish · subdue
Extending dominion over others
- colonialismDomination through foreign settlement
- empireDomain under unified control
- expansionIncrease in scope
- territoryLand under jurisdiction
exploitation · sovereignty · rule · dominion · crown · viceroys · governors · administration
Those who establish homes
- pioneersFirst to explore territory
- homesteadersLand-claiming rural settlers
- pilgrimsReligious journey takers
- plantationsLarge-scale farming operations
outposts · frontier · territories · farmsteads · missions · encomienda · reservations · displacement
Dominant group's control
- dominanceSuperior influence over others
- supremacyHighest rank or power
- controlAuthority to direct
- authorityPower to enforce obedience
domination · oppression · coercion · tyranny · enforcement · subjection · hierarchy · exploitation
Ending imperial control
- neocolonialismIndirect foreign domination
- reparationsCompensation for historical wrongs
- repatriationFormal return to homeland
- independenceFreedom from external control
postcolonial · resistance · liberation · nationalism · heritage · trauma · erasure · assimilation
invaders
Those who enter by force
- conquistadorsSpanish colonial soldiers
- conquerorsThose who defeat and dominate
- subjugationForcing into submission
plunder · pillaging · occupation · warfare · annexation · defeat · oppression · vanquish · subdue · siege
imperialism
Extending dominion over others
- colonialismDomination through foreign settlement
- empireDomain under unified control
- expansionIncrease in scope
territory · exploitation · sovereignty · rule · dominion · crown · viceroys · governors · administration · tribute
settlers
Those who establish homes
- pioneersFirst to explore territory
- homesteadersLand-claiming rural settlers
- pilgrimsReligious journey takers
plantations · outposts · frontier · territories · farmsteads · missions · encomienda · reservations · displacement · indigenous
hegemony
Dominant group's control
authority · domination · oppression · coercion · tyranny · enforcement · subjection · hierarchy · exploitation · privilege
decolonization
Ending imperial control
- neocolonialismIndirect foreign domination
- reparationsCompensation for historical wrongs
- repatriationFormal return to homeland
independence · postcolonial · resistance · liberation · nationalism · heritage · trauma · erasure · assimilation · Westernization
- peoplesAmericans, British, Chinese, French, Germans
- raidersraiders, marauders, pillagers, plunderers, looters
- ecologyhabitat, ecosystem, balance, niche, food webs
- colonialismBritish Empire, protectorate, colonists, settlers, empire builder
- imperialismempire building, imperial expansion, British Empire, Dutch Empire, Scramble for Africa
- Colonial LiteratureHeart of Darkness, Kim, The Jungle Book, King Solomon's Mines, Robinson Crusoe
colonizerscolonized
Established foreign control over
indigenous peoples · native peoples · indigenous · natives · First Nations
colonizersliberators
Those who free captives
freedom fighters · anti-colonialists · independence movements · resistance fighters · nationalists
colonizersoriginal settlers